New Delhi: The government must keep its word on ensuring a shift of power in the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) with no close associate of president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh contesting in the election else there will be no clean-up and women wrestlers won’t feel safe, Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia said on Wednesday.
Singh, the BJP MP from Kaiserganj in Uttar Pradesh, has been found liable for prosecution for sexual harassment, molestation and stalking of women wrestlers in the Delhi Police chargesheet. Bajrang and some of the country’s other top wrestlers had suspended their protest against Singh after a meeting with sports minister Anurag Thakur in June. One of the conditions agreed upon, according to Bajrang, was that ‘no family member’ or ‘supporter’ of Singh would contest the elections.
“Those close to Brij Bhushan are in the fray for the elections. Sanjay Kumar Singh is contesting for the post of WFI president. If Sanjay Kumar wins, it is equal to Brij Bhushan winning the elections. The government had promised us that those close to Brij Bhushan and his family members won’t contest. But that doesn’t seem to be the case now.
The government must fulfil its promise, otherwise women wrestlers won’t be safe. How long will women wrestlers live in fear?” Bajrang told
Sanjay Kumar is the vice-president of Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association.
Brij Bhushan wants to hold on to power via his trusted aides in order to try and silence those women wrestlers who want to speak out against him but are scared to do so.
“The moment it is clear that the WFI has nobody connected to Brij Bhushan, other victims of sexual harassment will also have the courage to talk about what they went through. Brij Bushan is so powerful and well connected. That is why we want change in the WFI,” Bajrang said.
Worthy challenger
The contest for the president’s post is a two-way race, the other candidate being 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anita Sheoran. A witness and a corroborator in the case against Brij Bhushan, Anita has the backing of Bajrang and two other prominent wrestlers who were part of the protest — Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat.
“Anita is a former wrestler. She understands the sport, knows the sacrifices wrestlers have to make to win a medal for the country and will be the voice of wrestlers. Most importantly, women wrestlers will feel safe. I am not saying make me the president of the WFI. But the government had promised us that our opinion would matter when it came to who occupies the key posts in the WFI. It was one of the conditions and a reason we called off our protest. But it does not look like the promise will be fulfilled,” Bajrang said.
Sports minister Anurag Thakur, speaking after a six-hour meeting with the protesting wrestlers in June, had said, “After the elections, WFI should function as a good federation with good office-bearers. Players’ opinions should be taken in this regard. Former president Brij Bhushan Singh, who has completed three terms, and those close to him, should not be elected, the wrestlers have demanded,” Thakur had said.
After the government assuring the wrestlers that they would have a say in deciding who occupies key posts in the new WFI executive committee, it was believed that a unanimous candidate would be nominated in each category, thus doing away with the need to have polls. However, candidates chosen by Brij Bhushan for the 15 posts have the backing of at least 20 of the 25 state units.
Mental torture
Bajrang said he cut short his training stint in Kyrgyzstan and returned to India on hearing about Brij Bhushan not backing down from fielding candidates of his choice for the elections.
“It has been mental torture for me and Vinesh. After calling off the protest, we wanted to give 100 percent to training. But how is that possible when we know that Brij Bhushan’s people could run the federation again. We have been talking to the government, the sports ministry and the Sport Authority of India to ensure that those close to Brij Bhushan are not part of the election process. After returning to India, a lot of my time has gone in meetings and phone calls. It is very difficult to focus on wrestling and training when the future of the sport in India is at stake,” Bajrang added.
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