WFI sexual harassment case: Anil Kumble dismayed by manhandling of wrestlers

The legendary Anil Kumble on Tuesday said he is “dismayed” by the treatment meted out to the protesting wrestlers at Jantar Mantar where they were manhandled and detained by police for trying to march towards the new Parliament building and hold a ‘Mahila Mahapanchayat’.

Unprecedented scenes of police dragging Olympic and world championships medallists, including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, were witnessed on Sunday when the wrestlers and their supporters breached the security cordon during their march to protest the inaction against outgoing WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for his alleged sexual harassment of women grapplers.

Read | UWW condemns grapplers' detention, threatens to suspend WFI

The wrestlers had called for a ‘Mahila Mahapanchayat’ at the new Parliament building at a time when it was being inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

They tried to march towards the new Parliament building despite the Delhi Police not giving them the permission to do so, resulting in their detention.

Leg-spinner Kumble, 52, felt the issue could have been resolved through dialogue.

Dismayed to hear about what transpired on the 28th of May with our wrestlers being manhandled. Anything can be resolved through proper dialogue. Hoping for a resolution at the earliest.

— Anil Kumble (@anilkumble1074) May 30, 2023

“Dismayed to hear about what transpired on the 28th of May with our wrestlers being manhandled. Anything can be resolved through proper dialogue. Hoping for a resolution at the earliest,” tweeted Kumble, the fourth-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, on Tuesday.

Olympic champion shooter Abhinav Bindra, Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri and former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan too had expressed solidarity with the grapplers on Monday.

On Tuesday, the wrestlers along with hundreds of their supporters reached Haridwar to immerse the medals won on the world stage, including the Olympics, in the Ganga river but were persuaded by the khaps and farmer leaders to wait for a few more days to address their grievances.

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