- Friday, February 28, 2025
While some have sought guardians allowing contestants, others wanted appointment of more women officials in senior positions of the sport.
By: Shubham Ghosh
ANGERED by the episode of accusations of sexual harassment against a top sports official in the country, Indian women wrestlers and their families have demanded sweeping reforms at various levels to ensure security. Among the reforms they have sought are seeing guardians allowing contestants to appointing more women officials in senior positions of the sport, Reuters reported.
Recently, a trial court admitted a case of sexual harassment and intimidation against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the outgoing chief of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and an influential parliamentarian of prime minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
However, delay in taking action against the accused administrator became a hot topic of discussion when some of India’s top wrestlers, including Olympic medal-winners, held street protests for days even threatened to throw their medals into the Ganges river. They were also allegedly manhandled by the police in New Delhi when they tried to march towards the country’s new parliament building in end May when Modi was inaugurating it. Scenes of their scuffle with police officers left the nation shocked and a number of sportspersons, both current and former, supporting them.
Singh, who has been accused of sexually harassing a number of women wrestlers, denied the charges with an aide of him claiming that his innocence would be proved by the country’s judiciary.
The international body of wrestling, United World Wrestling, also strongly condemned the treatment of India’s top wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, and threatened to suspend the Indian federation if it failed to hold its election within the stipulated time.
Mona Dahiya, mother of two teenage sisters Deepika and Ishanshu, who are aspiring wrestlers in the northern Indian state of Haryana, told Reuters that it was a “matter of tremendous sadness” but lauded the wrestlers saying they did the right thing by raising their voices.
“We are worried if some of the top wrestlers could experience this (sexual harassment), then it can happen with our girls too,” she was quoted as saying by Reuters at her home in Kharkhoda, a town located about 60 kilometres from the national capital of New Delhi.
Along with the Dahiyas, nine female wrestlers and their parents were determined that none of the young women would give up the sport under any circumstances, Reuters reported after speaking to them.
They are now awaiting the WFI elections set to be held this month in order to achieve their demand for reforms. Some of the guardians want women officials appointed at all levels of training and also run the federation and other sporting bodies.
Some others want the government to form an official group of guardians to attend events, such as training camps and international competitions, along with female contestants.
Indian sports minister Anurag Thakur told Reuters that the government assures that every girl would feel protected and that it is working towards addressing all the concerns that have been raised by the women wrestlers.
However, not all are still convinced.
