For the past couple of days, Indian wrestlers, male and female alike, have gathered at Jantar Mantar staging a protest against the Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Singh. He faces serious allegations of sexual harassment by female athletes and the wrestlers’ protest demands his immediate resignation along with appropriate action against his alleged crimes.
For quite some time, India’s leading sportspersons and celebrities remained quiet on the matter, but now they have slowly started to publicly express their concern and support the wrestlers. Yesterday, the Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra extended his support to the wrestlers and demanded strict action be taken in the matter.
And not just him, several other athletes, actors and filmmakers have spoken up in support of the wrestlers’ protest. Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, actors Swara Bhasker, Pooja Bhatt, Sherlyn Chopra, filmmaker Onir and sportspersons Kapil Dev, Virendra Sehwag, Irfan Pathan, Sania Mirza, Nikhat Zareen, Manoj Tiwary and others took to social media to condemn the injustice faced by Indian wrestlers.
Have a look:
As athletes, we train hard every day to represent our country on the international stage. It is deeply concerning to see our athletes finding it necessary to protest on the streets regarding the allegations of harassment in the Indian wrestling administration. My heart goes out…
— Abhinav A. Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) April 26, 2023
Shameful that our top International athletes are forced to protest on streets against sexual harassment but accused BJP MP is being consistently shielded by the govt. #IStandWithMyChampions
Sack & investigate #BrijBhushanSharanSingh pic.twitter.com/XgndfzIzAT— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) April 28, 2023
Dear Supreme leader..you have had your #Selfies.. it’s time for you to be selfless…will you #justasking #IStandWithMyChampions pic.twitter.com/7zt0Ky82p3
— Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) April 28, 2023
This is not ‘hitting back’. This is saying things as they are. Plainly,truthfully. In times of lies truth sounds & feels like a gunshot or blow as is obvious from the much abused & overused term ‘hit back’. #IStandWithMyChampions https://t.co/Y6knCDDeoB
— Pooja Bhatt (@PoojaB1972) April 28, 2023
#IStandWithMyChampions
It’s a shame that there is so much resistance to give justice to so many women athletes. Disrespectful . https://t.co/u6jNqZpd1Q— iamOnir (@IamOnir) April 28, 2023
देश के खिलाड़ी अन्याय के ख़िलाफ़ कुश्ती की जंग जीतेंगे ज़रूर।
जय हिन्द 🇮🇳— sonu sood (@SonuSood) April 28, 2023
जिन्होंने बढ़ाई तिरंगे की शान, उनके साथ है हिंदुस्तान #IStandWithMyChampions 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/uDHYXK3aYd
— Sherlyn Chopra (शर्लिन चोपड़ा)🇮🇳 (@SherlynChopra) April 28, 2023
As an athlete but more as a woman this is too difficult to watch .. they’ve brought laurels to our country and we have all celebrated them , with them .. if you have done that then it’s time to now stand with them in this difficult time too .. this is a highly sensitive matter… pic.twitter.com/7mVVyz1Dr1
— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) April 28, 2023
#JaiHind 🇮🇳🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/L0JQyZaJyF
— Ravi Kumar Dahiya (@ravidahiya60) April 27, 2023
It bleeds me when I see the brightest athletes of our country 🇮🇳 pleads justice on the streets. They all are the pride of our nation and we all should come forward to fight together in this. Jai Hind! We want justice… ✊🇮🇳🤼♀️#WrestlersProtest | #JantarMantar |… pic.twitter.com/EuRCd5wOgM
— MANOJ TIWARY (@tiwarymanoj) April 28, 2023
Indian athletes are always our pride not only when they get medals for us…
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) April 28, 2023
बहुत दुःख की बात है की हमारे champions जिन्होंने देश का बड़ा नाम किया है , झंडा लहराया है , हम सबको इतनी ख़ुशियाँ दी हैं, उन्हें आज सड़क पर आना पड़ा है।
बड़ा संवेदनशील मामला है और इसकी निष्पक्ष जाँच होनी चाहिए। उम्मीद है खिलाड़ियों को न्याय मिलेगा। pic.twitter.com/A8KXqxbKZ4— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) April 28, 2023
Shocking that 9 women of recognition complained & no FIR is registered. it'll be a tear on the cheek of time in Indian history…… Any country that insults their women icons is hurting its own pride , these women have brought laurels to the nation. They have given wings to the… pic.twitter.com/cKZgCxKKQo
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) April 28, 2023
It breaks my heart to see our Olympic & World medallists in this state. Sportspeople also serve the nation by bringing glory & laurels.
I sincerely hope & pray that the law takes its own course and justice is served at the earliest🙏🏻
Jai Hind.#IStandWithMyChampions https://t.co/w5eaJuwzSz— Nikhat Zareen (@nikhat_zareen) April 28, 2023
However, our top celebrities including Indian cricketers and Bollywood entities continue to remain silent in the matter. More people need to stand up for our wrestlers.