Wrestlers resume duties with Railways; rubbish reports of withdrawing from protest
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New Delhi: After getting evicted from Jantar Mantar on May 28, top wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat have resumed their duties in the Railways, sources said.
As per reports, records from the Northern Railways headquarters show Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik returned to her role as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) with the Northern Railways.
She joined her Baroda House office here on May 31, a day after the trio stopped short of immersing their international medals in the Ganga.
On Monday, Sakshi, too, confirmed the news. She meanwhile, denied rumours that she withdrew from the agitation and claimed that she would continue to fight till justice is served.
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"The news is completely wrong. None of us has backed down. We will continue our fight for justice and meanwhile, I am fulfilling my responsibility in Railways," she said.
"The news of withdrawing the movement is just a rumour. This news is being spread to harm us. We have neither retreated nor have we withdrawn the movement. The news of women wrestlers taking back the FIR is also false. The fight will continue till justice is served," said Punia.
The wrestlers were on leave during their 36-day sit-in. “Initially, we had taken leave for 7-10 days. We keep extending our leave. So far, there is no pressure from our employers. We are free to do what we want during our leave, and protesting is our democratic right,” Punia said last month.
Earlier, Bajrang, Sakshi and Vinesh met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence to discuss the matter related to their protest against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
"They shared their concern with the Home Minister. The meeting was long and he listened to everything. But 'koi decision nahi hua abhi tak (no decision has been reached so far)'," a source close to the wrestlers told IANS.
Bajrang, Sakshi and Vinesh have been leading the protest by the wrestlers since April, accusing the sidelined president of the WFI, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment against many wrestlers, including a minor.
The protesting wrestlers were manhandled and detained by Delhi Police and their arrangements at the protest site, Jantar Mantar, were dismantled.
The wrestlers had gone to Haridwar claiming that they wanted to drop their medals in the river Ganga. With many people requesting them not to take drastic action, they decided to hand over the medals to the farmers' leaders to take a call.
