Exactly a week ago, Indian wrestlers began the second round of protest outside the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, alleging sexual harassment by Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, BJP MP and head of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). No action had come after they made public their allegations of sexual harassment the first time.
While voices of support and solidarity rose from across the country, the wrestlers at Jantar Mantar were shocked and hurt to hear a fellow woman sportsperson, a veteran they respected, speak poorly of them. PT Usha, an athlete who had won many accolades for India in the 80s and 90s, said that the protesting wrestlers – Olympic medallists among them – were tarnishing the image of the country, and showing indiscipline by taking to the streets. The comment, coming from not just a sports veteran but the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), seemed to have implications.
Usha, a respected figure in the country, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha last July. By the end of 2022, she became president of the IOA. When a person occupying such a position of power says she is disappointed with the conduct of wrestlers, it raises many questions. Did, like one of the wrestlers said, Usha face a certain kind of pressure because of the positions she held? What made a senior woman athlete, who only months ago broke down before the media fearing for the safety of female students in her academy, suddenly seem unsympathetic to the wrestlers on the street?
Wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat – two of the main faces of the protest – wondered why Usha was not supporting them. Keeping aside the power positions, this is a woman who had been on the field since she was 13. She had worked hard every step of the way, through decades. It is hard to imagine that an athlete of her years is unaware of the torments women in the field go through. To be noticed, to be taken seriously, to even enter the world of sports, which by default belonged to the men around them, women of all times and ages have had to stretch themselves beyond limits. And once in, the challenges would only grow every passing day. Usha should know.
Like any woman who has taken the challenges of a man-ridden world head on and worked her way up, she would also know the power wielded by men in authority positions, what they could and could not do. When so many women – seven had given separate complaints – come out with their stories of harassment, not once but twice, it is amazing how Usha, who practically lived her prime in the field, could not sympathise with them, much less empathise.
Wrestlers protesting at the Jantar Mantar
It is possible that after so many years of being in a world primarily seen as one meant for men, Usha too internalised patriarchy. It could also be that she has taken her role as Parliamentarian to speak for the ruling side, and like many of her colleagues, brush down voices of dissent. Usha, in her reprimands, expressed displeasure at the wrestlers involving political parties in the protest. The protestors had stayed away from political parties the first time around. In their second phase of protest, they invited all political parties including the BJP to join. Over the last week, several Opposition politicians visited them, held their hands and offered support. Many of the politicians reacted sharply to Usha’s dressing down of the wrestlers.
Usha really does not have to do this. All these years, she has been respected for her work on the ground, not the power or positions she has gained. Instead of the thoughtless admonishment, had she extended a hand of support to the wrestlers, it would have meant something to them. It would also have raised her image as that of a sportswoman who cares enough to risk losing her new powers to stand for the rights of the wronged.
The way it did when Olympic winners Neeraj Chopra and Abhinav Bindra or Sania Mirza spoke out for the protesting wrestlers. After all this mayhem and on Supreme Court’s insistence, the Delhi police were literally forced to file cases against Brij Bhushan. But the accused man is still not arrested. The wrestlers are making a point by not backing down, by sticking to their demand: have him arrested and removed from the WFI. It is a pity that a renowned figure like Usha lacks the courage of these young people, for whom so much is at stake.