Controversies continue to plague the Wrestling Federation of India, whose former head and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh is accused of sexual harassment by a number of women wrestlers.
Last week, Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik quit wrestling after Sanjay Singh, Brij Bhushan’s aide, was elected president of the WFI. Bajrang Punia said he was returning his Padma Shri, as did Virender Singh Yadav.
Days later, the union sports ministry suspended the new WFI body headed by Sanjay Singh, saying it had shown a “blatant disregard for the established legal and procedural norms”.
Sanjay Singh said he’d pursue legal options. Brij Bhushan Singh said he was “done” with wrestling. And editorials in leading English newspapers had a lot to say.
The Telegraph’s editorial today – headlined “Wicked game” – said the Modi government had promised wrestlers that no associate of Brij Bhushan would be allowed to run for the WFI body. This was a “greater betrayal” while the “less obvious betrayal” was “wrestlers have felt little solidarity from their peers in their struggle for justice”.
“A united protest from high-profile sportspersons or champions from other spheres could have been hoped for,” it said. “...Mr Punia mentioned in his protest letter that instead of being brand ambassadors for the prime minister’s campaign of saving and empowering daughters, women were being forced to leave the sport they loved. The issue is wider though, for the events demonstrate the hollowness of the BJP’s promises of safety and dignity for women in general and the irrelevance of achievement when it becomes inconvenient.”
The New Indian Express said the world has “moved 365 days ahead but wrestling has not moved a day”.
“The sport has remained stagnant ever since the start of protests in January and culminated in another bizarre episode on Sunday,” the editorial said. “...Under pressure, former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is facing sexual harassment charges from the top wrestlers, said he was retiring from all affairs related to wrestling. What baffles is the question what stopped him from doing it earlier this year; things could have been different if he had.”
In the end, the editorial added, “it is the wrestlers who suffered the most”. They had barely any national camps, no U15 and U20 nationals for juniors, and “jobs based on wrestling performances took a hit”.
The Hindu’s editorial yesterday said the “mess has laid bare everything that plagues sports administration in India”.
“Even as the nation is diversifying its sporting excellence, the bureaucracy that runs sport still carries the unwelcome legacy of patronage politics. It also does not help that prominent athletes occupying positions of power are mostly deferential to the political masters who helped in their ascent,” it said.
But there is an opportunity here, it added. “There is still room to wipe the slate clean and usher in reforms. The authorities should go the whole hog.”
The Times of India’s editorial reiterated this idea of an “opportunity” to “clean up the governance of WFI and make it safe for sportswomen”.
It described the WFI thus far as a “private fiefdom” since it was “functioning from Brij Bhushan’s residence, also the location where wrestlers have alleged some of the sexual abuse incidents took place. GOI said it’s indicative of the status quo in the power structure despite a new set of office bearers being elected.”
Additionally, TOI emphasised the need for “quick action”, especially whe “power structures in sports federations” overlap with political power.
“Brij Bhushan’s prosecution needs to be quickened if justice is to be done and WFI run in the spirit of the rules established by GOI,” it said. “...Sunday’s suspension and IOA’s temporary takeover of WFI’s affairs is an opportunity to not only clean up but also signal that women athletes will be protected from sexual harassment in Indian sport.”
Deccan Herald’s editorial said we still don’t know the implications of the government suspending the newly elected body.
“Brij Bhushan Singh’s victory is attributed mainly to the political clout that he wields on account of his being a BJP MP and his ability to influence elections in some constituencies in UP. This is unfortunate because the government has always claimed that it attaches utmost importance to women’s safety and security and the new, revamped criminal laws prioritise them,” it said.
After Malik held her heart-breaking press conference announcing her decision to quit, Newslaundry checked primetime shows on leading news channels to see what they said. Only a handful of anchors addressed the issue, and a couple even seemed to trivialise it. Read this report for more.
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