CHENNAI: As the year approaches its end, the wrestling saga has culminated with the elections of the Wrestling Federation of India on Thursday. It took just over eleven months but the results, however, was not as sweet for the protesting wrestlers.
Even as supporters of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh shouted slogans and burst firecrackers at his residence which serves as the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) office, to celebrate their victory in the elections, less than two kilometres from there one of India’s most decorated woman wrestlers announced her retirement.
More than an hour earlier, Sanjay Kumar Singh, a staunch supporter of Brij Bhushan, was elected the WFI president after securing 40 out of 47 votes to beat Anita Sheoran, a former CWG medallist. Teary-eyed Sakshi Malik, the lone woman wrestler from the country to win an Olympic medal to date, placed her shoes on the table while announcing her decision at the Press Club of India.
She along with Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia and multiple World Championships medallist Vinesh Phogat were the face of the protest against the former WFI chief Brij Bhushan on sexual harassment charges and mismanagement.
“We fought from our heart but if a man like Brij Bhushan, his business partner and a close aide has been elected as the president of WFI, then I quit wrestling,” Sakshi told reporters with Bajrang and Vinesh in her company.
“We wanted a female president but that did not happen,” the 31-year-old said. Unable to control her emotions, a sobbing Sakshi left the venue soon after. The announcement marked an end to her illustrious career of more than a decade wherein she bagged bronze in the 2016 Rio Games apart from winning medals of all colours at the Commonwealth Games. The gold came last year when she made a dramatic comeback in the final, which also turned out to be her last international outing.
Bajrang felt let down by the government. “It’s unfortunate that government did not stand by its word that no Brij Bhushan loyalist will contest the WFI elections,” he said during the press conference. As far as the elections were concerned, the faction of Brij Bhushan, who was ineligible to contest as he had completed three full tenures, won 13 out of 15 posts. As was reported by this daily in July, a compromise formula was devised apparently at the behest of the union government as candidates from other faction — Prem Chand Lochab, former secretary of the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), and Devender Kadyan, a hotelier from Haryana — won the elections for secretary general and senior vice-president’s posts respectively.
Hours later, the newly-elected body cancelled all the decisions taken by the ad hoc committee. Kadiyan, who later attended the meeting, said he and Lochab have been apprised of the move and they support them. The formation of the new executive committee also paved the way for lifting the suspension of the WFI by United World Wrestling, the world governing body.
Sanjay, a close associate of the outgoing WFI chief became the new President with his panel winning 13 of the 15 posts in the elections -- a result that expectedly brought disappointment for the top three wrestlers -- Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia -- who had aggressively pushed for a change of guard at the federation.
The top wrestlers had early this year, launched an agitation against Brij Bhushan who they had accused of sexually exploiting women wrestlers.
The matter is in court.
Winning a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Games was the highlight of Sakshi's 13-year-old career in which she won three CWG medals, including gold in the 2022 edition and four Asian Championship medals.
Sakshi had become India's first woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal.
The Haryana wrestler, though, was struggling on the mat before the latest CWG edition and had conceded her spot in the national team to young Sonam Malik, who beat her during the national selection trials a number of times.
Sakshi appeared to be getting back her form during the 2022 Birmingham Games but it may be mentioned that the level of competition at the CWG is pretty weak as wrestlers from powerhouses Japan and Iran do not compete there.
Olympic medallists Punia and Phogat also addressed the media.
"It's unfortunate that the government did not stand by its word that no Brij Bhushan loyalist will contest the WFI elections," rued Bajrang and added that he is not sure if he will continue to pursue competitive wrestling.
The wrestlers had managed to mobilise huge support from different sections of society during their protest but the agitation fizzled out the day they planned a march towards the new Parliament building on May 28 when Delhi police removed all the protesters from Jantar Mantar for rioting.
The wrestlers had officially called off their protest on June 7 when Sports Minister Anurag Thakur assured them that none of the family members or close associates of Brij Bhushan would be allowed to enter the WFI election fray.
"With Sanjay Singh becoming president, I don't think women wrestlers will get justice because back door politics is still on to break their resolve. About 15-20 girls met with the sports minister and told him about the exploitation and today they are down to just six and they too are being coerced to pull out," alleged Bajrang.
Bajrang said the ministry has gone back on its word that no Brij Bhushan loyalist would be allowed to contest the elections.
"Following our protest in January, an oversight committee was formed by the ministry. Several female wrestlers had deposed before the panel, following which the sports minister said in front of the media that any person associated with Brij Bhushan would not enter the WFI. We waited for the outcome of the oversight committee for three months before starting the protest again. We were fighting for the truth and honour of our sisters and daughters," said 29-year-old Bajrang.
The Tokyo Games bronze winner said it was a long-drawn battle and 2-3 generations might have to suffer before getting justice.
"The fight we have fought, I feel the next one or two generations will have to continue the fight to get justice. We fought with full strength but the promise the government had made, it could not stand firm on that. Very sad to say that," he added.
World Championships and Asian Games medallist Phogat alleged that women wrestlers could face more exploitation under Sanjay Singh.
"Bajrang and I had also met the home minister and we clearly told him the names of the female wrestlers and what had happened to which wrestler. We urged him to please look into it. He assured us that he would look into it. But after waiting for 3-4 months, we started the protest at Jantar Mantar," said Vinesh.
"It feels sad that people like Sanjay Singh are getting the top position. Making him president means the coming generation of women could well suffer exploitation. What happened behind the curtain will now happen in the open now. I don't know how we will get justice in our country. The future of wrestling in this country looks dark.
Sakshi said, "The protesting wrestlers' demand was to have a female member in the governing body to take care of the rights of the women grapplers but unfortunately it came to naught on Thursday. We were demanding a female president. If there is a female president there will be no exploitation but today not a single woman is there in the new governing body," lamented Sakshi before placing her wrestling boots on the table.
(With inputs from PTI)