Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia and others during their protest against the Wrestling Federation of India, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, on Jan 20, 2023.
Photo Credits: PTI
Over the last few days, Indian sports has been rocked by shocking allegations of sexual harassment made by the country's top wrestlers against their federation president. The poignant picture of a crying Vinesh Phogat recounting the horrors of sexual abuse of women wrestlers and coaches by Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and other officials has shaken the entire nation. While it is not the first time a woman athlete has accused an official or coach of sexual misconduct, this is the most high-profile case where a group of athletes has come out and levied charges against a high-ranking official of a sporting body.
This case again uncovers the ugly underbelly of Indian sport, which has seen five such incidents in the last nine months alone. While these are publicly recorded cases, it is likely that there are hundreds of such instances which are unreported in a large country like ours where a majority of sports associations and national federations are a fiefdom of politicians. Singh, a six-time MP of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is the epitome of this culture where political privilege hands non-sports persons high positions in sports bodies and gives these leaders opportunities to bask in the reflected glory hard-earned by our elite athletes in top sports events. That the wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, have stuck their neck out to take on the politically mighty federation head points to a situation very dire for these athletes, who have been allegedly receiving death threats for speaking up against the WFI president.
It is a sad commentary on the state of affairs in not just Indian wrestling but the country's sport in general. While the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has initiated a probe through a seven-member panel, the sports ministry has also constituted an oversight committee to look into the charges of financial misappropriation and administrative lapses, besides that of sexual misconduct by Singh and the other unnamed officials. Singh has been asked to step aside for four weeks as the committee completes its probe.
However, like a true-blood politician, the BJP leader has labelled the protests by the wrestlers at Delhi's Jantar Mantar as "dharna of Shaheen Bagh" and reiterated he won't quit his post. He also termed the protest an attack on the BJP, orchestrated by the Congress party. Adding insult to injury of the wrestlers, Singh -- supposed to be away from his role as the WFI president -- inaugurated the senior National Open Ranking Wrestling Tournament in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. This brash talk and defiant behaviour has only added fuel to the raging fire and further escalated the tensions.
With the sports ministry and the IOA working to resolve the situation and propose measures acceptable to the wrestlers, it is an opportune moment for them to review the redressal and grievance mechanisms offered to our athletes, especially the women athletes. The fact that the wrestlers had to sit on a dharna and highlight their issues in the media, shows the current system doesn't provide them a proper redressal system at the highest level, independent of bias and manipulation through political interference. The athletes need an effective, nationally uniform legal process where they are confident of getting justice if they are wronged in any manner. It is necessary to have active committees to probe sexual harassment complaints in every sports department, whether at the State or central level. It is imperative that this dark episode in Indian sport, the Dangal in Delhi, acts as a catalyst for a positive change for the betterment of our athletes.
