Olympic Association President P T Usha met the protesting wrestlers at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday
It is understood that the meeting was to soften the blow after Usha's statement -- that the grapplers lacked discipline as they hit the streets to resume their protest against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh -- drew widespread condemnation.
Usha left without speaking with the media but Bajrang Punia said she has assured them help.
"Initially when she said that, we felt very bad but then she said that her comments were misinterpreted. She said that she is first an athlete and then an administrator," said Bajrang, the Tokyo Games bronze medallist.
"We told her that we want justice. We don't have a fight with the government or opposition or anyone else. We are sitting here for the betterment of wrestling. If this issue is resolved and if the allegations (against WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh) are proved then there should be legal action," he added.
When asked if Usha had come with a solution from the government or from the IOA, Punia said, "Nothing of that sort".
"She only said that she is with us."
Asked if he was satisfied following the meeting with Usha, he said, "If she is giving us assurance, I suppose she should fulfil that assurance. But we clarified to her that until and unless things are not okay and we get justice, of which we are very hopeful, this protest will continue."
Asked if any solution had emerged, he said, "If the things she has spoke about... if there is an initiative along those lines, then definitely there will be a solution to this issue. She said she will try to resolve all our problems. If she wants she can do anything."
The wrestlers have been staging a sit-in since April 23 over allegations of sexual harassment against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh.
“Our feeling is that for sexual harassment complaints, IOA has a committee and athletes' commission. Instead of going to the street (again), they should have come to us, but they have not at all come to IOA," Usha had said.
In response to this, star wrestler Vinesh Phogat asked Usha if she would have waited for justice if she was faced with such an insult. “Usha was our idol as we were growing up... We can't understand why she cannot understand our predicament,” Vinesh had said.
On Tuesday Vinesh also raised a serious allegation against Sports Minister Anurag Thakur over the sexual harassment complaints against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Like WFI, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur also hushed up the complaints by forming an oversight panel instead of taking concrete action, stated Vinesh. Vinesh, the biggest face of the wrestlers' protest, claimed that twice in the past sexual harassment cases were reported during the national camp but the WFI succeeded in sweeping the matter under the carpet.
