It is 11 pm. The wrestlers’ protest spot at Jantar Mantar is dimly lit by street lights. The street which was packed with supporters, media crews and police personnel during the day is now practically deserted, except for a handful of protestors, a few constables, and a small group of media persons who even at this late hour are waiting to interview the wrestlers.
A young Sikh is serving dinner in plastic trays to volunteers sitting on the road. A diesel generator powers lights and a fan at the makeshift shelter on the footpath that has become home for the protesting Olympic wrestlers for the last six days.
“Police vaalon ne bijli kaat dee hai (The police have cut the electricity),” mumbles Rahul, a bearded young man with a pronounced Haryanvi accent. I ask him if he is a wrestler as well. He isn’t, he says. He is just here to help the protestors in any capacity he can, as is Aman, a journalism student studying in NOIDA.
Aman comes after his classes every evening to Jantar Mantar, and makes himself available to move mattresses around, serve food and water, and help in any way he can. He tells me he is originally from Varanasi. I ask him if he is (or was) a supporter of Modi’s government.
He says, “Because I am from Varanasi it was but natural for me to be a Modi supporter, as that is also his constituency. But since I am studying to be a journalist, I have to be professionally neutral and base whatever I say only on facts and logic.”
I ask him what facts and logic say about the condition of women in India over the last nine years.
“Mujhe ab sarkaar pe ghinn aa rahee hai (I am feeling contempt for this government),” he replies. “If such accomplished Olympic medalists are sitting on the road for justice, imagine the plight of millions of others in similar situations. The Parliament is next door and yet not one of their MPs has come down here. The wrestlers’ tears tell their truth!”
Aman’s voice starts to rise.
“P.T. Usha’s condemnation of the wrestlers’ protest is trending on Twitter! Imagine! The BJP IT cell is actually trending it! They are defending and protecting a darinda (predator) like this! Something like this has probably never happened before in the history of India! This is shameful!”
Sakshi Malik and her husband Satyavrat (also a wrestler, and Arjun Awardee who has been staying with her on the road) look exhausted.
Satyvrat says, ‘It is not easy to meet thousands of people every day. Everyone affects us. Everyone has a negative or positive vibe and we end up internalising so much of it …” his voice trails off a bit. “But we will fight as long as we have to.”
Wrestler Satyavrat. Photo: Rohit Kumar
Sakshi says she must have given at least a hundred interviews that day. I believe her. It was the day the Supreme Court ordered the Delhi police to lodge an FIR against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. One can imagine how long and intense the day would have been.
Also Read: ‘Everyone Can Find Courage Within Themselves!’ – An Interview with Olympic Wrestler Sakshi Malik
About 20 metres away from the wrestlers’ enclosure, a group of men are sitting on chairs. I ask them why they are there.
“To show solidarity to our sisters and stand guard here during the night,” one of them, Sunil, a retired pehelwan (wrestler) from Sonepat tells me. “When our younger brothers and sisters win medals, we share in their joy. Shouldn’t we also share in their times of sorrow and difficulty? We are ready to sit here for the next five years if we have to.”
Sunil, incidentally, also tells me has a grouse against ‘left-wing journalists.’ I ask him why. He says it is because they are so good at ‘changing the narrative’. I tell him that is, in fact, the forte of the government and its godi media, who are the true masters of narrative reshaping.
A couple of days prior, an outfit called the United Hindu Front had set up a stall right opposite the wrestlers’ protest. It remained largely empty and not too many seemed interested in what they had to say. A person from the group walked around distributing pamphlets condemning the use of English in India and decrying the decline of naitiktaa (morality) in Indian society. He handed me a pamphlet too.
“How much naitiktaa do you see in the Modi government’s refusal to take Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to task?” I asked him, pointing at the wrestlers.
The chap glared, yanked the pamphlet out of my hand and walked away.
One is beginning to sense cognitive dissonance in many BJP supporters who have come out in support of the wrestlers. On one hand, they are vociferous in their condemnation of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the government’s reluctance to take him to task, and even Modi. On the other hand, they still see themselves as BJP supporters. It is doubtless an unsettling place to be in. Whether they will continue to believe they are living in amrit kaal despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary or eventually succumb to ‘facts and logic’ remains to be seen.
The proverbial penny seems to be dropping for many, but whether it will actually hit the ground with a clear ringing sound, only time will tell.
Rohit Kumar is a writer and educator.
