Chandigarh, May 21 (). Farmers and representatives of khap panchayats in Haryana’s Jat-dominated Rohtak district on Sunday sent a message to the BJP government at the Center in solidarity with the wrestlers staging a sit-in at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. He encouraged women athletes by supporting them on a sit-in demanding the arrest of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accused of sexual harassment.
Apart from Haryana, the Sarva Khap Panchayat, held in Meham city among agricultural representatives from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, decided on Sunday that in support of the protesting wrestlers, Mahila Mahapanchayat will be organized in the newly constructed building of Parliament in Delhi on May 28, the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi is about to inaugurate this new building.
Modi will inaugurate the new Parliament House on May 28, on the occasion of the 140th birth anniversary of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, popularly known as Veer Savarkar.
The khap panchayat (community court) said women from across the country would arrive in New Delhi that day to show solidarity with the wrestlers.
Several top wrestlers including Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat have been staging a sit-in at Jantar Mantar for almost a month now. They are demanding the dismissal and arrest of Brij Bhushan from the post of WFI chief for alleged sexual harassment of women wrestlers.
The Khap Panchayat leaders had already given the government a deadline of 15 days till May 21 to look into the matter.
Brij Bhushan Singh is not ready to step down despite growing opposition and growing pressure to resign. He has said that if even a single allegation against him is proved, he will hang himself.
The Khap Panchayat also announced to take out a huge candle march at Jantar Mantar on the evening of 23rd May.
Under the leadership of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait, who participated in the mahapanchayat, agricultural workers told the media that this fight for the honor of these daughters, who brought laurels to the country, will continue for a long time, just like the farmer’s movement.
Tikait said, the agitation of the farmers against the agricultural laws of the Center went on for 13 months on the borders of Delhi. The central government will now try to make allegations against the wrestlers, on the contrary, defame them, the way it was done with the farmers. This is just the beginning, we are ready for a long battle.
Women from Haryana’s Jat-dominated Rohtak, Jhajjar, Narnaul, Faridabad, Rewari, Charkhi Dadri and Gurugram districts are expected to join the protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
Political observers believe that the organization of the Mahila Mahapanchayat in Delhi is also a clear signal to the Manohar Lal Khattar-led Haryana government that the farmers’ support for the state’s daughters protesting against their own government at the Center is increasing.
Besides, the mahapanchayat is an ultimatum to the JJP (Jannayak Janata Party), an important coalition partner of the state government, which came into being to woo Jats, who are predominantly from the farming community, and wrestlers, an observer told . There is silence on the demands.
Earlier, several leaders including former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his party leaders met the protesting wrestlers and extended their support to them.
SGK
Follow Niharika Times for all the big news from India and abroad. Like us on Facebook and Twitter . Always visit Niharika Times for latest news.