The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections, held on December 21, which led to the election of an all male, 15-member body — 13 of whom are loyalists of former president Brij Bhushan Singh — stands dramatically suspended by the Sports Ministry. The winning panel’s behaviour just after the results were declared shocked not only the wrestlers who had fought a tough battle against Brij Bhushan a few months ago, but even among those who closely supported their courageous fight.
The deeply anguished Olympian Sakshi Malik announced her retirement from wrestling as she placed her shoes on the table at an emotional press conference. Another Olympian Bajrang Punia sought to return his prestigious Padma Shri along with a letter addressed to the Prime Minister expressing his disgust over the turn of events. He was followed by a three-time Deaflympics gold medalist, wrestler Virender Singh, popularly known as “Goonga Pahalwan”, surrendering his Padma Shri in solidarity.
What triggered these sharp reactions among the wrestlers was not merely the outcome of the Federation elections. It was, rather, the outrageous audacity displayed in the photographs of a heavily garlanded Brij Bhushan surrounded by his supporters — including one in which he stands with Sanjay Singh, his protege and the newly elected WFI president, with both flashing the victory sign. Adding insult to injury was another picture of Brij Bhushan’s son holding a placard with the offensive slogan, “dabdaba tha…dabdaba rahega” meaning, “we have dominated… we will dominate”.
These developments and the unsavoury conduct of the victors portend a disturbing trend for sports and civil society that need to be examined especially with regard to the safety of women in sports in our country.
What does this election really mean? To manage an electoral college of some 50-odd voters was never a difficult task for Brij Bhushan, who is a powerful Member of Parliament belonging to the ruling BJP and has solid political patronage at his beck and call. Therefore, the results of the election were a foregone conclusion and hardly unexpected. But the nauseating display of the ill-gotten victory came as something of an anti-climax to the popular movement of the wrestlers who were demanding action against Brij Bhushan for cases of sexual abuse.
The unique agitation by the wrestlers at Jantar Mantar had left a deep imprint as one of the most remarkable protest movements of 2023 because it succeeded in bringing the sexual harassment of women, a rampant malaise, to the centre stage and stirred the conscience of the entire nation. The spectacular determination and courage shown by the two women wrestlers, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat, along with Bajrang Punia, succeeded in attracting unprecedented solidarity across the board from women’s organisations, farmers’ unions, sportspersons, a variety of social outfits, including khap panchayats, students and youth fronts, etc.
As the insensitivity of the ruling establishment and its resort to police repression failed to suppress the protest, the Union Sports Ministry had to negotiate with the agitating wrestlers and an assurance was given to them of a chargesheet in the court against Brij Bhushan and keeping his close aides from capturing the WFI in the impending elections.
On both counts, the wrestlers were blatantly deceived. The chargesheet was filed under offences of outraging the modesty of women and sexual abuse, sufficient for the trial and conviction of Brij Bhushan Singh. But before this, he was alleged to have had the opportunity to influence one of the minor complainants into withdrawing her accusation, which would otherwise have led to a near certain arrest under the POCSO Act.
Similarly, the second assurance pertaining to freeing the WFI from the stranglehold of Brij Bhushan and his henchmen also fell flat when seen in the light of the last laugh he had following the declaration of the election results. It was this arrogance that led to the fixing of the Junior National Wrestling Tournament at Nandini Nagar in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, a place that falls within his own parliamentary constituency. Sakshi Malik has posted on her social media account that many girls have expressed their fear of going to Gonda for participation.
It was the angry reactions of award-winning sportspersons to Brij Bhushan’s public display of his might and, ostensibly, the disregarding of rules and regulations in fixing the venue of national tournaments that ultimately compelled the Sports Ministry to suspend the newly-elected WFI body. The situation is poised for escalation between the warring camps.
Meanwhile, the broad picture unfolding now has two contending sets of stakeholders facing off. The jubilation now seems to have been dampened, perhaps temporarily, due to the sudden suspension of the WFI body. Brij Bhushan’s camp was desperately trying to interpret the WFI election results as a vindication of their claims of innocence. They wanted to make people believe that entire episode involving allegations of serious sexual abuse was unfounded and just made out of political motives.
On the other hand, the atmosphere of gloom and disappointment on the side of wrestlers, sports lovers and people clamouring for justice seems to have lifted, at least for now.
More deeply affected in the current churning, however, are those who have been encouraging their daughters to defy social taboos and take up sports. Finding better careers and job opportunities in sports, apart from the glory that comes with the medals they win, many parents in rural areas had begun favouring their daughters taking up sports as a profession. The events of the recent months have certainly shaken their confidence.
In this context, mere suspension of the elected body is not going to restore the already eroded public trust regarding the safety of women in sports. What turn the ongoing tussle will take needs to be closely and relentlessly followed. In this respect, women’s organisations have a special role to play in keeping the pressure on.
It was apparent to the people that neither did the BJP take any disciplinary action against Brij Bhushan nor did the Delhi Police register a case until ordered to do so by the Supreme Court.
For a fair trial, it is necessary that the accused is kept in judicial custody in order to stop him from influencing the complainants whose testimony is crucial for any conviction.
As far as the field of sports is concerned, the need of the hour is implementation of drastic steps towards thorough and total transformation of all sports federations and associations. More specifically, a separate sports policy is needed, which focuses on ensuring that the encouraging inflow of women in sports, as seen in recent decades, does not slow down or stop.
Such radical change requires broad-based campaigns that include all stakeholders in order to make the sports establishments truly inclusive of women, and more democratic, transparent and accountable. In this challenging scenario, the spirit and strength of the wrestlers’ agitation at Jantar Mantar needs to be consolidated and expanded.
Sangwan, a volleyball player and first woman Bhim Awardee, is national vice-president, AIDWA. Singh is vice president, All India Kisan Sabha
