Following their marathon meeting with Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, the protesting wrestlers told the media that the Indian government had asked for time till June 15 for the police to complete their investigation and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur indicated that the six-hour long meeting had been "positive".
Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Bajrang Punia and Rio Olympics medallist Sakshi Malik were among the delegation who met with the sports minister and have reportedly agreed to pause their protest till June 15.
"The government has sought time till June 15 for the investigation to conclude. The protest is not over yet. We will not stage any protest till June 15," said Sakshi Malik, one of the leaders of the protest movement. Punia said they will resume their protests after June 15 if their demands are not met.
The wrestlers were invited by the government for the second time days after they met Home Minister Amit Shah.
Minister Thakur, speaking to the media after meeting with the wrestlers, said that the cases registered against wrestlers, coaches and akharas on charges of rioting on May 28 will be withdrawn. He also said that today’s meeting was satisfactory with both sides agreeing on most points of the agenda.
“A very positive discussion was held with the wrestlers. We have assured them that the probe will be completed by June 15 and chargesheets will be submitted by that date. The next election of WFI will be held by June 30,” the minister said.
During the meeting earlier, the wrestlers’ delegation had listed five demands, including free and fair elections to the Wrestling Federation of India and the appointment of a woman chief. They also said Brij Bhushan Singh or his family members cannot be part of the WFI or stand for office in the upcoming ellections.
Vinesh Phogat, a prominent face of the protest, is not attending the meeting as she is in her village Balali in Haryana to attend a pre-scheduled 'panchayat'.
"The government is willing to have a discussion with the wrestlers on their issues. I have once again invited the wrestlers for the same," Thakur had tweeted at 12:47 am last night, in an effort to end the deadlock with the wrestlers.
The wrestlers, who had launched their campaign against Brij Bhushan Singh in January and were assured of a probe, had resumed their protest on April 23 at Jantar Mantar, claiming that underage girls had been harassed by Singh and demanding his immediate arrest.
They were removed from the protest site on May 28 and the police detained them after they began a march to the new parliament building without permission on the day of its inauguration.
