'If Aamir Khan tweets in support...': Mahavir Phogat on wrestlers' protests

Mahavir Phogat, former wrestler and the father of Geeta and Babita Phogat, has sought action against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over sexual harassment allegations.

Mahavir Phogat became a household name in the country after Bollywood actor Aamir Khan made a film on him titled 'Dangal'. However, he has revealed in an interview that he is not expecting any support for the protesting wrestlers from the actors.

"I don't have expectations from any stars but if he (Aamir Khan) tweets in support, we would like it," India Today quoted him as saying.

The Dronacharya awardee has also revealed that it is a "do or die situation" for the wrestlers who have been protesting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi for 10 days now. However, he stated that there was no "politics" behind the protest.

"There was a dharna in January as well. We wanted to inform the sports minister, BJP chief JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah about the situation. They would have resolved the issue. A committee was formed (to probe the charges) but it did not do justice and no report was filed," he said and added, "There is no politics over the issue. The allegation that my family is trying to usurp power is false. Our family is together. We won't take any position in WFI."

Mahavir Phogat stated that although they were aware of the sexual assault allegations in 2014, they were not in a position to do anything as his three daughters were playing in the Commonwealth Games

Meanwhile, wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Tuesday alleged that Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur hushed up the matter by forming a committee.

"During the 2012 national camp, a sexual harassment complaint was lodged at a police station. Within 24 hours that case was hushed up. In 2014 a physio, who was also trainer of Geeta Phogat, raised a similar matter and he was removed from the camp within 24 hours.

From that day, his wife could not participate in any competition. Before we started our protest, three months back, we had explained everything to a government official how sexual harassment was taking place and how women wrestlers were being tortured mentally. The athletes were being pushed to a stage where they could have done anything with their lives," he told the media.

He then claimed that some wrestlers had shared their stories with Thakur, but no action was taken against the WFI chief.

"We waited for three-four months but when nothing happened, we came to Jantar Mantar. When we met the sports minister, the women wrestlers shared individual incidents related to sexual harassment. The girls were crying before him but no action was taken at that time. Sports minister tried to hush up matter yet again by forming a committee. We have tried to raise this issue at every level but the matter was always suppressed," said Vinesh.

The wrestlers began their second round of protest on April 23 demanding action against Singh, also a BJP MP, on sexual harassment allegations levelled by seven women players.

After much delay, the Delhi Police on Friday filed two FIRs against the WFI chief. While the first FIR relates to allegations by a minor wrestler and was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the second was related to outraging modesty.

With inputs from agencies