On May 18, the residents of village Bhaproda of district Jhajjar in Haryana objected to the Panchayat Committee’s decision to allot four acres of agricultural land to wrestler Bajrang Punia for building a wrestling academy. The villagers submitted a complaint to District Deputy Commissioner Captain Shakti Singh in the mini secretariat regarding the matter.
Villagers informed DC Singh that on May 2, the village panchayat land was auctioned by the gram panchayat. However, during the auction, they left out four acres of land. When villagers inquired about it, they were informed that an attempt was being made to give that land to wrestler Bajrang Punia for building a wrestling academy.
The villagers alleged that head Sarpanch Pramod Kumar decided to give Punia the four-acre land as he has personal relationships with him. Furthermore, one of the Panchayat members alleged they were called to sign the proposal so that the land could have been allotted to Punia but they were not informed of the motive. When they saw the details of the proposal, everyone refused to sign.
On the other hand, Kumar said, “Bajrang Punia had requested land of 4 to 5 acres to build a wrestling academy. A proposal was made only after I talked to the seniors in the panchayat and all of them were happy with the decision.” He added the people of the village were happy with the decision as they would receive coaching for free.
The land belongs to the SC community
Villagers have alleged that the land in question belongs to the SC community. They are using it for agriculture. One of the members of the community told India Today that his family survived on the agricultural income of the land. If it is taken away from them, they would not be able to survive.
Villagers vowed to approach CM, courts
The villagers said that if the administration failed to do justice, they would approach Chief Minister and courts if required. Villagers have demanded an inquiry into the matter. A villager was quoted by India Today saying, “If the investigation is not through in the next 5 to 7 days, we will approach Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar. We will also go to the High Court or Supreme Court if needed, but we won’t allow the construction of a wrestling academy on this land.” Villagers said there are many international and national players in the village who deserve such an opportunity. There are two Arjun Awardees in the village. However, the land was being given to Punia who is from the Sonipat district.
Bajrang Punia and the wrestlers’ protest
Bajrang Punia is among the wrestlers who are protesting against the President of the Wrestling Federation of India Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat are the other top wrestlers protesting against Singh. They have accused Singh of sexually harassing 500-1000 wrestlers. An FIR was registered against Singh and a probe into the matter is currently underway. Meanwhile, Singh has said he was ready for the polygraph test provided the wrestlers agreed to get it done as well. The protest took political colour as many opposition leaders and farmer unions joined the protesting wrestlers.
