The country is appalled by the Centre’s response to the allegations made by sports celebrities

“Yet, the government of a party that swears by Hindu family values and traditions refuses to ask this alleged molester to even step down. Why? Custodial interrogation is a sign of an accused losing his immunity or political clout. Since he has not been taken into custody by the Delhi police, it can be safely assumed that he has not fallen from the government’s grace. So, those victims waiting to see what turn the case takes would obviously hesitate to come forward with their complaints. All this leads to the most obvious question: what is so special about Brij Bhushan?”

When Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr threw his Olympic boxing light heavyweight gold medal into the Ohio river, it was an act of rebellion, followed by the rejection of his Christian identity, which did not guarantee him basic human dignity and equality. He embraced Islam and as Muhammad Ali, remained one of the greatest sporting icons; his 1960 Rome medal was restored and replaced in 1996 as a mark of universal respect. He achieved what he set out to do. When the protesting Indian wrestlers decided to throw their medals into the Ganga, they were upholding their Hindu identity against injustice. There is nothing more holy, sublime or revered than the Ganga for the average Indian. After a parent’s death, a handful of ashes is immersed into the river as a ritual of purification for the departed soul in its eternal journey. And of all places, Haridwar holds the utmost significance for this ritual.

The wrestlers’ protest is not a Jat issue, but a fight against naked patriarchy which will have resonance all over the country.

Agitating women wrestlers should not have dithered on the Haridwar ghats at the last minute. They should have hired a boat, gone into the river and reverentially ‘immersed’ their medals in an act of Gandhian satyagraha, symbolically purifying their sport of the grave sins of its administrators. According to the Hindu tradition, Mother Ganga purifies everything and hence the offering of the medals would have helped the wrestlers purify society of the evil deeds of a demon, who was once jailed for harboring Dawood Ibrahim’s sharpshooter. Such an act would have shaken the nation’s conscience, leaving a lasting impact on the politics of religious symbolism — victims of sexual harassment making a ritualistic offering of their most precious possessions to Ganga Ma.

Unfortunately, khap leaders intervened, thereby turning into a caste issue a non-denominational gender struggle for women’s rights against a sexual predator in a position of power. The khaps are caste-based organizations of the Jat community of Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, often accused of extreme patriarchy and even supporting honor killings. They are not champions of women’s empowerment or modernity. In fact, all that these upholders of the old order could achieve was to proclaim to the world the caste of the women wrestlers and to reduce them to their Haryanvi Jat identity. These athletes — role models for the entire nation — have now been made part of a reductive, exclusionary cattiest performance by khap leaders, who after their intervention in Haridwar met at Muzaffarnagar and Kurukshetra, reinforcing their regional and caste identities.

The khap’s intervention has helped the government wriggle out of an extremely difficult situation by painting the protest as that of a single community which is angry with the ruling party, whereas the whole country is appalled by the Central government’s response to the allegations made by sports celebrities, including a minor. The practice in all such cases, particularly involving a minor, is to register a First Information Report and arrest the person immediately. However, all the norms have been violated to shield Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Why? Obviously, this ruling party MP representing UP’s Kaiserganj constituency is more equal than other Indian citizens and the norms of custodial interrogation in cases registered under the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act do not apply to him.

In fact, investigators seem to be keen to recheck the minor complainant’s age. Such leeway is not normally offered to an accused whose defense lawyer can always take up discrepancies, if any, in the complainant’s age certificates during the trial. Then, Brij Bhushan is not a regular politician accused of a sexual offence, but the head of the country’s wrestling fraternity, expected to nurture, groom and inspire generations of athletes. A 66-year-old person holding such a position of guardianship of India’s wrestling fraternity has been accused of demanding sexual favors, stalking young women and touching them inappropriately. A criminal breach of trust has happened. This ought to be treated like an accusation of incest in a society that tries to bring in familial metaphors in all kinds of administrative situations. A man accused of incestuous advances loses his moral right to head the family.

Yet, the government of a party that swears by Hindu family values and traditions refuses to ask this alleged molester to even step down. Why? Custodial interrogation is a sign of an accused losing his immunity or political clout. Since he has not been taken into custody by the Delhi police, it can be safely assumed that he has not fallen from the government’s grace. So, those victims waiting to see what turn the case takes would obviously hesitate to come forward with their complaints. All this leads to the most obvious question: what is so special about Brij Bhushan? Politicos who perennially search for logic in illogical situations claim that the BJP central leadership is nurturing him as a counterpoise to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath within the party in a possible power struggle as both belong to the same caste. But such a far-fetched reasoning only proves the utter lack of reason for anyone to protect Brij Bhushan’s interests.

The Central government has handed over an emotive gender issue on a platter to the Opposition in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The government is badly mistaken if it thinks this is a mere Jat issue. It is not a Jat issue, but a fight against naked patriarchy which will have resonance all over the country. The wrestlers may well have political ambitions, may be supported by the Opposition, may even be motivated by the lure of high offices and post-retirement sinecures. But all that does not take anything away from their accusations that have been amplified by international wrestling bodies. It is India’s pride that is getting hurt; Indian womanhood that is getting demeaned. This could well become something akin to the then UPA government’s Commonwealth Games fiasco, which marked the beginning of its unravelling.
(The author is editor-in-chief of Tribune Group of Newspapers)