Babita Phogat takes veiled jab at Sakshi Malik after wrestlers' protest claims: 'Sold integrity to sell book'

Babita Phogat has launched a veiled attack on Sakshi Malik after the Rio Olympics medallist alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader masterminded the wrestlers' protest against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. In her comments to the media while promoting her new book 'Witness', Malik claimed that Babita wanted to become WFI president and encouraged the wrestlers to take to the streets against Brij Bhushan.

'Sakshi sold her integrity'

Without naming Sakshi, Babita launched an indirect scathing attack on social media, saying that the wrestler "sold her integrity" to sell her book.

"Shine with your own character. How long will the borrowed light last? Some got assembly seats, some got posts sister, and you did not get anything, I can understand your pain. In order to sell the book, she sold her integrity," Babita Phogat wrote on X.

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Earlier in an interview with the Indian Today, Sakshi revealed the support former wrestler and now BJP leader Babita provided in initiating the protest against Brij Bhushan.

"Babita Phogat approached us with the idea of protesting against Brij Bhushan Singh because she had her own agenda — she wanted to become the WFI president," Malik told India Today. "There are rumours that Congress supported our protest, but that’s false. In fact, two BJP leaders helped us secure permission to protest in Haryana - Babita Phogat and Tirath Rana."

Wrestlers did not follow Babita blindly

Malik went on to add that while Babita initially brought the idea of protest, the wrestlers did not follow her "blindly"

“It’s not that we blindly followed her, but we were aware that there were serious issues like sexual harassment and molestation within the federation. We believed that having a woman in charge, especially someone like Babita Phogat, who is also a sportsperson, would bring positive change. We trusted that she would understand our struggles. But we never anticipated that she would play such a big game with us.

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“We thought she would sit with us in the protest and raise her voice against the wrongdoing as a fellow wrestler,” Malik said.

Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, and Bajrang Punia were the faces of the protest against Brij Bhushan, which eventually led to his ouster from the federation. But his close aide Sanjay Singh was elected as WFI president last December.