The wrestlers who brought glory to India in the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, the Asian and World Championships are today fighting cases in the Supreme Court against the state and its de facto instrumentalities like the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and its chief for alleged sexual exploitation of women wrestlers including minors.
This is not a case of the West accusing us of human rights violations. It’s the pride of India, our Olympic and World champions in wrestling, who are claiming to have lifted the veil from what could be the most extensive and most shameful moral decay in a section of our sports infrastructure.
The main allegation
A group of highly decorated wrestlers – Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia and others – have alleged that the head of the WFI – Bharatiya Janata Party MP Brij Bhushan Singh – and other office bearers have been sexually exploiting a large number of women wrestlers for over a decade.
Pressed repeatedly by reporters to give details of the alleged sexual harassment that the wrestlers had faced, Vinesh Phogat said on April 23, 2023: “Main aapko ek do example de sakti hoon. Kisi ladki ko band kamre mein bula ke usko pakad lena, zabardasti uske saath koi harkat karne ki koshish karna… wo kya hai ? Wo sexual harassment hai, wo kya hai?” (‘Calling a girl in a closed room and grabbing her, and then trying to forcibly do something wrong with her, is that not sexual harassment? What is that?)
Complaining to Prime Minister Modi
Earlier in January 2023, giving another example of the sexual exploitation of women wrestlers, Vinesh Phogat said: “Lucknow mein camp kyun lagaya jaata hai, humne pradhan mantri se, khel mantri se humne subko request karke letter bhi…. shoshan wahan easily hota hai… (‘Why are camps being held in Lucknow? We requested the prime minister and sports minister, and in writing to… exploitation happens easily there’ ) (the words in bold were completed by her colleague Sakshi Malik).
Prime Minister Modi has said he personally knows not only Vinesh Phogat but her entire family. While consoling Phogat for failing to win a medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Modi had said to the wrestler: ‘Kya beta, bahut gussa aa gaya? Apne aap pe gussa kyon karti ho, haan?… Vinesh, main to tumhare poore parivaar ko jaanta hoon…. Varna, aisa karo, hafte das din ke baad mummy bahno sub mere yahan aao.” (‘Child, don’t be angry with yourself. I know your whole family, so come and see me in a week or 10 days with your mother and sisters’).
Yet Vinesh Phogat along with Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia – the three champions spearheading the agitation for action against Brij Bhushan Singh on sexual harassment charges – chose to agitate on the streets, not once but twice, to tell the whole world about the alleged deep rot in the Wrestling Federation of India.
Why did she and they do that?
This week, Phogat again told the media, “Maine pradhan mantri ko inki [Brij Bhushan Singh] shikayat kar di thi jo jo mere saath hua tha . Tokyo ke baad mein unhone mujko bulaya tha. Main apni family ke saath gayi thi…”. (‘I complained to the Prime Minister about him [Brij Bhushan Singh], about what happened with me. [The PM] called me after Tokyo, and I went with my family…’)
The prime minister on his part has publicly voiced extreme concern at the way women are treated in general. On August 15, 2022, he told the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort: “Lekin mere bhitar ka dard mein kahan kahun…humari bolchal mein, humarey wyawhar mein, humarey kuchh shabdo mein hum nari ka apman karte hain. Kya hum swabhav sey, sanskar sey, rojmarsh ki zindagi mein nari ko apmanit karnewale har baat se mukti ka sankalp le sakte hain?” (Where should I reveal the pain inside me.. In our day to day conversation, in our behaviour, in some of our words, we insult women. Can we not – in our nature, our sanskar, in our day to day life – pledge to stay away from any such talk which insults women?).
If Vinesh Phogat had apprised Modi of the alleged sexual assault/harassment of women wrestlers, including herself, as claimed by her, then it would be reasonable to expect there to have been initiation of some action by the prime minister.
Surely, an enquiry should/would have been ordered. If so, what were its findings? The unprecedented dharna by wrestlers at Jantar Mantar in January 2023 and its renewal this week despite Prime Minister Modi apparently being made aware of the allegations of sexual assault/harrasment of women wrestlers, would indicate that either the allegations were found to be baseless, or, possibly, that the rot was too deep for the truth to come out easily in a short time.
The silence of the BJP top brass is deeply disturbing.
The return to Jantar Mantar
The dharna was called off in January 2023 after the Union government ordered a formal investigation by a seven-member committee which is headed by Olympic medalist Mary Kom, a Modi government-nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, and whose members include Olympics medallist Yogeshwar Dutt who has twice contested an election on a BJP ticket. At that time, Vinesh Phogat had told Rajdeep Sardesai of India Today TV that feelers were being sent for a patch up between the WFI and the complainants. That apparently did not happen, and this week the wrestlers returned to Jantar Mantar. The protesting wrestlers have now demanded that not only should the FIR filed by the seven wrestlers be registered, but that their names should not be disclosed publicly in keeping with the law governing sexual harassment allegations, that the recommendations and findings of the seven-member committee be made known, and that Brij Bhushan Singh be arrested and prosecuted.
Enter the Supreme Court
In view of the delay by the police in registering the FIR, the wrestlers moved the Supreme Court, which not only issued notice to the Police Commissioner, but observed (as reported in the Indian Express), “There are serious allegations of sexual harassment in the petition, which is instituted by professional international wrestlers who have represented India”, that the matter merited urgency, and that “the matter requires the consideration of this court in exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 32 of the Constitution”.
In interview after interview, Vinesh Phogat and her colleagues had said that the wrestlers did not want to reveal the names of the sexually harassed wrestlers. In that context, the Supreme Court observed, “For the purpose of these proceedings, the identity of the petitioners shall be redacted and the cause title be read as ‘XYZ and Others vs State NCT of Delhi and others’”.
On April 28, 2023, the Supreme Court was informed by counsel for Delhi Police that it will register the FIR of the complainants against BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh. The case is expected to be heard again next week. Significantly, the counsel for the complainants has asked for a court monitored investigation, which was opposed by the solicitor general.
In view of (1) the inordinate delay in registering the FIR in a matter that involved a cognizable offence, (2) the vulnerability of the complainants (one of whom is a minor) and the alleged attempts to pressurise them and their parents, (3) the profile of the accused BJP MP, (4) the fact that the matter was being enquired into by a ministry headed by Anurag Thakur in respect of whom the Supreme Court has in a separate case of alleged hate speech asked Delhi Police why an FIR has not been registered against him, and (5) the seriousness of the issues involved, as observed by the CJI himself while issuing notice to Delhi Police, it is likely that there could be a court monitored investigation into the complaints filed by the wrestlers.
The political fallout
The opposition has been served an explosive issue on a platter by the Modi government. The protesting wrestlers who initially wanted to keep their grievances apolitical and had turned away politicians like Brinda Karat from Jantar Mantar in January 2023, are now welcoming political support. A matter that could have been addressed by initiating timely action against Brij Bhushan Singh, regardless of his political clout in east Uttar Pradesh, may now become an alarming political liability for the BJP, besides jeopardising the BJP’s ‘beti bachao’ initiative – which could become a subject of public ridicule. There is no doubt that the BJP has lost ground due to this explosive allegation and the subsequent filing of FIRs against Brij Bhushan Singh. A Supreme Court monitored investigation, if ordered, would be a further setback to the BJP’s claims to be a party committed to women empowerment.
The need for justice
Never in the history of Indian sports has an allegation of sexual harassment of such extensive proportion surfaced.
The opposition may find it hard to resist the temptation to use the court process as a political tool to hurt the BJP but the affected wrestlers have nothing to gain from its politicisation. On January 21, 2023, CJI D.Y. Chandrachud had, inter alia, said: “The philosophy of the constitution is premised on the supremacy of the constitution, rule of law…. freedom and dignity of the individual and integrity of the nation”.
It is hoped that the rule of law shall prevail, and the dignity of our athletes shall be protected. For that to happen, justice must be delivered in this case, and in all such cases, in a time-bound manner.
Rahul Singh is a former civil servant who retired from the Ministry of Defence, Government of India.