Wrestlers in India, who have been protesting for over a month, demanding the arrest of BJP Member of Parliament Brij Bhushan for alleged sexual harassment, were forcefully stopped by the police from marching into the new parliament building in New Delhi on Sunday, May 28. While they were being detained or manhandled by the police, Brij Bhushan, who is also the chief of the Wrestling Federation of India, was at the parliament, reported TNIE. Sakshi Malik, one of the champion wrestlers leading the protest, tweeted: "Sexual abuser goon Brij Bhushan is sitting in the Parliament today and we are being dragged on the road. Sad day for Indian sports."
The police on Sunday detained Sakshi and other champion wrestlers who have been leading the protest, like Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia. The protestors were attempting a peaceful march towards the parliament when the police stopped them and a scuffle broke out. Some of the protestors tried to jump over the police barricades. Meanwhile the police also destroyed the protest tents at the Jantar Mantar where the wrestlers have been camping for over a month.
“After detaining all the wrestlers and elderly mothers, the police have now started dismantling our tents at Jantar Mantar. Our luggage is being removed. What hooliganism is this?” Sakshi tweeted.
यौन शोषण करने वाला गुंडा बृज भूषण आज संसद में बैठा है और हमें सड़क पर घसीटा जा रहा है।
— Sakshee Malikkh (@SakshiMalik) May 28, 2023
Sad day for Indian sports pic.twitter.com/ckAPmbtl4S
Bajrang Punia tweeted earlier on Sunday: “Does any government get the champions of their country treated like this? What crime have we committed?"
A large number of police personnel were deployed in New Delhi on Sunday, to do vehicle inspections at borders. Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi tweeted that the Delhi police had wanted to create a temporary jail in one of the schools, for which permission was denied.
The new parliament was inaugurated on Sunday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid controversies of doing the honours himself (instead of allowing the President to) and installing a Sengol (sceptre) which was gifted by priests to the first PM of the country Jawaharlal Nehru at the time of independence and which had been kept in a museum all these years.