‘Stood with wrestlers during our protest’
Thrissur: In Kerala’s Wayanad constituency — which is all established to witness a superior-stakes fight through the Lok Sabha elections — wrestler Sakshee Malikkh has thrown her assistance powering Communist Social gathering of India (CPI) applicant Annie Raja.Malikkh, who prolonged her support by means of a video concept produced Sunday, was component of a months-prolonged protest demanding an investigation into the alleged sexual harassment of women of all ages wrestlers by Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, previous Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) sitting down MP from Kaiserganj.
In the video clip, the Olympic medalist said that Annie Raja experienced supported the wrestlers in the course of their protest in Delhi. The video was shared by the formal social media page of the CPI, the second-most significant coalition lover in Kerala’s ruling Still left Democratic Front, and Annie Raja.


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“I am Sakshee Malikkh. I know Annie Raja personally. Annie Raja helped us a large amount in April final calendar year when we have been protesting versus the sexual harassment of females by then-WFI president Brij Bhushan. When Delhi Police attacked and arrested us, she stood with us and received arrested far too. She is nevertheless battling with us versus the sexual assault in WFI,” mentioned Malikkh, who retired from wrestling in protest following Bhushan’s near aide was picked as the WFI president in December very last 12 months.
The protest in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar towards Bhushan started in January 2023 when wrestlers, including Malikkh, demanded his arrest and dissolution of the WFI. While it was temporarily named off just after an inquiry committee was fashioned to search into the allegation of sexual harassment problems, the wrestlers resumed their protests in April, demanding that the report by the committee be built public. The protest, which acquired support from Opposition parties, also turned violent at occasions all through law enforcement intervention. Annie Raja, who supported the protesters, experienced also continuously condemned the government’s silence in excess of the concern.
Quite a few women’s organisations, like the Nationwide Federation of Indian Females (NFIW), the women’s wing of the CPI, experienced also issued an open assertion trying to get motion into the allegation in December. Annie is the basic secretary of the NFIW.Last 7 days, victims of the alleged atrocities perpetrated by the Joint Unique Process Pressure (JSTF) established to apprehend smuggler Veerappan in Tamil Nadu’s Sathyamangalam forest also rallied in assist of Annie throughout various segments of the constituency.“My name is Chinnaponnu. I am from Tamil Nadu’s Salem district. We ended up impacted for the duration of the hunt for sandalwood smuggler Veerappan. We have been afraid and didn’t have any person to help us. We had to commence a situation, but for that, we experienced to go to Delhi. And the only just one there to aid us was our Annie Raja Amma,” 1 of the victims stated, inquiring the folks of Wayanad to vote for Annie Raja. The video message of the target was shared on Annie’s Facebook page.“Seven of us went to Delhi first just after gathering her variety. Annie Raja Amma welcomed us, gave us all the regard, and even gave us foods. We hope that she will win,” mentioned Chinnaponnu.
The JSTF, established by the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments in 1992 to capture Veerappan, confronted allegations of common harassment by villagers and tribals in the border areas of both states.Subsequently, an inquiry panel led by previous Karnataka Large Courtroom decide A.J. Sadashiva was constituted, and based mostly on the panel report, the Countrywide Human Rights Fee (NHRC) introduced an interim relief of Rs 2.80 crore to the 89 victims of the atrocities on January 15, 2007. (Edited by Richa Mishra)
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