The official mouthpiece of the Shiv Sena (UBT), Saamana, on Tuesday criticized the central government's recent suspension of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), calling it a belated response to months of protests by wrestlers against alleged sexual harassment and mismanagement.
Taking a dig at the Centre, the Saamana editorial welcomed the dawning of better sense and wisdom, though belatedly. Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia and other wrestlers who have brought glory to the country at the international level have been fighting against the misrule of former federation president and MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for a year and have been raising their voices against the sexual exploitation of our women wrestlers. They resorted to every manner of protest in their relentless pursuit of justice for the victimised wrestlers. However, the government, under the leadership of PM (Narendra) Modi continued to turn a deaf ear to their cries for justice. Last year, a protest by women wrestlers at Delhi's Jantar Mantar was broken up by the police. The police cracked down on peaceful protesters in the middle of the night and used force to crush their movement for justice, the editorial read.
Could the Modi government have allowed the controversy surrounding the national wrestling federation to hurt its prospects in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections? However, the Centre had been paying lip service to the wrestlers and was not sympathetic to their movement and demands. Brij Bhushan continued to have the blessings of the ruling party. However, sensing a grim fallout with the elections around the corner, the Modi government came to a belated realisation and suspended the newly elected president of the wrestling federation, Sanjay Singh. Had there been more time for the general elections, the government would have still been in a state of slumber in the matter, the editorial read.
The WFI election was held on December 21, with Sanjay Singh, a loyalist of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, and his panel winning the polls by big margins. The sports ministry, however, suspended the WFI till further notice on Sunday, after the wrestling body made a hasty announcement of organising the under-15 and under-20 national competitions without following due procedure and not giving sufficient notice to wrestlers" for preparations.
Several top wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Malik and Bajrang Punia and World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat, have levelled allegations of sexual harassment against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the MP from Kaiserganj in Uttar Pradesh, and the case is being heard by the Delhi High Court. The former WFI chief has denied the allegations against him and claimed that he is being targeted under a conspiracy hatched by Congress leaders.