Every sportsperson would have been looking to the New Year with new hopes and aspirations. Additionally so in 2024, which is the year of the Olympics to be held in Paris. But for Indian wrestlers, it is a stalemate that stares at them, thanks to the continuing impasse involving the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and the wrestlers themselves over the yet-to-be-cleared allegations of sexual harassment against the former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Mr Singh is said to be out of the picture now, with the court case on and he himself out of the Federation. Further, as per the last news on him, the man, a sitting MP has announced his decision to quit the sport itself totally!
Much had happened over the year with the agitating wrestlers taking to the street and what not had happened. Things seemed to die down a bit with the WFI control temporarily shifting to a specially instituted panel to carry on with the affairs of wrestling in India. The Asian Games in Hangzhou, China came and went, and even though India returned with medals, six in all (one silver and five bronzes), it is anybody’s guess if this consistency can be continued in the seasons ahead, looking into the current difficult situation. What has turned the table again is the recent elections held for the WFI that saw Bhushan Singh’s close aides filling most of the posts. In fact, 13 out of the 15, and what is more not a single woman was chosen. Of immediate interest was the election of his long-standing loyalist Mr Sanjay Singh. What came as a giveaway or so observers believe was the sight of a heavily garlanded Bhushan Singh, along with the actual victor, both flashing the victory sign, standing outside the latter’s residence which was also the WFI office!
Need anything more be said of the level of disappointment that instantly shot up for the wrestlers seeing and perhaps realising that all their efforts through fights on the road, protests, etc had virtually gone down the drain? In fact, the reactions were swift with a tearful Sakshi Malik, India’s only woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal (she achieved this in the Rio Games in 2016) announcing that she was retiring from the sport. Soon after the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia, who had been a pillar of strength to the women wrestlers, firmly standing with them in their hour of despair, deciding and returning his Padma Shri award, placing it on the road in fact after being denied by the Police to do his act at the Prime Minister’s residence.
Not to be found lagging behind was Vinesh Phogat another distinguished name in women’s wrestling and multiple times medal winner at the world championship. She too like Bajrang placed her Khel Ratna and Arjuna award on the road close to the PM’s office just the way the latter had done while registering her deep sense of regret and disappointment over the developments in the WFI elections. The central fact in all these is a sense of dejection over being denied what they believed was justice for the women wrestlers. Their main contention was the need for ‘safety’ and that indeed was an undesirable worry in the midst of the sweat-dropping exercises they have always been into to raise the image of the nation. They had been successful in their aim to bring laurels but felt defeated when it came apparently to their personal issue of safety.
Where this will all end up is something not clear but the sport as such cries for talents to not leave in this midst but come and strengthen it. Wrestling has been a medal-winning sport each time any major sporting programme like the Commonwealth, Asian Games, Asian championship, and the like gets on board. If anything, the trend has only been going up. As the women wrestlers point out, when they win and bring laurels, they do get the plaudits and also savour the feeling of being proud daughters of the nation. But how do these deeds become forgotten chapters later when, essentially, they should be projected as an inspiration for the future generation? This as the women wrestlers perceive is not happening because the WFI had failed in its role as per the sports code to protect their welfare.
For the moment there is some sigh of relief or shall we say an extension of the suspense, for the Union Sports Ministry has suspended the newly elected WFI body for violation of what it said was the hasty decisions that the new body had taken with little regard for the existing rules and regulations. It was back to an outside body again to take stock of the wrestling affairs with the IOA naming a three-member panel. The newly elected President Sanjay Singh has not taken this lightly and there are already signs of the rumblings coming into the open. But the fact remains it has been a long time since this sport has been seeking justice. The opportunity perhaps is now to clean up and give a positive response to help set aside the fear-phobia that has crept into the minds of the performing wrestlers. After all, they too deserve the best settings like any other hardworking sportsperson in the country. It is time as they say when focus has to revert back to the wrestling rings and at the earliest at that, to see new champions rise and with them fresh dreams of a great future.
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The plight of women wrestlers and the sport
20
1
10.01.2024
Every sportsperson would have been looking to the New Year with new hopes and aspirations. Additionally so in 2024, which is the year of the Olympics to be held in Paris. But for Indian wrestlers, it is a stalemate that stares at them, thanks to the continuing impasse involving the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and the wrestlers themselves over the yet-to-be-cleared allegations of sexual harassment against the former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Mr Singh is said to be out of the picture now, with the court case on and he himself out of the Federation. Further, as per the last news on him, the man, a sitting MP has announced his decision to quit the sport itself totally!
Much had happened over the year with the agitating wrestlers taking to the street and what not had happened. Things seemed to die down a bit with the WFI control temporarily shifting to a specially instituted panel to carry on with the affairs of wrestling in India. The Asian Games in Hangzhou, China came and went, and even though India returned with medals, six in all (one silver and five bronzes), it is anybody’s guess if this consistency can be continued in the seasons ahead, looking into the current difficult situation. What has turned the table again is the recent elections held for the WFI that saw Bhushan Singh’s close aides filling most of the posts. In fact, 13 out of the 15, and what is more not a........
© Mathrubhumi English
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