- Sunday, May 19, 2024
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a sitting lawmaker from the ruling party and the former Wrestling Federation of India chief, has been accused of sexually harassing female wrestlers.
By: Twinkle Roy
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has faced a backlash from the country’s top Indian Olympic wrestlers for giving election tickets to the son of the former chief of the national wrestling federation, who is accused of sexually harassing several female wrestlers.
Many prominent wrestlers came out in streets last year to protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a current parliamentarian from the Kaiserganj constituency of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, and faced police action.
One of the wrestlers, who have won an Olympic medal, even quit the sport last December after a loyalist of Singh became the chief of the Wrestling Federation of India.
Bajrang Punia, her fellow Olympic medallist, returned Padma Shri Award, one of India’s highest civilian awards, in protest.
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The BJP has fielded Singh’s son Karan Bhushan Singh as its candidate from Kaiserganj, which will go to national elections on May 20.
A trial court admitted a case of sexual harassment and intimidation against Singh, who has denied the charges and is currently on bail.
Sakshi reacted to the decision in a social media post last week, saying, “Daughters of the country have lost, Brij Bhushan won.”
“By giving an election ticket to his son, they have shattered the aspirations of the country’s millions of daughters.”
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Punia wrote on social media, “It is the misfortune of the country that daughters who win medals will be dragged on the streets and the son of the person who sexually exploits them will be honoured by giving him a ticket.”
Jairam Ramesh, spokesperson of the opposition Indian National Congress, said the BJP had stooped to a “new low” and had no “moral compass”.
Awanish Tyagi, a spokesperson of state BJP, dismissed the opposition’s criticism in his comments to ThePrint website and said issues are being created “deliberately”.
In July 2023, a court in Delhi took cognizance of the chargesheet that the city’s police filed against Singh, a six-time MP, and summoned him saying there was sufficient evidence against him.
The court also took cognizance of the offences committed under sections 354 (outraging modesty), 354A (sexually coloured remarks) and 354D (stalking), 506 (para 1) (criminal intimidation) and 109 (abetment to offence) of the Indian Penal Code.
(With Reuters inputs)
