Chennai: In a scathing criticism of the Narendra Modi-led Union government, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed his disapproval over the assault and detention of protesting wrestlers by the Delhi police. He further commented that the symbolic "sengol," a sceptre from Tamil Nadu, appeared to have bent on the very first day it was placed in the new Parliament building, implying the government's failure to uphold justice.
On Sunday morning, Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building and positioned the sengol near the chair of the Lok Sabha Speaker. The sengol, which was handed over to India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1947 on the eve of Indian Independence, symbolizes a fair and benevolent ruler. According to ancient Tamil texts, it is believed that if the ruler acts unjustly, the sengol will bend.
Chief Minister Stalin denounced the assault on the wrestlers, highlighting the government's actions as acts of oppression following the side-lining of the President and the boycott by opposition parties during the inauguration ceremony. He also criticized the BJP government for failing to take action against Brij Bhushan, a BJP MP and the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), who has been accused of serious charges of sexual harassment.
Expressing his outrage on Twitter, Stalin stated, "It has been several months since female wrestlers filed a sexual harassment complaint against a BJP MP. The party leadership has not taken any action against him so far. Women wrestlers are protesting continuously in the [nation’s] capital. It is condemnable that the protesters were manhandled, dragged, and forcefully arrested during the inauguration ceremony of the new Parliament building. This shows that the sengol has been bent on the first day. Is it just [aram] to stage anarchy on the inauguration day, in which the President as well as the opposition parties were ignored?"
Additionally, the Sports Minister of Tamil Nadu, who is also the son of Chief Minister Stalin, expressed his strong condemnation of the Delhi police's treatment of the wrestlers. He asserted, "I strongly condemn the Delhi police for forcibly evicting female wrestlers who were marching towards the new parliament building seeking justice and action against their sexual harasser. The treatment meted out to our champions was disgusting & beyond belief. Justice shall prevail."
The wrestlers have been staging protests at Delhi's Jantar Mantar for over a month, demanding legal action against Brij Bhushan for the alleged sexual harassment. On Sunday, a clash erupted between the wrestlers and the police when the former attempted to march towards the Parliament. Several videos of the incident circulated online, depicting the police manhandling the protesters and dismantling their protest site.