Has Indian wrestling become a safer place for women in last two years?

The roadshow of countless SUVs and 10,000 supporters of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the disgraced former supremo of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) in Ayodhya on Tuesday – in celebration of the withdrawal of the case by a minor wrestler was supposed to be a victory celebration. However, it also stoked the public memory about the outrage in the wrestling community two years back against the strongman of the sport, a six-time former BJP MP from Gonda in Uttar Pradesh, which never saw a closure.

There was no doubt that Brij Bhushan would come back hard as while addressing the rally of his supporters, he said sections on ‘preventing harassment are being misused’ and wanted the Union government to find a way to stop them. Yes, he was referring to POSCO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) from which he had a reprieve after the complaint was withdrawn rather mysteriously, even though the case filed by six other women wrestlers against him of stalking and sexual harassment against him are still pending.

Interestingly, the sports ministry had revoked their suspension of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) since December 2023 in early March. The suspension had taken place for ‘lapses regarding governance and procedural integrity by the newly elected body, which apparently was in control of former officebearers (read: Brij Bhushan Singh) in complete disregard to the provisions of the National Sports Code.’ The ministry’s change of heart has come as they felt that the “continued governance void… could hurt India’s medal prospects in the 2026 Asian Games and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.”

However, nothing has changed on the ground for the sport as it’s been more than two years since three of the country’s most decorated wrestlers – Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia had taken to the streets to clean up the sport. To jog the memory, it was in Brij Bhushan’s residence in New Delhi where the new officebrearers celebrated the victory with his aide Sanjay Singh being hoisted as the president while the WFI office had been operating from there. All these, despite Bajrang & Co’s primary demand being the removal of Brij Bhushan and his ilk from the officialdom.

It’s a matter of conjecture whether the wrestling ring has become a safer place for women in India in these two years. Vinesh, whose saga of missing out on a sure medal at Paris Olympics for being 100 gms overweight in the weigh-in is still fresh in memory, didn’t mince words as she took to her X handle:  ‘’Lashkar bhi tumhara hai, Sardar bhi tumhara hai, tum jhooth ko sach likh do, akhbar bhi tumhara hai. Hum iski shikayat karte to kahan karte, Sarkar tumhari hai, Governor bhi tumhara hai (The army is yours, the leader is yours too. You write lies as truth, the newspaper is also yours. If we were to complain about this, where would we go? The government is yours, the governor is also yours.’’)

Sakshi, the bronze medallist in Rio 2016, has since retired from the sport; Vinesh did the same after the Paris heartbreak and is now a Congress MLA in Haryana while Bajrang has also joined her party.

The minor’s withdrawal of the charges may have come as some form of reprieve for the 68-year-old Brij Bhushan, but the criminal trial on the basis of the six women wrestlers is still on. Rudraneil Sengupta, author of Enter the Dangal: Travels through India’s wrestling landscape  says in an interview that the wrestlers have fought the good fight. . “Now it is up to the system to give them justice,” he said.

 One waits in hope!