Wrestling, now hockey: how safe is it for women to play sport in India?

Earlier this week, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, BJP leader and former president of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) was acquitted in the sexual harassment case – levelled against him by some of the most decorated wrestlers of the country. As the six-time MP from Kaisarganj of Uttar Pradesh was accorded a grand welcome in Gonda, his hometown, the silent question on everyone’s lips were: has the country become a safer place for women in sport?

The answer has to be a resounding ‘no,’ and it does not have much to do anything with the verdict but the politicisation and patriarchy which seems to rule the roost in some of the sporting disciplines. There were huge celebrations in Ayodhya and Gonda, through which Brij Bhushan’s cavalcade passed as a part of ‘victory celebrations’ as he was showered with petals and accorded a felicitation at the Nandini Nagar College in Gonda.    

Here’s what he said at the ceremony: ‘’I did not pull anyone’s sari. There may have been physical contact while putting medals around the wrestlers’ necks which created a storm. The allegations against me were politically motivated. The issue was confined to ‘good touch’ and ‘bad touch’ and there was nothing beyond that’’. The impunity says it all as Brij Bhushan said he was now ready to contest the 2029 elections should the BJP give him a ticket or may even run as an independent candidate.

Vinesh Phogat, the face of the wrestlers’ stir in 2023 along with Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, said they were not going to relent and appeal to the higher court – but charges of molestation, threats for sexual favours had been nothing new in Indian sport. For every case that may have seen a closure, there are others where charges could not be proved and the high-profile sportswoman batting it now is Asunta Lakra, a former national women’s hockey captain.   

In July, Hockey India was rocked by a scandal when Asunta – a stalwart of the game from Jharkhand - had accused HI secretary Bholanath Singh of threatening her with dire consequences for raising the issue of sexual harassment of girls in Jharkhand at the hands of a coach Sudhir Golla, known for his proximity to Bholanath. The latter, incidentally, had been a Vice President of the WFI during Brij Bhushan’s tenure and is currently the President of Jharkhand Hockey Association.

 The HI ethics committee, instead of trying to give a hearing to Asunta and the Jharkhand girls, have now slapped a showcause notice to the former captain based on a ‘complaint’ by hockey player Albela Rani Toppo. Toppo, in her complaint, alleged that Asunta had threatened to end her career with the Railways and said she would never be selected for the senior national team camp.

“The allegations are false, baseless, malicious, motivated, defamatory and are a complete distortion of facts. Nothing contained in the said complaints is admitted save what is expressly admitted herein, and no part of the present communication shall be construed as an admission of any fact, allegation or of the jurisdiction of the Ethics Committee,” Asunta wrote in her reply. Asunta further questioned how the secretary general can initiate an enquiry against her as he himself is the subject of complaints made by her.

The name of the game is surely a threat culture - which makes the ecosystem toxic for the younger entrants to take to the sport. A wrestler with the reputation and wherewithal of Vinesh can take on the might of Brij Bhushan, but his defacto presence in the administration of WFI put a spanner in the works of the wrestler’s career repeatedly. It eventually took Vinesh a court order to bypass the WFI directive and allow her to participate in the Asiad trials in end-May, but she eventually lost in the semi-finals against Meenakshi Goyat.