Vinesh Phogat, who is the daughter of a farmer, supported the farmers and their families as their protest against many demands, including a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all the crops.
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Former Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Saturday joined the farmers’ protest at the Shambhu village that borders Punjab and Haryana. Phogat, who is the daughter of a farmer, supported the farmers and their families as their protest against many demands, including a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all the crops.
The protest entered the 200th day on Saturday. “Faslon aur naslon ko bachane ke liye hum kisan aur mazdoor parivar ke saath khade hain (To save crops and future generations, I am standing with the families of farmers and labourers),” the 30 year-old said at the event.
“Farmers should be heard and they must get their rights,” added Phogat. Phogat further stressed that not everything should be related to caste or religion. “We are citizens in this country and if anyone raises an issue, it should be heard. Everything should not be linked to caste or religion,” she stated.
The Balali-born former athlete recalled the support of the farmers during the protests against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Several female wrestlers, including Phogat and Sakshi Malik, had led a number of protests against Brij Bhushan alleging sexual harassment last year.
“They were from Bhartiya Kisan Union (Shaheed Bhagat Singh)-Haryana, BKU Ekta (Azad), BKU (Krantikari), Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee and Rajasthan Gramin Kisan Sangharsh Samiti. I cannot forget their support for the wrestlers’ struggle and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. I am always standing tall with the farmers and labourers of this country,” continued Phogat.
Phogat, who was disqualified from the Paris Olympics final after being overweight in the 50 kg category, was honoured on Saturday by leaders of the farmer union. Sarwan Singh Pandher, Kisan Mazdoor Morcha’s (KMM) co-ordinator, Amarjeet Singh Morhi of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), BKU spokesperson Tejveer Singh and Surjit Singh Phul of the BKU were among those who honoured Vinesh.
Phogat worshipped the Golden Temple in Amritstar on Friday and visited the Khanauri border, where she spoke to the farmers. “We are proud of Phogat’s performance at the Olympics and her support for farmers shows that she understands our issues,” said Pandher.
“We appeal to the government to open the Shambhu and Khanauri borders so that we can march towards Delhi to get ourselves heard,” he added.
Vinesh was due to face USA’s Sarah Hildebrandt in the final of the women’s 50 kg category at the Paris Olympics earlier in August, but was disqualified
for being overweight by 100 grams on the day of the final. On the same day, she filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) seeking a joint-silver medal, but a week later, her
appeal was dismissed by the body.
A day after the disqualification, Vinesh
announced her retirement from wrestling. Vinesh was felicitated in her hometown of Balali on arriving back from Paris on 17 August.