Better sooner rather than later: Sense in Govt to defuse wrestlers’ standoff

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur are working to that effect, sources said.

There is uneasiness among party leaders over the long-drawn-out nature of the protest and the impression that the government has not been responsive to such a “sensitive” issue.

Shah’s meeting with wrestlers late last week was one such attempt by the government to address the issue. Although there was no breakthrough, the fact that the meeting was held is being seen as a step forward.

“While there are two views in the party over the allegations (against MP and Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh) and demands of the wrestlers, there is no dispute over the assessment that it has hurt us badly in perception,” a senior leader of the party said.

At least four senior leaders, including those part of the government, whom The Indian Express has spoken to, admitted that “things could have been handled better” and that “it should not have been allowed to go to this extent”.

BJP MPs Maneka Gandhi and Pritam Munde as well as the party’s Hisar MP, Brijendra Singh, have publicly backed the wrestlers and said they should get justice.

A prompt chargesheet by the Delhi Police and the matter moving on to courts will be one way out for both sides to lower the heat and move towards a resolution, sources said.

Said a senior BJP leader: “There was no reason for this protest to go to this extent. But I must say no one anticipated the protest would get this prolonged or gather momentum like this. It is now being seen as a women’s issue.”

However, the party seems to be divided over the wrestlers’ demands for the arrest of Brij Bhushan, the BJP’s Kaiserganj MP.

A section of leaders see a political angle to the wrestlers’ protest, and say it stemmed out of “akhada politics to grab control” over the wrestler bodies. Some attribute it to “Jat politics”.

While the Jat community members from Haryana dominate the country’s wrestling field, Brij Bhushan is a powerful Rajput leader from Uttar Pradesh.

India’s top wrestlers Sakshi Mallik, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia have been protesting for over a month seeking the MP’s arrest.

The FIRs filed by seven women wrestlers, including a minor, and reported in The Indian Express, talk of molestation, sexual harassment, inappropriate touching and seeking of sexual favours by Brij Bhushan. He has denied the charges.

The government has so far maintained that it is ready for a fair investigation and that the Delhi Police are already investigating the case. Urging the wrestlers to “trust” the probe, Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Anurag Thakur has said: “The government also wants a fair investigation. We all want justice to be done, but for this we will have to wait for the completion of the legal process.’’

After the protest site at Jantar Mantar was cleared by the Delhi Police, during which the wrestlers were dragged into vans and detained, farm leaders from Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh – both dominated by the Jat community – have joined the protesters. Khap panchayats across the region have also declared their support for the wrestlers.

“The anti-BJP forces, political and non-political, are covertly and overtly backing the protests and making it a platform to come together. They are citing the success of the farmers’ agitation (against the contentious farm laws that were eventually withdrawn by the Central government). Now that more women leaders including from the BJP are speaking out in support of the wrestlers, it’s not a good sign for the party in the run-up to elections,” said a BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh. “The earlier this gets resolved, the better.”