Protesting wrestlers rue they were not consulted before formation of oversight committee

New Delhi, Jan 24: Expressing their disappointment over the government-appointed oversight committee for probing the sexual harassment and intimidation charges against WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the wrestlers on Tuesday (January 24) claimed they were not consulted before forming the committee.

The oversight committee has been tasked with the responsibility to probe the charges against the sports administrator, who has been at the office for over a decade.

On Monday (January 23), Sports Minister Anurag Thakur announced that a five-member oversight committee, headed by legendary boxer M C Mary Kom, will investigate the charges against the WFI boss and also manage the day-to-day affairs of the Wrestling Federation of India.

Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sarita Mor and Sakshi Malik, who staged a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar for three days demanding the sacking of the WFI president, posted identical tweets on the micro-blogging site, expressing their dismay.

"We were assured that we will be consulted before the formation of the oversight committee. It's really sad that we were not consulted," the wrestlers tweeted and tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Thakur.

The oversight committee has former wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, ex-badminton player and Mission Olympic Cell member Trupti Murgunde, ex-TOPS CEO Rajagopalan and former SAI executive director - teams - Radhica Sreeman as other members.

However, there is not a single member from the judiciary, someone who would understand the legal aspects and terms, on the committee.

The wrestlers had accused Singh, who is also a BJP MP, of acting like a dictator and sexually harassing junior wrestlers. The wrestlers did not reveal the identity of the athletes who faced sexual harassment but claimed that they will bring forth the victims and even file a police complaint.

The Sports Ministry had on Saturday (January 21) suspended WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar. Tomar was suspended "with immediate effect, to ensure a proper functioning of WFI". The ministry also directed the WFI to suspend "all ongoing activities with immediate effect", including the Ranking Tournament in Gonda, UP, Sharan's stronghold.

(With PTI inputs)