Flex the right muscles: Rudraneil Sengupta on the wrestlers’ protest

At the Jantar Mantar protest site in Delhi — a road blocked off on both sides by yellow police barricades — the crowds have thinned. On a breezy evening, the wrestlers ready for another night on the pavement. Their movements are practised now: lay out the mattresses; step out of the shoes; fix the mosquito nets to a tarpaulin roof.

PREMIUM

Sakshi Malik, the only Indian woman with an Olympic medal in wrestling (2016), is tired and irritable, leaning on the shoulders of her wrestler husband Satyawart Kadian and waiting for her dinner (home-cooked meals are delivered in steel tiffin boxes).

Bajrang Punia, the 2020 Olympics bronze medallist, is massaging the ankles of his wrestler-wife Sangeeta Phogat. Her cousin, Vinesh Phogat, Commonwealth and Asian Games champion, is chatting in her usual animated way.

Depending on one’s perspective, this protest, now in its 14th day, is either an outstanding example of speaking truth to power, or a case of unseemly political powerplay.

To take the second stance, one has to assume that the wrestlers are lying. But the law states that when a person approaches the authorities with a complaint of sexual harassment, one must assume that they are telling the truth.

So, let’s adhere to the law, cut through the noise — whether the “We win medals for the nation” refrain from the athletes or the “I will hang myself if proven guilty” from former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) head and six-time Member of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh — and take a hard look at some unanswered questions.

The five-member panel formed to investigate the charges against Singh submitted its report more than 20 days ago. Why has it still not been released?

When the wrestlers first began protesting in January and accused Singh of sexual harassment, this panel was formed by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the union sports ministry, to investigate and report back within a month. The wrestlers withdrew their protest based on this development. The report was first delayed by a month, then submitted to the sports ministry, where it has since languished. The sports minister says it is “still under scrutiny”. Scrutinising and releasing it should be a priority, but there is still no scheduled date for its release.

Has WFI been suspended?

It was announced in January that Singh and the federation were being suspended for the duration of the investigation. Without any further announcement, however, WFI office-bearers (including Singh’s son, Federation vice-president Karan Bhushan Singh), returned to their offices at the end of March. They organised a national tournament in Singh’s village in Gonda district, UP, in April, over which the senior Singh presided. At the end of April, IOA appointed a three-member body to run WFI and hold elections. Singh said last week that he will not step down. He remains, or seems to think he remains, WFI president. Why has the situation not been made clearer, and the original announcements enforced?

Why did the police refuse to file a first-information report (FIR)?

Before the ongoing protest began, a delegation of wrestlers, including seven of the complainants (one of these a minor), went to the Connaught Place police station to register an FIR. The police refused to file one. The wrestlers moved court, asking to know why their case was not being filed. The petition reached the Supreme Court, which directed the police to lodge the FIR. The police offered no explanation for the refusal, but executed the court’s order by registering an FIR on April 28.

Singh has not been arrested in the days since. He continues to address the media from his home in Gonda. It is not clear why he has not been taken into custody, even for a day, as is the norm in such cases. But watching this unfold, it is clearer why the wrestlers thought their protest necessary.

They persist, at a time when sleeping on the streets instead of training could mean that they miss out on the Asian Games, and thereby the Olympics. Clearly they feel this is worth it. We need to ask ourselves why.