'Arrest Brij Bhushan by June 9 or face intensified protest,' says 'Khap mahapanchayat'

'After June 9, demonstrations and panchayats will be held across the country,' Tikait said on the decision

A 'Khap Maha Panchayat' held in Haryana's Kurukshetra on Friday gave an ultimatum to the government to arrest wrestlers' body chief Brij Bhushan Singh by June 9 or face an intensified protest from June 9 with wrestlers going to Jantar Mantar in the national capital.

Announcing the decision of the maha panchayat, which was attended by farmers belonging to the Jat community, senior farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said the government must address the grievances of the wrestlers and Singh should be arrested. "Otherwise we will go with wrestlers to Jantar Mantar, Delhi on June 9 and will hold panchayats across the nation," he said.

He said the Centre has time till June 9 and they would not compromise on the arrest of Singh. "Cases against wrestlers should be withdrawn and the arrest of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh must happen," he said.

Earlier at the meeting, Tikait said 7-10 days should be given to the authorities to take action against Singh. "A big message from Haryana (to the government) should be conveyed from here (Khap Panchayat in Kurukshetra). Let them have 7-10 days' time (to take action). They cancelled the June 5 meeting (Brij Bhushan's ‘maha rally’ in Ayodhya) after coming under pressure from the Khap Panchayat," he said.

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The protesting wrestlers had earlier this week gone to Haridwar to immerse their medals in Ganga river but Tikait intervened and sought some time from the protesters to decide on the future course of action. Following this, the wrestlers returned to Delhi.

The Khaps' decision also came on a day the contents of two FIRs filed on complaints regarding sexual harassment of seven women wrestlers, including a minor, came out in public. The FIR narrated incidents of sexual harassment, inappropriate touching, groping, stalking and intimidation allegedly over a decade.

Besides Singh, Wrestlers Federation of India Secretary Vinod Tomar is also named in the FIR, who is accused of not taking action to protect the women wrestlers and aiding Singh.