Top wrestlers demanding action against the Wrestling Federation of India president, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, amidst allegations of sexual misconduct have expressed their dismay over the comments made by celebrated athlete, and currently president of the Indian Olympic association, P.T.Usha. Describing Usha’s observations that the protests were not consistent with sportsmen spirit and amounted to “indiscipline’’, which was contrary to what the conduct of a sportsperson should be, the wrestlers, some of whom, who have brought laurels to the country, lashed out at her and said that being a woman, she was being “insensitive’’. Usha has been an idol for sportsperson throughout the country and after the late Milkha Singh, is held in the highest esteem for her contribution to track and field events as well as sports. She is at present also a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, a recognition given to her by the government. The protesting wrestlers are extremely hurt that she was aligning herself with an indefensible stand, while indirectly shielding Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the BJP MP from Kaiserganj, who wields enormous influence in and around Ayodhya. Singh and on one occasion, his wife, have been members of Parliament since 1991 except for his rare defeat to a Samajwadi Party nominee in 1998. He was considered close to former Vishwa Hindu Parishad boss, Ashok Singhal and was at one point also accused of having links with the Dawood Ibrahim gang, because of which he was charged under TADA. He is considered extremely influential in the Ayodhya belt and the BJP obviously is in a fix of how to deal with the situation arising out of these allegations made by wrestlers, some of whom who have brought medals for the country in both the World Championships as well as the Olympics. The dilemma is that if the BJP MP is proceeded against, it may impact the party’s chances in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and if the Centre delays any kind of action, the wrestlers, mostly from Haryana, may escalate the matter. The Supreme Court is already seized of the issue and has issued notices to the Delhi police to explain why it was not proceeding against the politician. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had informed the court that the Delhi police did not feel the need to conduct a “preliminary inquiry’’ before the FIR. In any case, as per the existing law, the police should have registered an FIR on the complaint of the protesters. On the lines of the recommendations made by the Justice J. S. Verma committee, it should have been a zero FIR which could have been transferred to the place where the alleged offence took place subsequently. P.T. Usha has asked the wrestlers to call off their protest and instead of hitting the streets, they should have raised the issue before the Indian Olympics Commission headed by pugilist, MC Mary Kom. The wrestlers are maintaining that they had called off their protests on the previous occasion following the intervention of Sports minister, Anurag Thakur but the report of the committee constituted to go into the matter has not been made public so far. They claim that the government seems to be under some kind of pressure to keep the matter under wraps. The wrestlers have also been wondering why sportspersons from other fields, particularly Cricket, not extended their support to their cause, but are maintaining an unforgivable silence. Usha has asked the grapplers to call of their agitation in view of the tremendous work being done to promote sports by the Union Government in general and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular. However, it is unlikely that the heat generated by this protest is going to go away easily. The Prime Minister may finally have to step in to save the situation from worsening, and thus affecting the overall morale of Indian sports persons.
