Dharamshala: Women organisations take out march in solidarity with protesting wrestlers
Members of various women organisations and civil societies on Saturday held a protest march in Dharamshala to show solidarity with the wrestlers who have been agitating against the president of Wrestling Federation of India ( WFI), Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who faces charges of sexual harassment.
“We condemn the callousness of the central government that has failed to act on the serious charges, including one under the Pocso Act, against the WFI chief,” said a joint statement issued by these organisations.
Highlighting the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act, 2013, which aims to create a safe working environment for women in the country, the protesters said, “It was a shame that a decade after passing of the law, over half the sports federations in India still have not set up an internal complaints committee mandatory for all government and private organisations in the country.”
“This shows the patriarchal nature of public and private workspaces in our society,” the statement reads.
The protesters also put forth an eight-point demand charter.
They demanded that based on the FIR lodged by women wrestlers, the government should immediately remove Brij Bhushan from the post of WFI president, arrest him and all allegations of sexual harassment, corruption and abuse of power against him should be investigated as per the law.
They demanded democratisation of all sports federations and bodies by removing the corrupt, abusive persons heading the sports bodies.
PoSH Act, 2013, should be implemented in letter and spirit in all public and private workplaces while committees and child abuse monitoring panels under the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012, should be formed in all sports federations and bodies at the central and state level, they demanded.
Women and minor players should be provided safe spaces and committee members must be given full training to create such spaces.
In context of Himachal, they asked the government to appoint commissioner of the state women’s commission at the earliest to ensure its smooth functioning.