Soon after the protesting wrestlers announced their decision to discard all their medals including those won in the Olympics in the Ganga River, the Haridwar police said that they will not stop them.
On Tuesday, Sakshi Malik on her official Twitter ID released a statement in Hindi which stated they would be leaving for Haridwar to immerse all their medals.
“We are going to discard our medals in Holy river Ganga. These medals are our lives, our souls. There would be no reason to live after leaving them in the Ganga today. So, we will stage a hunger strike until death at India Gate after that,” the statement read.
The wrestlers said Prime Minister Narendra Modi “who calls us our daughters”, did not even once show his concern “for us”.
“Rather, he invited Brij Bhushan Singh to the inauguration of the new Parliament building. He even posed for photographs,” the statement said.
Speaking to The Hindustan Times, Haridwar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Ajay Singh said, “The wrestlers are free to do anything. If they are coming to immerse their medals in holy Ganga, we won’t stop them. Neither have I received any such instructions from my senior officials.”
The SSP said that it is a normal practice for people to immerse valuables such as gold, silver and ashes into the Ganges River.
“About 15 lakh pilgrims visit Haridwar to take a holy dip in the Ganga on the occasion of Ganga Dussehra and wrestlers are welcome too,” the SSP was quoted by Hindustan Times.
Since April 23, Sakshi Malik, Sangeeta Phogat, Vinesh Phogat, and Bajrang Punia along with other wrestlers have been protesting in Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, against the WFI chief over sexual harassment of female athletes, including a minor.
The protest, which was peaceful, saw chaos on May 28, the same day when Modi inaugurated the New Parliament Building in the capital.
The Delhi Police tried to stop the protesting wrestlers march towards the building. A fierce tussle broke out between them leading to pushing, shovelling and grappling one another, shocking the nation.
The wrestlers were detained and were released on the same day.
