Wrestlers’ plight shows how women are seen as labharthis, not equals; our politicians fail to sense the shift

Worried about the protracted standoff and the bad press, given Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s impending trip to the US, the BJP brass decided to damage-control. And defuse the escalating political temperatures in Haryana, UP, and beyond.

For the wrestlers, it is the promise to end Brij Bhushan’s influence in the WFI – he was hoping that his son and son-in-law would carry forward what he had started – which may bring some comfort. As for the accusations against Brij Bhushan, the BJP leaders may have calculated, these will make their way through courts, a tortuous process which may take years. And it is less than a year to the general elections, where his services will be needed.

In any other set-up — say a big corporate house – if there were serious charges made against the CEO by half-a-dozen of its most valued staff, the accused would be sent packing, even as due process was taking its course. Clearly, not much has changed since the Vishaka guidelines – the WFI didn’t even have a committee as per the PoSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) Act.

The gangrape of a woman in Delhi in December 2012 had led to the appointment of the Justice J S Verma Committee, and a radical change in the country’s rape laws. This time it was not about a nameless woman. It was about a Sakshi, Vinesh, and many more fighting for their honour upfront, and saying, “it has happened to me”. And today they are backed not just by “par kati mahilayen” – a snide description of the late Sharad Yadav for short-haired (read urban) women, while opposing the women’s reservation Bill – it is being led by village women, who have gone on to break glass ceilings.

They are backed by parents, panchayats and even the so-called male dominated, “toxic” khaps. They now want their womenfolk to study, excel and bring India laurels. There is a stirring taking place in heartland India today, which we have yet to fully comprehend.

What has been missing in the wrestlers’ story is the disappointing silence and lack of action by those who were expected to reach out to them. Despite so many women wrestlers complaining, the police did not file FIRs till the court instructed them to do so. But the court too kicked the can down the road.

There was no invitation either from Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani or Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman or from the usually vocal Meenakshi Lekhi or from other eminent BJP women – which many thought might come — to these women, just for a cup of tea to hear what they had to say and to lend them a ear.

The CPI(M)’s Brinda Karat and the Aam Aadmi Party’s Atishi visited their dharna site. So did Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. It was an opportunity for someone like Priyanka to further her “Ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon” politics, which she had flagged in the run-up to the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. She had ensured 40% of Congress tickets to women at the time and organised women’s marathons in several parts of the state. The slogan had resonance, but the Congress lost. On the wrestlers, Priyanka limited her involvement to a visit and a couple of tweets.

All parties tend to view women as recipients of their largesse. PM Modi has successfully shifted the focus to women by talking about a host of schemes for them, like “Beti Bachao, Beti Padao” or Ujjwala. But essentially they remain “Labharthis (beneficiaries)” — and not women who must get their due place under the sun as equals.

Sportswomen, particularly wrestlers, are increasingly being given equal opportunities to play for world championships or the Olympics. The akhadas and the systems to train them are in place. But even if they are highly successful, like women who have reached the top in other sectors like the entertainment world, they are required to do “favours” to those in positions of authority.

Political parties must revisit the women’s issue. Women must get their equal rights. Their burgeoning aspirations, the new energies they are unleashing, represent the possibility of a new politics. Our politicians, women and men, are yet to wake up to that.

(Neerja Chowdhury, Contributing Editor, The Indian Express, has covered the last 10 Lok Sabha elections)