Tag: Bajrang Punia

Image as Youth Icons, Caste Equation: Why Congress Inducted Punia and Phogat Before Haryana Polls

Taking both Vinesh and Bajrang on board – both of them were the face of the wrestlers’ protest last year and even lent their support to the protests by farmers – Congress has played well to catch voters’ imagination ahead of the crucial Haryana polls.

Ending days of speculation, wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia finally joined Congress on September 6, giving the party a major boost ahead of upcoming Haryana polls on October 5.

Hours after their joining, Congress released its first list of 31 candidates in which Vinesh was confirmed as party’s official candidate from her in-laws’ home town Julana in Jind district. Bajrang on the other hand was given an important job as working chairman of All India Kisan Congress.

If poll analysts are to be believed, the move is likely to help Congress harp on the anti-incumbency sentiments brewing for some time against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state.

The farmer protests, resentment against Agniveer scheme and the wrestlers’ protest against former Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on sexual harassment charges were some of the key issues that helped Congress regain political strength in the state after losing back-to-back polls in Haryana to BJP since 2014.

Taking both Vinesh and Bajrang on board – both of them were the face of the wrestlers’ protest last year and even lent their support to the protests by farmers – Congress has played well to catch voters’ imagination ahead of crucial state polls.

Political analyst Kushal Pal told The Wire that Congress had actively lent support to farmers and wrestlers during their protest against the BJP government. This greatly benefited the party when it unexpectedly won half of parliamentary seats in Haryana in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

“As Congress wants to carry forward the same momentum in coming assembly polls, taking on board these wrestlers, who also present the regional pride, is certainly a timely and smart political move for the party in run up to the state polls,” he added

As per media reports, BJP and its eco system have already begun smearing last year’s wrestlers protest as a hidden political agenda of Congress, which, according to the saffron party, stands exposed following Vinesh and Bajrang’s joining.

On the contrary, Congress has revived a plethora of allegations against the BJP on women’s safety and mistreatment of wrestlers during their several month-long protest against the mighty Brij Bhushan.

In her opening remarks after joining Congress, Vinesh Phogat said that when the entire ecosystem of the BJP was against their protest, Congress gave them unconditional support.

Political  analyst Pal told The Wire that Congress hopes that with Vinesh and Bajrang on their side, they have a stronger narrative against the BJP in this upcoming election.

“But we will have to wait for the final outcome to know which side finally prevailed over the other,” he added

Vinesh’s popularity and caste dynamics

Congress, said political observers, also eyes to capitalise on the popularity of these wrestlers – especially Vinesh Phogat, who really caught nation’s attention after she missed her Olympics medal by a whisker.

She faced last minute disqualification in her final bout during recently concluded Paris Olympics after she was found 100 gram overweight, termed by many as unjustified.

The incident triggered a wave of sympathy for her across the country with the majority praising her for her grit and determination. She was given a heroic welcome as she landed in Delhi after the Paris Olympics ended.

Her growing popularity especially among youth may help Congress electorally, said poll observers. Days before joining Congress, Vinesh also joined protesting farmers at Punjab-Haryana border at Shambhu and supported their demand for legalising Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops, a move which is seen as her effort to reach out to larger sections of the society.

Apart from all these factors, Congress also eyes on consolidating the decisive Jat vote bank in the state through these wrestlers as they come from the same community, said poll observers.

Several Jat dominated Khap panchayats in Haryana were quite vocal against the BJP when these wrestlers were protesting against Brij Bhushan. On returning from Paris, various khaps too honoured Vinesh for her efforts.

Cong Fields Vinesh Phogat From Julana After Inducting Her, Bajrang Punia Ahead of Haryana Polls

After joining the Congress, Phogat, who was one of the faces of the wrestlers’ protest, said that her fight against former WFI chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh will continue.

New Delhi: The Congress has fielded wrestler Vinesh Phogat from the Julana constituency for the upcoming Haryana assembly elections, hours after she joined the grand old party along with fellow wrestler Bajrang Punia in New Delhi on Friday (September 6).

The party released its first list of candidates for the Haryana elections and named 31 candidates, including former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda from the Garhi Sampla-Kiloi seat.

While Phogat has been given an assembly ticket, the party also named Punia as the working chairman of the All India Kisan Congress on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, Phogat and Punia ended weeks of speculation surrounding their political plunge and met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge before formally joining the party in the presence of Congress general secretary and MP K.C. Venugopal, Haryana in-charge Deepak Babaria and state unit chief Uday Bhan.

Bhan has also been named in the first list and will contest from the Hodal assembly constituency.

‘Only in bad times…’

Phogat was one of the faces of the wrestlers’ protest against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is accused of sexually harassing multiple wrestlers. After joining the Congress, Phogat said that her fight against the former BJP MP will continue despite her taking the political plunge.

“I thank the Congress very much because it is only in bad times do we realise who is your own. When we were being dragged on the road, all of you were with us except the BJP. You were able to understand our pain and tears. I am proud that I am associated with an ideology that stands against the injustice done to women and is ready to fight for their rights from the streets to the parliament,” she said.

“I want to tell the people, the pain that we have tolerated, we stand with all women who are feeling helpless. If I wanted to, I could have quit wrestling at Jantar Mantar. The BJP IT cell was also trying to establish that we were finished. They said I did not want to go to the nationals, but I did. I went to the Olympics but God wanted something else. I know when you do hard work, maybe you don’t get rewarded in that direction but in another direction.”

Phogat said that she will continue to stand with Indian women and would not let any athlete face what she and other wrestlers faced during their protest against Singh.

“I am happy to start a new beginning. I don’t want any other athlete to face what we have faced. Those parties in power may not be with them. But their brothers and sisters are there with them and they know what happens in sports and how athletes are not able to speak up,” she said.

‘I will stand with you’

“We will not be scared and won’t step back. Our fight is not over, the case is underway in court. We will not just be talking about desh seva (service to the country) but we will do it as well. I want to tell my sisters that if no one stands with you, I will stand with you and the Congress party too will stand with you.”

Phogat was disqualified from the Paris Olympics after she was found to be above the required weight for her 50 kg wrestling category match.

Her disqualification also reached parliament, as opposition parties demanded a discussion in the House, and protested particularly after Union sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya in his statement in the Lok Sabha devoted only about two and a half minutes of his six-minute speech to the events that transpired before Phogat was disqualified and the steps being taken to address the issue, and spent the remaining approximately four minutes detailing the financial assistance given to the grappler by the Indian government for her training.

When Phogat returned from the Olympics, Congress MP Deepender Hooda met Phogat at the airport and was present during her roadshow, fuelling speculation that she would be joining the Congress ahead of the assembly elections in Haryana. 

On September 3, with the Congress Election Committee (CEC)’s deliberations underway over the distribution of tickets, Haryana-in-charge Deepak Babaria had told reporters that a decision on whether Phogat will be fielded will be taken soon.

The two wrestlers joined the party a day after both Phogat and Punia met leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. Earlier, on August 31, Phogat met farmers at the Shambhu border, who have been protesting and demanding a legal guarantee for minimum support prices, and urged the government to listen to their demands.

With wrestlers’ inductions, Congress looking to make gains among Jats

Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha MP K.C. Venugopal, who was also present at the press conference where Punia and Phogat joined the party formally, said that while questions will now be raised about a “conspiracy” behind the wrestlers’ protest, other athletes had also joined various parties earlier.

“Leaders come through movements and these two are examples of that. These two leaders came through the biggest movement in this country. Now some are criticising that this is a Congress conspiracy. There are so many athletes in different parties, so many Olympians are there in different parties. Is that also a conspiracy? These big stalwarts of Indian sports history know which party they can trust. And therefore they chose [the Congress] as their party,” he said.

During a smartphone distribution drive yesterday, Brij Bhushan said that when women wrestlers levelled the accusations against him last year, he “had then said that this [was] a conspiracy of the Congress”.

“Senior Congress leaders from Haryana Deepender Singh Hooda and Bhupinder Singh Hooda are hatching a conspiracy against me. Whatever I had said on day one, I still stand by it. And today, the same thing is being said by the entire country,” PTI quoted him as saying.

Punia said that the wrestlers had paid the price for speaking up against injustice but will continue to raise their voice.

“We are paying for raising our voices for India’s daughters. Only the BJP stood with those who wronged women. Everyone else stood with us. The kind of hard work we have done during our fight for Indian women, the farmers’ agitation and Agniveers, we will continue our fight on the ground,” he said.

With the induction of the two wrestlers into the Congress, the party is looking to make gains among the Jat community, to which both Phogat and Punia belong; while also looking to corner the BJP over its inaction against Brij Bhushan; and cash in on the anti-BJP sentiment in the community with the ongoing farmers’ protests and the discontentment against the Agniveer scheme.

The party is also looking to consolidate its gains from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where it won five of ten parliamentary seats in Haryana. The BJP, which had won all ten in 2019, was down to half its tally in 2024.

‘Panel Headed by a Senior Judge Must Probe Concerns Raised by Women Wrestlers’

The People’s Commission on Public Sector and Public Services said had those in authority acted promptly regarding wrestlers’ concerns, ‘the nation would not have witnessed today the sad spectacle of women wrestlers being forced to forfeit the honours they deserve’.

New Delhi: The People’s Commission on Public Sector and Public Services, a civil society organisation, has demanded an independent inquiry by a commission headed by a senior member of the judiciary into concerns of women wrestlers.

It called for an inquiry into the “whole range of developments starting from the day the women wrestlers expressed their concerns for the first time about the role of the erstwhile office bearers of WFI (Wrestling Federation of India) till now with special reference to the unfortunate goings in the Paris Olympics with special reference to the mental anguish they have had to go through all along”.

It asserted that “had those in authority at the Centre acted promptly on the accusations made by some of them and dealt with their concerns in a sensitive, constructive manner, the nation would not have witnessed today the sad spectacle of women wrestlers being forced to forfeit the honours they deserve and the nation being deprived of sharing their glory”.

Below is the full statement issued by the organisation and the list of signatories

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Earlier, on June 10th and June 28th 2024, we issued statements on the manner in which the senior political leadership, for short-term political gains, allowed India’s women wrestlers to be subject to harassment, giving an impression that investigation into the serious POCSO accusations made by some of them against some erstwhile office bearers of the WFI had not been expedited as they ought to have been, and subjecting those women wrestlers to police high-handedness, mental harassment and unimaginable indignities.

The following is an extract of an earlier statement of ours:

“If the investigation, in this case is allowed to be influenced by the political leadership, as seems to be the case at present, the interests of the women wrestlers are likely to get compromised. As a nation, we are responsible for supporting the women wrestlers, who brought glory to our country, to enable them to pursue their profession with dignity and self-esteem. We feel that this can be ensured only if the Delhi police is fully insulated from political interference and ensures that the investigation proceeds strictly in compliance with the law of the land. We feel that this will be possible only if the investigation is subject to monitoring by a sitting or a retired judge appointed by the apex court. In conclusion, we are constrained to express our dismay and distress at the inexplicable silence on the part of the senior leadership at the way the investigation has progressed till now and the distressing manner in which the women wrestlers who have brought glory to the nation have been forced to resort to public agitation seeking justice. We sincerely hope that the political leaders in power today ponder over what Mahatma Gandhiji said, “Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly” 

Failing to get any response from the highest political leadership, the women wrestlers had to sit in dharna, which in itself was a sure sign of failure of governance of different agencies of the government and their insensitivity to the complaints made by the women wrestlers in particular and womankind in general.

The mental trauma to which the women wrestlers had been subject to has had its far-reaching impact, as presently being seen in the ongoing Olympics in Paris. While one senior woman wrestler had to get disqualified from the Olympics on a flimsy not-so-convincing technical ground, without any visible intervention by the sports authorities of India, another had to leave the Olympic village and Paris on disciplinary grounds. While we do not wish to comment either way on accusations emerging on possible mismanagement, deliberate or otherwise, of matters relating to women wrestlers, we certainly wish to say that had those in authority at the Centre acted promptly on the accusations made by some of them and dealt with their concerns in a sensitive, constructive manner, the nation would not have witnessed today the sad spectacle of women wrestlers being forced to forfeit the honours they deserve and the nation being deprived of sharing their glory.

As concerned citizens, we demand an independent enquiry by a Commission headed by a senior member of the judiciary into the whole range of developments starting from the day the women wrestlers expressed their concerns for the first time about the role of the erstwhile office bearers of WFI till now with special reference to the unfortunate goings in the Paris Olympics with special reference to the mental anguish they have had to go through all along. The Commission so appointed should have the mandate to investigate the role of all agencies of the government, either directly or indirectly concerned with the matter relating to the women wrestlers, including senior public functionaries and fix responsibility for the harassment and mental trauma to which the women wrestlers have been subject to, culminating in the sad goings on in Paris Olympics today.

People’s Commission on Public Sector and Public Services

 About Peoples’ Commission on Public Sector and Public Services (PCPSPS): Peoples’ Commission on Public Sector and Services includes eminent academics, jurists, erstwhile administrators, trade unionists and social activists. PCPSPS intends to have in-depth consultations with all stakeholders and people concerned with the process of policymaking and those against the government’s decision to monetise, disinvest and privatise public assets/enterprises and produce several sectoral reports before coming out with a final report. Here is the first interim report of commission- Privatisation: An Affront to the Indian Constitution.

Members of the commission:

Dr. Thomas Isaac,
Former Finance Minister, Kerala (Co-Chair)

Mr. E.A.S. Sarma,
Former Secretary, Ministry of Power & Economic Affairs, Govt of India (Co-Chair)

Mr. S.P. Shukla,
Former Member, Planning Commission

Dr. C.P. Chandrasekhar,
Retired Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Dr. Indira Jaising,
Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India

Dr. R. Nagaraj,
Visiting Professor, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram

Dr. Prabhat Patnaik,
Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Mr. T.S. Prasad Rao,
Former Chairman & Managing Director, Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd

Mr. V. Sridhar,
Senior Journalist

Mr. V.P. Raja,
Former Chairman, Maharashtra State Electricity Regulatory Commission (Co-Convenor)

Ms. Aditi Mehta,
Former Additional Chief Secretary, Rajasthan (Co-Convenor)

Coordination Committee:

M G Devasahayam,
Former Civil Servant and People-First (Chairman)

Sushil Khanna,
Retired Professor, IIM-Kolkata

Dinesh Abrol,
Retired Professor, National Institute of Science, Technology & Development Studies

Thomas Franco,
Former General Secretary, All India Bank Officers’ Confederation & People First

Vinod K. Tomar,
Secretary General, National Confederation of Officers’ Associations of CPSEs

Joe Athialy,
Financial Accountability Network – India.

After Bajrang Punia’s Suspension, WFI Hits Out at Anti-Doping Agency

The wrestler has said he did not refuse to provide a urine sample but simply raised queries on an expired kit that was brought to collect his sample.

New Delhi: The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) has suspended Olympic medallist wrestler Bajrang Punia for refusing to submit a urine sample to dope control officers during recent trials in Sonepat. Punia, however, has said that he never refused to provide a sample, but simply questioned whether action had been taken over the expired kit that had been brought to collect his sample.

The case will be heard by NADA’s anti-doping disciplinary panel. If the proceedings go against Punia, it is possible that he will be banned for two years and unable to participate in the Paris Olympics.

Meanwhile, the controversy appears to have created a fissure between NADA and the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). “It’s really surprising that NADA did not keep us in loop while suspending Bajrang. I had a meeting with NADA DG and other officials on April 25 and this matter was not raised in that meeting,” WFI president Sanjay Singh told PTI.

“They keep communicating with us on matters such as whereabout clause requirements, long list (for Paris Olympics) and so on. Even we had a discussion about the recent Federation Cup, where they sent officials to collect samples from the winners. But they did not let us know about this suspension of Bajrang Punia. I called NADA officials this morning and they had no answer to my query. Now, I plan to write to NADA and also inform WADA about this,” he continued.

An official statement from NADA on April 23 stated, “With subject to paragraph 4:1:2 below and in accordance with article 7.4 of the NADR 2021, Bajrang Punia has been immediately provisionally suspended from participation in any competition or activity prior to the final decision reached at a hearing in this matter.”

Punia was one of the wrestlers at the forefront of protests against BJP MP and former WFI head Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been accused of sexually harassing and intimidating women wrestlers. Just last week, Punia spoke out against the BJP’s decision to give a Lok Sabha ticket to Brij Bhushan’s son, Karan Singh, from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaiserganj.

Wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia React Sharply as BJP Fields Brij Bhushan’s Son

‘It is the misfortune of the country that daughters who win medals will be dragged on the streets and the son of the person who sexually exploits them will be honoured by giving him a ticket,’ Punia wrote on X. 

New Delhi: Indian wrestlers and Olympic medalists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia reacted sharply to Bharatiya Janata Party’s decision to field sexual assault accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s son in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. 

BJP on Thursday named Karan Bhushan Singh as its candidate from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaiserganj constituency where Brij Bhushan has been a six-time MP. 

“Daughters of the country lost, Brij Bhushan won. We all put our careers at stake and slept on the streets for many days in the sun and rain. To date, Brij Bhushan has not been arrested. We were not demanding anything, we were only demanding justice,” Malik wrote on X.

BJP’s decision comes in the wake of another alleged sex abuse case involving Prajwal Revanna who absconded to Germany after nearly 3,000 videos of sexual abuse, allegedly recorded by him, surfaced last week. 

Posts on X from Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia.

“BJP considers itself the biggest party in the world but out of its lakhs of workers, it gave ticket to Brijbhushan’s son, that too when BJP is surrounded by the issue of Prajwal Revanna.

During the agitations in Punjab and Haryana, people here raise a slogan, “Don’t expect anything from governments, take care of yourself.”

It is the misfortune of the country that daughters who win medals will be dragged on the streets and the son of the person who sexually exploits them will be honoured by giving him a ticket,” Punia wrote on X. 

Malik, Punia and Vinesh Phogat were among the several wrestlers who protested against the former president of Wrestling Federation of India for months in the capital facing political apathy, police brutality and hate campaigns against them.

At least six wrestlers have accused Brij Bhushan of sexual harassment. A minor wrestler had also levelled allegations against Singh under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act), however her complaint was withdrawn amid reports of pressure on her family to back down. 

Also read: Despite Sexual Harassment Charges, BJP Unable to Ignore Brij Bhushan, Picks Son for Kaiserganj

Two FIRs against him detail at least 15 incidents of sexual harassment that include 10 episodes of inappropriate touching, molestation that includes running hands over breasts, touching the navel; several instances of intimidation including stalking — and a shared sense of fear and trauma”.

The former WFI president has denied all allegations. His plea for further probe in the case, citing the defence of alibi, was rejected by a Delhi court last week. Brij Bhushan had claimed that he was not in Delhi when one of the wrestlers was allegedly assaulted. 

While Brij Bhushan has been denied a ticket, it has remained “within the family” ensuring BJP’s unrelenting support to him despite the serious allegations of several women wrestlers.

His elder son Pratik Bhushan Singh is an MLA while Karan currently heads the Uttar Pradesh wrestling body, NDTV reported. 

Wrestler Vinesh Phogat Leaves Khel Ratna, Arjuna Awards on Kartavya Path in Protest

She said that such awards were meaningless in a situation where women wrestlers were struggling to get justice.

New Delhi: Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat returned her Khel Ratna and Arjuna awards, the highest national sports awards, on Saturday (December 30) in protest, surrendering her medals in Central Vista’s Kartavya Path after the Delhi Police stopped her from reaching the Prime Minister’s Office.

Phogat, an Olympian and a gold medalist at Asian and Commonwealth games, had earlier declared in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that she will be returning her awards as a mark of protest, while saying that such awards were meaningless in a situation where women wrestlers were struggling to get justice.

The wrestlers’s protests, led by Olympians Sakshi Malik, Phogat, and Bajrang Punia, against alleged sexual harassment by former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, was met with cold treatment by the Union government, forcing the international-level wrestlers to stage a dharna at the heart of the national capital for days. The government buckled under pressure and promised that it would look into the matter and take corrective action. The Delhi Police then filed an FIR on the basis of allegations, but the delay in acting on the complaint only demoralised the wrestlers further.

The matter snowballed again when Sanjay Singh, a close aide of Brij Bhushan Singh’s, contested the WFI elections and won by a big margin, causing a public meltdown among many of the protesting wrestlers. Even then, the newly-elected Sanjay Singh made no bones about his close association with Brij Bhushan Singh, and announced that the junior national tournaments will be held in Nandini Nagar in Brij Bhushan Singh’s stronghold in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda.

Singh continues to be a BJP MP and is likely to play a key campaigning role ahead of the 2024 elections.

The Union government suspended the newly-elected leadership of the WFI for alleged irregularities, and replaced it with a three-member ad-hoc committee soon after Olympian Sakshi Malik announced her retirement as yet another mark of protest. With Phogat now returning her awards, the matter refuses to end even as the wrestlers’s allegations of sexual harassment continues to remain in a limbo. Earlier, Punia too had returned his awards.

On Saturday, Phogat kept her awards in the middle of Kartavya Path. The Delhi Police picked the medals later. Earlier in a letter to Modi, Phogat has claimed that women wrestlers’ lives are not like those “fancy government advertisements” that talk about women’s upliftment.

Meanwhile, Punia urged the Union government to resume wrestling activities as soon as possible as there have been no tournaments in the last few months. “We have the Olympic Games in 7 months but no one seems serious about it while in the last four Olympics, wrestlers brought consecutive medals,” Punia posted on X.

Today, In the News: December 30

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flags off development projects in Ayodhya, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s criticism over increased railway fares, and many more.

Here are the leading headlines for December 30:

Modi in Ayodhya

With less than a month to go before the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the temple town on Saturday, December 30, to inaugurate the newly built Maharishi Valmiki International Airport. Modi also laid the foundation stone of 46 projects worth Rs 15, 700 crore and flagged off six Vande Bharat and two Amrit Bharat trains. He also inaugurated the redeveloped Ayodhya Dham Junction Railway Station and addressed a roadshow in the city.

Modi said that the whole world is “eagerly waiting” for January 22 when the consecration ceremony at the new Ram Temple will take place.

“Whatever be the country in the world if it has to reach new heights of development, it will have to take care of its heritage. Ram Lala was there in a tent, today pucca house has been given to not only Ram Lala but also to the 4 cr poor of the country. The campaign to make India a developed nation is getting new energy from Ayodhya,” he said.

Cheap gas cylinders, rail fares or selfie with Shehenshah? Rahul Gandhi 

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi lashed out at the Union government and questioned whether the people of the country need cheaper gas cylinders, rail fares, or selfie booths with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photos.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Gandhi said that railway fares have been increased while concessions given to the elderly have been abolished.

“Platform ticket prices were increased. The doors to privatisation were opened. Was this money being squeezed from the hard-earned money of the public to make a ‘selfie stand’? What do the people of India want? Cheap gas cylinders and easy rail travel? Or a picture with ‘Shahenshah’s statue’?”

Pakistan confirms India sought extradition of 26/11 attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed

Pakistan on Saturday confirmed that India has sought the extradition of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed, the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told Dawn newspaper that Pakistan received a request from the Indian authorities seeking Saeed’s extradition in a “so-called money laundering case”. She was quoted as saying that “it is pertinent to note that no bilateral extradition treaty exists between Pakistan and India”.

Wearing oxygen masks BJP protests against AAP’s handling of Delhi pollution

Wearing oxygen masks Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in the national capital held protests on Saturday in four places against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over the deteriorating air quality in Delhi.

Party leaders said that protests were held at the ITO crossing, near the India Gate, the roundabout near the Le Meridian Hotel, and the 11 Murti roundabout, reported Press Trust of India.

Rajasthan cabinet expansion: 22 MLAs Sworn in as Minister

Nearly a month after the BJP won the elections in the state, 22 MLAs were sworn in as ministers of the Rajasthan cabinet during a ceremony at the Raj Bhawan in Jaipur on Saturday.

This included 12 who were sworn in as Cabinet ministers, five as ministers of state (independent charge) and five as ministers of state, reported Press Trust of India.

This included Kirodi Lal Meena, Gajendra Singh Khinvsar, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Babulal Kharadi, Madan Dilawar who were sworn in as ministers.

Sunehri Bagh Mosque imam Moves Delhi high court

The Imam of the Sunehri Bagh mosque on Saturday moved the Delhi high court against the proposed demolition of the structure due to alleged traffic congestion in the area, reported Press Trust of India.

In his petition, Abdul Aziz challenged a December 24 public notice issued by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) seeking objections and suggestions from the general public by January 1 regarding the demolition of the mosque.

The petition has been listed for January 8 after the NDMC’s counsel said to the court that nothing would happen in the meantime as a final call on the action has to be taken by the Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC).

Seven deaths and 743 new COVID-19 cases in India

India has recorded 743 new COVID-19 cases along with seven deaths, according to data by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday.

The number of active cases has however recorded a decrease to 3,997 on Saturday from 4,091 recorded the previous day.

The increase in the number of cases comes with the rising number of JN.1 cases. At least 162 cases of the new variant JN.1 have been detected in India so far, with the highest 83 sequences coming from Kerala, according to India’s genome sequencing consortium INSACOG, reported The Indian Express.

Bajrang Punia urges Sports Ministry to resume wrestling activities

Olympic medal-winning boxer Bajrang Punia who returned his Padma Shri award in protest last week against the recently concluded Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections, has urged the Union sports ministry to resume wrestling activities at the earliest.

“Wrestling work has come to a standstill for the last several months. Neither has any national been held nor have any camps been organized to prepare the players. There are Olympic Games after 7 months but no one seems serious about the Olympics whereas wrestling has given four consecutive medals in the last four Olympics,” he wrote on X.

“Sports Ministry is requested to start all wrestling activities as soon as possible so that the future of the players can be saved.”

‘Are We Traitors, PM Modi?’ Asks Vinesh Phogat As She Returns Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award

In her letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Phogat referred to Sakshi Malik’s retirement from wrestling as well as Bajrang Punia’s giving up his Padma Shri, and said she now felt revulsed by her own awards.

New Delhi: Writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that her Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna and her Arjuna Award no longer mean anything to her, wrestler Vinesh Phogat said she wishes to return the medals to him.

“Every woman wants to live with dignity. That is why, Mr Prime Minister, I wish to return my Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award to you – so that these prizes do not burden us on our path to living with dignity,” Phogat wrote in Hindi.

Phogat and fellow wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia were among the main faces of the protests earlier this year against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is accused of sexually harassing at least seven wrestlers.

Malik quit wrestling and Punia gave away his Padma Shri medal last week after Sanjay Singh, a man backed by Brij Bhushan, won elections to the WFI on Thursday (December 21).

In her letter to the prime minister, Phogat referred to Malik and Punia’s decisions and said she now felt revulsed by her own awards.

“I remember the year 2016, when [Malik] won an Olympic medal and the government made her the brand ambassador of [the] ‘beti bachao, beti padhao’ [campaign],” she wrote, adding that this decision had sparked celebration among woman wrestlers.

“Now that [Malik] has had to quit wrestling, I am constantly reminded of the year 2016. Are we women athletes only fit to be published on the government’s advertisements?”

Saying that the lives of women athletes differed from how the government’s posters depicted them to be, Phogat asked the prime minister to “take out just five minutes of [his] life” to listen to statements made in the media by “the exploiter”, a reference to Brij Bhushan.

“He has likened women wrestlers to ‘Manthra’ [a deceitful character in the Ramayana], has openly confessed on TV to making women wrestlers uncomfortable and has never given up an opportunity to humiliate women athletes.

“What is more serious is how many women wrestlers he has forced out. This is very appalling,” she wrote, adding to say that wrestlers were hailed for winning medals but called traitors to the nation for raising their voices.

“Mr Prime Minister, I would like to ask you, are we traitors?” Phogat asked.

She went on to say that while she did not know what condition Punia was in when he decided to part with his Padma Shri – India’s fourth-highest civilian award – she now felt disgusted by her own awards.

“I would now like to be rid of the image of Vinesh receiving her awards, as that was a dream while what is happening to us today is the reality. I was given the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna and the Arjuna Award, which no longer mean anything in my life,” Phogat wrote.

She published her letter in an X (formerly Twitter) post on Tuesday (December 26), where she also thanked the “powerful” for bringing her to her current state.

Following public outrage, the sports ministry dissolved the new WFI under Sanjay Singh on Saturday (December 24), appearing to slam its lack of regard for norms and the fact that it functions out of former officer bearers who are accused of sexually harassing players.

Watch | What Bajrang Punia Wrote in His Letter to PM Modi

Punia’s attempt to return his Olympic medal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence was interrupted by Delhi Police.

On Friday, December 22, Olympic medal winner Bajrang Punia stated, ‘I can’t live my life as a Padma Shri awardee while our women wrestlers are insulted.’

Punia’s attempt to return his medal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence was interrupted by Delhi Police on Kartavya Path. Undeterred, he left his Padma Shri medallion on a footpath, which the police picked up.

Later, Punia wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister of India.

WFI Saga Proves Once Again That Sexual Harassment Is a Crime Steeped in Power

Any hope that the protests led by country’s top women wrestlers would yield results in the form of punishment to Brij Bhushan Singh was buried when former WFI president’s close aide was elected as its new chief on December 21.

The photograph of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh – a former president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) accused of sexual harassment by some of the top sportspersons and Olympian medallists in the sport – holding up the victory sign after the announcement of the results of the WFI elections on December 21 says it all. The results send a message of impunity and freedom to those who violate the law.

Any hope that the protests led by Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, and Vinesh Phogat would yield results in the form of punishment to Brij Bhushan Singh accused of sexual harassment under the aegis of his presidentship of the WFI, was buried when the results of the elections to the WFI were announced on December 21, 2023.

Do the results mark a closure to the serious issues raised by women wrestlers with support from their male colleagues? Does the sequence of events as it played out over 2023 hold out hope for those who would like to see the premier sports bodies in India become more democratic and representative of the changing aspirations of a young India where the best talent has sprung from some of the most underprivileged social groups? In sharp contrast to this reality, the sports bodies remain mired either in the antics of a bygone era, combined with the BJP’s own version of parivaarvaad.

In a meeting with the sports minister held in June 2023, the wrestlers had put forward five demands. These were that Brij Bhushan Singh be arrested given the charges against him, free and fair elections to the Wrestling Federation of India, the appointment of a woman chief of the WFI, and that Brij Bhushan Singh or his family members should not be part of the WFI. They had also demanded that the police case filed against them in May, the day India’s new parliament building was inaugurated, be scrapped.

Police stop protesting wrestlers from marching to new parliament building on May 28. Photo: Twitter/@SakshiMalik

Not surprisingly, the Delhi police – which had delayed registration of the FIR against the accused in clear violation of the law and only after the matter went to court – gave ample time to the accused to exert pressure on the complainants, in contrast with the alacrity shown in registering cases against the protestors. As on an earlier occasion, assurances were given to the protestors by the concerned (sic!) minister clearly, none of these have been fulfilled. Nor has any action been reportedly taken against those responsible for the implementation of the law.

The failure to uphold the promise made to the protesting wrestlers that Singh and his associates would not be allowed to contest by the sports minister/ministry gives the signal of impunity to those violating the law. The result was there for all to see when Sakshi Malik hung up her boots at the press conference in Delhi this week.

If there was ever any doubt that sexual harassment is a crime steeped and soaked in power, perhaps the WFI saga will dispel that.

Long after the timeline of this heroic and unprecedented struggle by the wrestlers against sexual harassment, is forgotten, the visuals will continue to tell the story: of the courage shown by those who chose to speak up; of the families, farmers and women activists who came out in support to express their anger in public; of the police alternatively choosing to look the other way, shunning its duty and taking measures to arrest the protestors post haste, at the beck and call of their superiors. This record shall include the inglorious record of the official apathy and indifference to the protesting wrestlers while showing overeagerness to shield those accused.

Much along the lines of the fate of the migrants during Corona captured in the visuals of the period, the footage of Olympians and international sports champions being dragged on the streets outside even as the new parliament building was being inaugurated on May 28 will go down in the annals of the numerous successes of the powers that be. These pictures – of the prime accused strutting about with full freedom in the newly inaugurated Parliament building even as the cries for justice of those who had brought fame and glory to the country could be heard outside – will challenge viewers to read the sub-text of the achievements on the governance front in India, led by the Vishwaguru in the times to come. Perhaps they will tell us more than the media analysts will, in times when those spinning the most successful yarns are bestowed with the responsibility of appointing fact-check bodies on whether online information related to the Union government is accurate.

Also read: Sakshi Malik Quits Wrestling as Brij Bhushan Loyalist Elected as WFI Chief

There are many lessons to be learnt from these unfolding events. It is clear that women in India have a long wait ahead for rampant sexual harassment to be recognised as a crime to be tackled head-on. The chances for women to get a level playing field and enjoy equality look more dim as this year ends, than they did in January 2023, when the star sportspersons first spoke up. Clearly, the crime is sought to be buried under the brazen might of power and the struggle to bring it out in the open shall perhaps have to wait for the likes of a Verma Committee, which had argued that Army men should not be allowed to take cover under AFSPA. The Justice Verma Committee had opined that “Personnel guilty of sexual offences in conflict areas should be tried under ordinary criminal law.”

In sharp contrast with the spirit displayed at that time, the impunity with which those accused in the WFI case may get away speaks of the turn of events in this country. The rape and murder of a then-unknown young woman, given the name of Nirbhaya by the media, shocked the nation and led to the passage of the Criminal Law Amendments enacted in 2013, followed by POSH. In contrast with the response in 2013, the cries of internationally acclaimed sportspersons for justice were sought to be silenced with the force of might. Amidst much else that they do, those in government, entrusted as per law with the responsibility to ensure that those guilty of the crime of sexual harassment are punished, continue to preach to ordinary mortals about their duty towards the nation.

In solidarity with the struggling wrestlers, who for now stand defeated and demoralised, women in India should set aside a special day/ date to mark the need for continued struggle on this issue. Punishment of those guilty of sexual harassment is a critical need if women are to advance their struggle for equality, including in the sphere of work and employment. It also needs to be realised that measures such as reservations for women in parliament and in the legislatures will have meaning only if laws enacted to give strength to women are implemented.

For now, it is clear that the contours of Nari Shakti Vandan do not encompass upholding the dignity of India’s sportswomen. That requires both political will on the part of governments in power as also power in the hands of the people to hold governments and officials accountable. The saga of the wrestlers’ struggle against sexual harassment – spread over the year 2023 – underlines the fact that the struggle to ensure justice for women and punishment for those accused of crimes against women is integrally linked to the struggle for democracy.

More so in times when democratically elected governments and their representatives choose to stand with those seen to be violating the law. The years to come may tell us more about how women in India look beyond the rhetorical invocation of tradition and false narratives of history to make constitutional guarantees a part of their everyday struggle for equality.

Indu Agnihotri is an independent researcher, formerly Professor and Director of the Centre for Women’s Development Studies, New Delhi.