Racism, resilience, and gold: Karnataka's Siddi athletes wrestle identity and odds

Juliana Pedru Fernandes of the Siddi community, a Scheduled Tribe, recalls how her distinct physical appearance often made her a target of racial slurs in her neighbourhood of Haliyal in Uttara Kannada.

Hearing derogatory remarks, including the N-word, would leave her furious, sometimes to the point of responding physically.

“It was upsetting to hear those words; even the term ‘Siddi’ began to irritate me. I even ended up hitting a few of them just to teach them a lesson,” Juliana says with a chuckle.

Little did she know that over two decades later, her daughter Princeta Siddi would take up a combative sport like wrestling and give the community a reason to celebrate its identity and legacy which dates back to 628 CE, when the Siddis -- primarily descendents from Bantu people of Southeast Africa -- are believed to have been brought to the Indian subcontinent by Arab traders.

Princeta carried that legacy at the recent Khelo India Tribal Games, clinching gold in the women’s 68kg category in dominant fashion. She wasn’t alone. Manisha Juava Siddi (76kg) and Rohan M. Doddamani (Greco-Roman 60kg) also won gold, while Shalina Siddi secured a silver.

While Princeta grabbed the spotlight, coaches from the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES) see Shalina as one for the future. The 20-year-old, who grew up helping her father on farms in Jatgahosur, has been training at the centre since fifth standard and has lived in the hostel ever since.

“I took up wrestling early because I was inspired by my sister, who is also a national medallist,” says Shalina, who won bronze at the Khelo India University Games in Rajasthan last year. “My coach told me I had the physique for wrestling, and I agreed.”

Another hostel-mate, Rohan, now hopes to move elsewhere in search of better training facilities, citing the lack of quality sparring partners. Having lost his father, a porter, five years ago, he is also driven by the need to support his family. His mother works as a cook at a government school in Hubballi.

“I want to become a better wrestler, and I feel I need to train elsewhere to improve,” says the 22-year-old. “I also want to find a job soon so I can support my mother.”

Born into hardship, the medal-winning group showed little complaint while travelling in packed unreserved compartments on their way to Chhattisgarh, and later on partially reserved tickets during the return journey. Coming back as champions, however, made the overnight trip memorable.

Karnataka is home to nearly one-third of India’s Siddi population (estimated at 17,000–18,000) largely settled in Uttara Kannada, Belagavi, and Dharwad districts. The community was recognised as a Scheduled Tribe in 2003 and is listed among the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). Yet, such recognition has not erased everyday prejudice.

“That’s common for me. I’m often called African because of my skin colour or asked which country I’m from,” says a shy Princeta, who tries not to let such remarks affect her.

For her, wrestling has become both refuge and response -- a space to shut out the noise and prove herself. Training at JSW Vijayanagar after catching the attention of coaches last year, Princeta is part of a deeper wrestling tradition within the Siddi community.

That legacy is often traced back to the 1970s and Agnel Negro, a celebrated wrestler who became a household name among the Siddis. Stories of his exploits -- including a purported bout against 1968 world champion Dara Singh -- continue to be passed down, inspiring generations to step into the ‘garadi mane’, the traditional mud-wrestling arena.

Over time, wrestling became embedded in the community’s way of life, with people across age groups frequenting these mud pits. For long, however, women’s participation remained limited due to social stigma.

That began to change after 2000, particularly with the inclusion of women’s wrestling in the Dasara Games in Mysuru. A more structured shift came in 2015 with the establishment of the Sri Jayaprakash Narayan National Youth Training Centre under the DYES. This initiative introduced young athletes to modern mat-based wrestling. The centre now trains several Siddi athletes, including Shalina and Manisha. Coaches believe Siddi wrestlers possess natural physical attributes suited to combative sports.

While talent identification has improved, these athletes are still far from finished products. This gap becomes evident at the national level, where powerhouses like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh remain far ahead.

Bridging that gap will require sustained effort. Perhaps it can begin with something simple—ensuring that medal-winning athletes do not have to travel in unreserved train compartments.

Rohan Doddamani (extreme left)