On June 18, wrestler and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Babita Phogat refuted the claims of one of the protesting wrestlers Sakshi Malik and her husband, Satyawart Kadian, that she helped in getting permission for protests at Jantar Mantar in January. In a detailed statement on Twitter, Babita called Sakshi a puppet of Congress and urged her to answer the public about their real intentions.
Babita Phogat’s statement
Babita said, “There is a saying, Don’t say such a thing about a friend that you need to hide it later. It will leave a sign of stigma on your forehead for a lifetime.”
एक कहावत है कि
— Babita Phogat (@BabitaPhogat) June 18, 2023
ज़िंदगी भर के लिये आपके माथे पर कलंक की निशानी पड़ जाए।
बात ऐसी ना कहो दोस्त की कह के फिर छिपानी पड़ जाएँ ।
मुझे कल बड़ा दुःख भी हुआ और हँसी भी आई जब मैं अपनी छोटी बहन और उनके पतिदेव का विडीओ देख रही थी , सबसे पहले तो मैं ये स्पष्ट कर दूँ की जो अनुमति का काग़ज़… https://t.co/UqDMAF0qap
Yesterday, while watching the video of my younger sister and her brother, I was sad and laughed too. First of all, let me be clear that the permission letter shown by my younger sister has no proof of my signature or my consent anywhere, nor do I have anything to do with it far and wide.
Since day one, I have been saying that I have faith in our honourable Prime Minister and the Judicial System of the country. The truth will definitely come out. As a female sportsperson, I was always with all the country’s players; I am with them and will always be with them. However, I was never in favour of a sit-in protest since the beginning. I always told the wrestlers they should meet the PM or Home Minister as the solution would come from there.
However, you saw the solution in Deepender S Hooda, Congress, Priyanka Gandhi and their accomplices, who themselves are accused of rape and convicted in other cases. The country’s people have now recognised the faces of the opposition, and now they should come out in front of the country and answer soldiers, farmers and women wrestlers whose emotions were used for political gain.
The views of the women players who sat together on the sit-in were given a direction with all the prejudices where only your political benefits were visible. Today, when this video of yours is in front of everyone, now the people of the country will understand how much your protest on the holy day of the inauguration of the new Parliament building and the matter of flowing the medal won for the nation into the Ganges was embarrassing the country.
The country’s people have understood that you have become a puppet in the hands of Congress. Now the time has come for you to tell your real intention because the public is asking you questions.”
Sakshi Malik and Satyawart Kadian’s video statement
Babita’s tweet responded to an 11-minute video statement released by protesting wrestler Sakshi Malik and her husband, Satyawart Kadian. In the video statement, Kadian said that there were allegations in the media that Congress leader Deepender S Hooda instigated them to sit in protest. Contrary to the media reports, Kadian claimed that the permission for protests at Jantar Mantar in January 2023 was taken by two BJP leaders, Tirath Rana and Babita Phogat. Kadian said, “How could Congress be behind the protests?”
The Truth.#WrestlersProtest pic.twitter.com/eWHRpOSwD9
— Sakshee Malikkh (@SakshiMalik) June 17, 2023
He further claims wrestlers and people aware of the matter knew such incidents, including harassment, were happening to female wrestlers. He added, “Some proof was given by coaches in media. People wanted to raise their voices against it, but there was a lack of support in the wrestling community.” He further accused the former WFI president of creating problems in the career of wrestlers who raised voices against him individually.
He further added the fight was not against the government as both the accused and those who got permission for the protests were from BJP.
Speaking about the delay in raising a voice against the WFI president, Sakshi claimed no one came forward because of a lack of support. Further, she claimed there was a lot of pressure on the minor victim to change the statement. She said, “The top wrestlers raised voices there, and you saw what all they had to face after that”.
Kadian further claimed that Khap leaders called the Mahila Mahapanchayat, and they were unaware of the inauguration of the New Parliament Building on May 28. He then claimed they felt broken after what happened on May 28 and decided to submerge their medals in the Ganga River. “But we became a victim of the system’s conspiracy. On that day, a man from the system pulled Bajrang away and made him talk to several leaders. They urged Bajrang to wait till 7 PM as a meeting was going on.” He further claimed at 7 PM, more people linked to some “system” came in large numbers. The situation was created, so there would have been violence if we immersed medals after that. So we decided not to immerse.”
He then thanked Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Ravan, Satyapal Malik, women’s organisations and others for their support.
Kadian then thanked Rana and Phogat for supporting the wrestlers from the beginning. He said they became mediators and got a committee formed for investigation, but there was no result.
Discrepancies in Sakshi and Satyawart’s statement
OpIndia found a few discrepancies in the statements of Sakshi and Satyawart. First, they claimed that Tirath Rana and Babita Phogat got permission from the police station for the protest. While Babita denied involvement in the matter, the letter had no signatures of Phogat.
OpIndia spoke to Tirath Rana, who refused to comment on it. He said he was always with the protesters and would stand with them to get justice. When we talked about the signature in Hindi on the letter, it did not match the signature on the affidavit that he submitted to Election Commission in the 2019 Haryana Assembly Elections, Rana again said he would prefer not to comment. Here are the two signatures. On the left, you can see the signatures as shown on the letter presented by Malik and Kadian. On the right, you can see signatures from the affidavit available on ECI’s website.
Furthermore, Kadian claimed they were unaware of the inauguration of the new building scheduled for May 28. The decision to hold Mahila Mahapanchayat was taken by Maham Chaubisi Khap, a cluster of 24 villages in Maham town of Haryana’s Rohtak district. By that time, the inauguration was announced on May 19, 2023. The decision to hold Mahila Mahapanchayat was taken on May 21, two days after the announcement by the government.
One of the protesting wrestlers, Bajrang Punia, issued a statement after attending Khap Panchayat on May 21. He said, “We had declared that we’ll take some big decisions today if Singh is not arrested in 15 days. It has been decided that a Mahila maha panchayat will be held outside the new parliament building on May 28, and the wrestlers will attend.”
Some posts clearly show Sakshi Malik at the Maham Khap Panchayat.
लड़ेंगे और जीतेंगे
— Sonia Doohan (@DoohanSonia) May 21, 2023
आज महम चबूतरे पर आयोजित पहलवानों के समर्थन में खाप पंचायत में हिस्सा लिया और अपने विचार रखे। जो पंचायत में हमारे बड़े बुजुर्गो ने फैसले लिए हम उनका सम्मान करते हैं। मैं पहलवानों को कहना चाहती हूं की इस लड़ाई में हम सब आपके आखिरी सांस तक खड़े हैं। pic.twitter.com/RiEV38jvGl
On May 22, Sakshi Malik shared a post that clearly mentioned that the Mahila Mahapanchayat would occur at New Parliament Building.
On May 23, Vinesh Phogat issued a statement to the media about the May 28 Maha Panchayat. Sakshi was standing next to her. When Vinesh said, “outside Sansad”, Sakshi interrupted her and said, “Nai Sansad”.
#WATCH | We have decided to hold a peaceful women's Maha Panchayat in front of the new Parliament on 28th May: Wrestler Vinesh Phogat pic.twitter.com/O2WPu7AFhw
— ANI (@ANI) May 23, 2023
It is unclear why they claimed no one among them knew that the inauguration of the New Parliament Building would take place on the same day announced Mahila Mahapanchayat outside the new building when the dates were announced two days before the decision by Khap was made.
