Authoritarian & Insensitive
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-05-29 03:13:23
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
In a shameful incident, Delhi Police manhandled international wrestlers agitating against the WFI president B B S Singh and prevented them from staging a peaceful march to the new Parliament building to highlight their grievances which are not being heard by the authorities. The way medal-winning international wrestlers like Vinesh and Sangita Phogat were pinned to the ground before being detained (they were released later) was disgusting and showed that the government has no understanding of how such athletes are to be treated. The Centre said that the agitating wrestlers' decision to hold a mahapanchayat on the day the new Parliament was being inaugurated was 'deliberate provocation' and they were being misled by vested interests.
But is this true? The agitation started without politics - it was a genuine agitation against a powerful ruling party politician who, in his capacity as the president of the Wrestling Federation of India, was alleged to have sexually molested some female wrestlers. The charges were grave but the federation was found to have ignored them initially and did not have a proper grievance redressal system (as directed by the Supreme Court) in place. The wrestlers had initially rebuffed all politicians who tried to show solidarity by appearing with them of the stage. It was only when the Centre did not act against Singh that the wrestlers started courting opposition politicians. Hence, the government left them with no alternative and its charge of them being misled by vested interests fall flat.
It is strange that the government is rubbishing the charges of several female wrestlers and taking stern action against those agitating just to protect a powerful MP from UP. The case has been lingering for long and the Delhi Police filed FIRs against Singh only after the Supreme Court intervened. But after that, little action has been taken in the matter. The Centre must fast-track the investigation and the case and ensure that the peaceful agitation of the wrestlers is allowed without such high-handed tactics.
