What started as a strong and legitimate fight by a trio of internationally acclaimed wrestlers against a powerful administrator six months ago has now taken so many bizarre twists and turns that it has put the very crusaders on a sticky wicket.
On January 18, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia launched a protest at Jantar Mantar in the national capital against then Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Singh Sharan, accusing the sitting BJP Lok Sabha MP of sexual harassment and intimidation among other allegations.
When the trio decided to hit the streets against a political heavyweight like Brij Bhushan — the controversial 66-year-old once faced several criminal cases, including murder — they knew the battle they were getting into. Despite winning medals for the country and their cause backed by several other wrestlers, they were aware the odds were stacked heavily against them.
With two major events lined up back to back in the second half of the year — the World Championships (Sept 16-25) and the Asian Games (Sept 23-October 8) — it was an extremely hard choice to take on Brij Bhushan but they chose to fight him and now their hopes of competing in two major events are in peril. While Vinesh and Bajrang, who won gold in the previous Asian Games, were exempted from trials for the continental bash, their spot is still not confirmed as an Indian Olympic Association ad-hoc panel member has said their names should be withdrawn if they fail in the World Championships’ trials.
Although nothing is certain with the saga panning out like a soap opera with new developments occurring every other day, the whole fight which began for a good cause has left the entire wrestling fraternity a fractured lot and many believe it’ll take years to heal the wounds. There are no winners in this battle.
“My heart breaks to see the entire issue spiral into such a giant mess,” said a senior wrestling coach who wished to remain anonymous. “Despite the problems, which every sport has, we were like one big happy family. Yes, there would be factions, but the camaraderie was great amongst most of them. Now we have come to a situation where two wrestlers from the same weight category don’t see eye to eye. There’s a Brij Bhushan camp, there’s Yogeshwar (Dutt) camp, there’s Bajrang camp…..it’s a broken family now.”
The coach blamed the government and sports ministry for being callous about Vinesh and other protesting wrestlers’ concerns. “When an athlete accuses someone, especially a hugely powerful man, of sexual harassment, they should have immediately taken action. It is a serious charge but their long silence showed how as a country we are still patriarchal. That period of silence allowed other players to come into the picture and when there are too many cooks, you know what happens. By the time the Ministry stepped in, it was too late and too little.”
Another unfortunate collateral of this sorry episode is young and aspiring wrestlers being forced to the sidelines as the IOA ad-hoc panel granted exemptions to Bajrang and Vinesh from taking part in Asian Games’ trials. The talented Antim Panghal (women’s 53kg) as well Vishal Kaliraman (men’s freestyle 65kg) won their respective trials but are in the standby list because Vinesh and Bajrang compete in the same weight category.
This forced Antim to approach the court questioning the exemption granted to Vinesh. Antim, a promising wrestler, has worked hard to achieve her dream of competing in the quadrennial bash and for no fault of hers has to accept being in the standbys. Even when the trials took place, there were heated arguments between the parents of the wrestlers and coaches, showing how badly things have turned.
“These scars will take a long time to heal,” felt another coach. “Things took a different turn when exemption was granted to Vinesh and Bajrang. Until then their fight was legit and although some young wrestlers didn’t come forward fearing for their careers, they silently backed their fight. But the moment they got exemption, even friends turned into foes. There were wrestlers who’ve been working extremely hard to qualify for Asian Games and some felt it was unfair.
“While the wrestlers are in distress two months away from two big events, the man accused is smiling and holding press conferences. Life is harsh.”
Ashwini Nachappa, who started the Clean Sports India movement in 2010 to bring more former athletes into administration, said she’s shocked that women in power are not standing up for their own. “When we were athletes, we barely had any women administrators to whom we could address our grievances. Many of us endured a lot of struggles in a male-dominated world to make a mark. I don’t want to name anyone but there are plenty of women in powerful posts now who can bring about a change.
“Sadly, not one of them has come out in support. Or has anyone attempted to change the way some of the sports are administered. Yes, I totally agree that a person is not guilty until proven in the case Brij Bhushan. But at least some show of support, considering the allegations are so severe. Not one has voiced an opinion. It’s sad that they too are following in the footsteps which they were critical about while growing up.”
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