- By Kathryn Armstrong
- BBC News
May 28, 2023 at 4:23 p.m. BST
Updated 5 hours ago
video caption,
To see: Indian police pick up and arrest protesting wrestlers
Two Olympic wrestlers have been arrested by police in India during recent protests against alleged sexual abuse of female athletes.
Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik were among those attempting to march to the new parliament in Delhi on Sunday.
Footage showed protesters climbing over barricades and being carried away by authorities.
Among the country’s top wrestlers jailed were two-time World Championships medalist Vinesh Phogat and her sister Sangeeta.
“That’s wrong,” Ms Malik told reporters after being put on a bus by authorities.
“We walked quietly, they forcibly dragged and held us, and they didn’t even tell us where we were being taken.”
“Our people will not be allowed to march,” Mr Phogat said, adding that the protesters “clasped their hands” urging the police to let them go and that they would leave peacefully.
Most opposition parties boycotted the ceremony after criticizing the government for not asking Head of State President Droupadi Murmu to open the ceremony.
Police claimed the protesting wrestlers disobeyed orders and arrested those who tried to breach the barricades.
“They broke the law,” Delhi’s Special Commissioner for Police Dependra Pathak told local media.
“As for going forward, we would determine which rules were broken and then take action by following due legal process.”
Police also removed tents and other items from the site where protesters had been camping for weeks.
Her handling of the march was criticized by a number of opposition politicians.
“Strongly condemn the manner in which Delhi police mistreated Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and other wrestlers,” tweeted West Bengal Prime Minister Mamata Banerjee of the All India Trinamool Congress Party.
“It’s a shame that our champions are treated like this.”
Delhi’s Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who belongs to the Aam Aadmi party, called the behavior of the police “very wrong and deserving of condemnation”.
Ms Malik – the first Indian woman to win an Olympic wrestling medal in 2016 – later tweeted that after her release, she and fellow protesters would start their “satyagraha,” a form of nonviolent resistance, again.
The protesters accuse the wrestling officials of sexually harassing women in the sport. They include the chairman of the governing body, Brij Bhushan Singh, who denies the claims.
Their protests began in January but were cut short that same month after Mr Singh was stripped of his administrative powers by the Sports Ministry and the government promised to investigate their grievances.
The Indian Olympic Federation has set up a committee to investigate the allegations against Mr Singh, which submitted its report weeks ago. The committee’s findings have not yet been announced.
Police in Delhi were also on alert on Sunday as a group of peasants attempted to enter the city to support the wrestlers. That comes after dozens of farmers tore down police barricades in Delhi earlier this month to join another protest.