The foundations of Indian sport are currently trembling after seven women wrestlers, including one minor, accused the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexually harassing several grapplers over a number of years.
A shocked nation has watched this downward spiral as the sporting ecosystem appears to be trapped in inertia, apathy and insensitivity.
A stronger leadership may have taken control of the situation, settling it to everyone’s satisfaction, even while a criminal investigation was underway, and a judicial verdict would follow.
By not acting on wrestlers' pleas immediately and effectively, the authorities have unwittingly paved the way for a platform that is free for all now. When the wrestlers first went on strike a few months ago, they had steadfastly refused to entertain politicians or political entities to cash in on their grievances.
But having watched the government's muted response — apart from establishing a panel headed by boxer Mary Kom to probe into the matter — the wrestlers this time have not only freely mingled with politicians from Opposition parties but have also invited them to the protest site.
Inaction, combined with the government’s secrecy over the panel’s findings, has only contributed to add a layer of suspicion to its inaction.
On Friday, wrestlers even set up two committees to guide the protest forward. One committee will comprise various khaps, farm leaders and student and labour unions. The other will have only wrestlers. Clearly, the wrestlers have made their intentions clear – they will not budge from their position until their demands are met, primary among them being the arrest of the WFI chief.
Brij Bhushan, an MP from Uttar Pradesh's Kaiserganj constituency, is no saint. A political heavyweight, he has four cases against him, including robbery and attempted murder. He was also jailed for several months in the mid-1990s.
It is probable that if Brij Bhushan was not an influential leader of a national political party, he would have been forced to resign as the WFI chief based on allegations of sexual harassment.
Particularly, given that a minor has also accused him of harassment, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, Brij Bhushan would be immediately arrested.
However, in our reality, here he is, walking free while our athletes, symbols of our national pride, are on the streets, demanding justice. With the Asian Games scheduled in October, most of these athletes had sure-fire medal prospects.
They should have been training and honing their skills. Instead, they have been compelled to spend their time on the streets of the national capital.
Coincidentally, there are BJP Haryana politicians who have thrown their weight behind the wrestlers.
Renowned coach Mahavir Phogat, on whom the blockbuster movie Dangal was made, threatened to return his medals if the wrestlers didn’t get justice. Mahavir had joined BJP three years ago while his wrestler daughters — Geeta and Babita — are also members of the ruling party.
Some may view it as a battle for one-upmanship. Most of the top grapplers in the country are from Haryana, while the federation is controlled by a UP man who has had run-ins with a few wrestlers in the past.
Be that as it may, allegations of sexual harassment are not to be taken lightly.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president P T Usha and its joint secretary Kalyan Chaubey, who is also the All India Football Federation president and a BJP member, have precipitated the matter.
While criticising the wrestlers’ protest a few days ago, Chaubey made a bizarre, if not outrageous, comment saying how the protest was denting the image of India, an economy of $5 trillion.
When a Member of Parliament with criminal antecedents does not harm the country’s image, how can international medal-winning athletes protesting, demanding justice for being sexually harassed bring disrepute?
P T Usha, a rare woman athlete to head a sports body in the country, even if she is a political appointee, threw the wrestlers under the bus by castigating them.
In such a scenario, it is natural for the question to arise whether India has created an enabling and supportive atmosphere for athletes to report instances of abuse.
Governing guidelines
To begin with, the National Sports Development Code of India, 2011, includes clear instructions to National Sports Federations to comply with the guidelines for prevention of sexual abuse in sports.
Interestingly, well before the National Sports Development Code came into vogue, the Sports Ministry had written to the IOA and National Sports Federations that the Supreme Court guidelines laid down in the Vishakha judgement had to be observed to prevent sexual harassment in the sector. It proceeded to list 10 steps that each of them had to follow.
In 2013, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports instructed National Sports Federations and other sports organisations that the Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2013, is applicable to them too.
These directives are quite elaborate and, if followed in letter and spirit, may suffice to curb sexual harassment in Indian sport.
Since an overwhelming majority of national camps are held in the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, Patiala, and Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) National Centres of Excellence (NCoE) across the country, SAI has established an
Internal Complaints Committee in each centre, with a senior lady officer as its chairperson.
If the alleged instances of sexual harassment happened when the wrestlers were in national camps in the SAI NCoE, Lucknow, complaints should have been lodged there.
Curiously, a former Director-General of Sports Authority of India is on record as saying that many sexual harassment cases may not have been reported by SAI trainees “fearing retribution”.
Complaints committees
However, in 2019, a report of the Parliamentary Committee on Empowerment of Women listed 24 complaints of sexual harassment dealt with by the Sports Authority of India in the previous five years and made seven critical recommendations.
The following year, in its Action Taken report, the Committee observed that the Sports Ministry had been silent on the recommendation to provide a letter to athletes, informing them of their rights and the details of the Internal Complaints Committee. This would include information on how complaints could be registered and the website address where they could be filed. The Committee had strongly felt that such a letter would be useful to women athletes.
It also sought details of the complaints committee set up by each NSF as per the direction of the government. Had that been followed through, the complainants would have traversed an easier path to justice.
Answering a question in the Rajya Sabha in July last about complaints of sexual harassment of sportswomen, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur said 30 cases against coaches and staff had come to the notice of SAI. Coaches and staff had their contracts terminated, some compulsorily retired and others were denied increments.
But these were all bound to the Sports Authority of India. And, from the information available in the public domain, such departmental action was not followed with a criminal complaint with the police.
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