[#15] The Brij Bhushan case - Why do authorities balk at protecting our women athletes?
A quick summary of what has happened in 2023. 6 women wrestlers accuse Brij Bhushan Singh (WFI - President) of sexually harassing them. Brij Bhushan’s response to these allegations is to either deny, or in the face of witnesses and evidence, try to sidestep the issues.
Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Bajrang Punia start a protest calling for Brij Bhushan’s resignation. The wrestlers are promised a fair assessment, only to find that there is no actual willingness to take action. Scuffles break out in which our wrestlers are violently manhandled by the police during one of their protest marches. Accusers withdraw their statements, the world wrestling administrative body suspends WFI for not conducting elections on time, and in the middle of all this, Bajrang & Vinesh are granted a “trial exemption” for the Asian Games wrestling squad, which seems to reek of bribes made to guarantee good behavior and an effort to muddy the waters.
In December 2023, after all this, the WFI elected Sanjay Singh, a Brij Bhushan loyalist, as the WFI president. In a gut wrenching news conference held on the 22nd of December, Sakshi resigns in protest, and Bajrang returns his Padma Shri. In the face of public backlash, the Sports ministry suspends the newly elected WFI board, which then moves the Delhi High Court to stay the order. And the drama starts again.
When the protests first burst out in Jantar Mantar, and the ruling establishment and their police honchos were unsuccessful in suppressing the protest, the Sports ministry assured the wrestlers in court that Brij Bhushan and his close aides would not rout the WFI in upcoming elections, and that a chargesheet would be filed against Brij Bhushan. But clearly, no one intended to keep the promises. Even now, the suspension of the WFI reeks of lip service and managing the moment, since the 2024 elections are round the corner, and these protests have received unprecedented support, not just from women’s organizations, but also from farmers unions, khap panchayats and youth front - which occupy the very demographic the ruling party is targeting.
Why are the authorities so hesitant to stand up for our women? Why are all of these actions taken so retrospectively? How have incentives been misaligned to the extent that even in the face of situations where powerful men who take advantage and prey on women athletes representing India at the highest stage, are so cavalier in the face of accusations, evidence of wrongdoing and public backlash?
And when this does come to the light, then the system wastes no time in stepping away from these characters, and positioning itself as a “good system”, blemished by a “few bad apples.” We’ve seen this in the case of Harvey Weinstein and Larry Nassar to name a few. The list goes on. And there is a darker question: If wrestlers such as Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, and Bajrang Punia can be beaten, manhandled, and assaulted by the police in full view of the public, what is happening with lesser known athletes out of the public eye?
An article in the Indian Express has it spot on. The suspension of the board is not going to get back public trust in women’s safety in sport. And many parents who were not encouraging their daughters to take up sports as a profession - their confidence has been shaken
Words and actions are two very different things. We say that we want more women winning medals for India. But after this debacle, which has played out in the public eye in the worst way possible, it doesn’t seem like we really want it. Because the system is rigged.
Jai Hind.