Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat programme reached a landmark 100 episodes. But on the same day, there was also an outcry from some of India’s most accomplished sports heroes. “Modiji, listen to our mann ki baat too. Give us justice,” cried out the voices of champion wrestlers who have been on a long protest in New Delhi demanding action against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, President of the Wrestling Federation of India who has been accused of sexual harassment. Women wrestlers wept as they narrated their woes to the media. Such is the treatment being given to sports champions who have spread India’s fame and glory throughout the world.
Olympic Games medal winner and Commonwealth Games champion, wrestler Sakshi Malik said: “I also want to ask Smriti Irani (Union Minister) why she is silent now. For four days, we are sleeping on the road, enduring mosquito bites. We are not being allowed by Delhi Police to prepare food. Why are you silent? I want you to support us.”
The wrestlers have chosen to adopt the Gandhian path of nonviolence to get their demand heard and they have got a wonderfully positive response from many sections of India’s sports fraternity. Well-known champions such as Olympic Gold Medalists Neeraj Chopra and Abhinav Bindra, World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev, World champion boxer Nikhat Zareen, tennis champion Sania Mirza and cricketers Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh and Navjot Sidhu have all spoken out in support of the wrestlers. Only P.T. Usha struck a discordant note but she received severe criticism all around for her outrageous comments.
How long will the government remain inactive? There is an immediate need to suspend the accused person until an inquiry is conducted and concluded. The man who has been accused, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, is a six-time member of parliament. Five times he won with a BJP ticket and once from the Samajwadi party. He is presently an MP from the BJP party.
He has had a controversy-filled career in politics with many serious charges against him. In 2021, during a wrestling tournament, he slapped a wrestler on stage which was recorded on camera. In January 2023, thirty Indian wrestlers began a sit-in protest accusing Brij Bhushan and some coaches of sexually harassing women players. As expected, the police tried to ignore the issue. But when the Supreme Court stepped in, two FIRs were filed by the Delhi police, one of these being under the POCSO Act. The wrestlers seemed to have won the first round but they say they will not be satisfied until Brij Bhushan is arrested.
There is a lesson in this controversy that all sportsmen and sports bodies should learn. They must keep politicians away from sports. Political leaders personify all that is irrelevant and unwanted in sports. Especially those politicians who have had criminal charges against them. What business do they have in sports? If the sports bodies feel that having a politician as the President will help them in some ways, then this theory has been repeatedly proved wrong. Politicians pay only lip service to sports. They use sports as a stepping stone to climb higher up the political ladder.
For that very reason, the protesting wrestlers should take care not to allow opposition political parties to take over and dominate the protest. It is the fight of the wrestlers. They can win on their own. They do not need help from any quarter, however powerful those helpers may be. If rival politicians join the fray, the chances are that the movement will lose its pristine quality. Right now it is being seen by everyone as a justified protest against an oppressor. There are no vested interests involved.
But if political leaders are allowed to fish in troubled waters, the waters will soon turn muddy and the truth will be submerged. Wrestlers must keep the politicians away and fight it out by themselves. They must show the same confidence that they showed while winning medals for India. So far they have been disciplined, sportsmanlike and peaceful. They must continue to play by the rules till victory is assured. Their victory will send out a strong message – that there is no place for sexual harassment or bullying in Indian sports and in Indian society.
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