Vinesh Phogat joins farmers’ massive protest at Shambhu border: ‘Painful to see this…’

Olympian Vinesh Phogat was honored by farmers during the event organised at the Shambhu border to mark their protest which entered its 200th day on Saturday. Olympian Vinesh Phogat attended an event of farmers at the Shambhu border as their protest, demanding a legal guarantee for the Minimum Support Price (MSP), entered its 200th day on Saturday, August 31. Protests are also scheduled to occur at the Khanauri, Shambhu, and Ratanpura borders. Vinesh Phogat, a well-known athlete and supporter of the farmers’ movement, was honored by the farmers during the day’s events. “It has been 200 days since they are sitting here. It is painful to see this. All of them are citizens of this country. Farmers run the country. Nothing is possible without them, not even athletes – if they don’t feed us, we won’t be able to compete. Many a time we are helpless and can’t do anything, we represent the country at such big levels but we can’t do anything for our family even when we see them sad. I urge the Government that they should listen. They had admitted their mistake last time, they should fulfill the promises that they made. The country won’t progress, if people sit on streets like this,” Vinesh Phogat said at the event. It has been a topsy-turvy month for Vinesh after she reached the final of the women’s 50kg event but still returned to India empty-handed. On August 7, Sarah Ann Hildebrandt of the United States stood between Vinesh and the gold medal. However, things went downhill after she was disqualified before the final after breaching the 50kg weight limit. A day after her heartbreaking disqualification, Vinesh announced her decision to retire from wrestling. She also made a plea to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to award her a joint silver medal. The CAS deferred the verdict a couple of times and eventually dismissed the application filed by Vinesh for a silver medal in the women’s 50kg event at the Paris Olympics. Amritsar district farmer leader Baldev Singh Bagga claimed that efforts to communicate with the government have gone unanswered, The Times of India reported. “Farmer organisations had repeatedly written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but have received no responses. As Modi enters his 11th year in office, rather than addressing our demands, the government continues to suppress the voice of farmers,” ToI quoted Baldev Singh Bagga as saying. Convenor of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha Sarvan Singh Pandher appealed to the farmers to gather in significant numbers at the Shambu and Khanauri points on August 31, it added. “We will once again present our demands to the government, and new announcements will be made,” India Today quoted Pandher as saying.