The BJP should listen to the concerns of the wrestlers protesting in the national Capital
The Delhi Police’s decision to register an FIR against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh could have come sooner. He has been accused of sexually harassing seven female wrestlers, including a minor. The fact that the matter had to reach the Supreme Court doesn’t show the Bharatiya Janata Party or Delhi cops in a good light. Top wrestlers had to stage a protest in the national capital to get the FIR filed. On April 26, the Delhi Police had informed the SC they needed to carry out a preliminary inquiry before registering an FIR over the accusations. Delhi cops’ U-turn, however, has failed to mollify the protesting wrestlers; they want Singh’s arrest. Meanwhile the episode has once again brought PT Usha, the iconic athlete who heads the Indian Olympic Association, into the limelight—but not in a nice way. She did her country in her heyday, but by slamming the protesting wrestlers she did not cover herself in glory. Her remark that Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and other leading grapplers brought a bad name to Indian sports was not in good taste. She said that shortly after the IOA announced the setting up of a three-member ad-hoc committee to run the affairs at the WFI. “Thoda toh discipline hona chahiye (there should be some discipline). Instead of coming to us they have gone straight to the streets. It’s not good for sport,” Usha added.
Her caustic remarks were resented by the wrestlers and elicited sharp reactions from politicians and sportspersons. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi slammed Usha. Legendary sports persons like Kapil Dev and Neeraj Chopra supported the wrestlers’ cause; this support also amounted to oblique criticism of Usha’s. Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s political clout in a few districts in Uttar Pradesh is said to be his shield. The BJP doesn’t seem to like the prospect of losing influence in these areas. His association with the BJP is very old, going back to 1991 when he got the BJP ticket for the Lok Sabha seat for the first time. But he is more of an opportunistic politician than a leader committed to the ideology of the saffron party. Though he got elected as MP five times on the BJP ticket, in 2008 he joined the Samajwadi Party. Besides, his bahubali image and his stewardship of the WFI are at odds with the narrative of ‘no danga, no curfew’ that the Yogi Adityanath regime in the country’s largest state is trying to peddle to people. He was charged with the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act or TADA for allegedly sheltering Dawood Ibrahim’s aide Subhash Thakur, though he was later acquitted. This is not exactly the profile of a leader the BJP would like to sell to the electorate. No political party can ignore the realpolitik imperative, but then it cannot be seen as completely cynical too. It is time the BJP showed to the country that its commitment to morality is real.
