As the wrestlers’ protest enters its second month, its face and voice, World Championship medallist and Asian Games Gold Vinesh Phogat, breaks her silence.
Our fight for justice is a month old yet it feels like we have been at Jantar Mantar for a year. Not because we have been sleeping on a footpath in the heat, getting bitten by mosquitoes, having stray dogs for company once dusk falls or don’t have access to a clean toilet at night. Our fight for justice seems like it has been on forever because the wheels of justice have moved very slowly.
This is despite seven women wrestlers, including a minor, having complained about sexual harassment by Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Frankly, when we decided to speak up in January about the sexual harassment women wrestlers faced and the mismanagement in the federation, we believed our voices would matter. And for a short time, we believed it did. An Oversight Committee was set up by the Sports Ministry to probe the allegations but we know now that it was an eyewash.
In January, when Bajrang (Punia), Sakshi (Malik), and I decided to begin protesting at Jantar Mantar, we believed it would not take more than two to three days to get justice. We never thought we would have to protest again for the maan and sammaan of women wrestlers who have shown exemplary courage to speak about sexual harassment.
How many times do victims have to speak up before they get justice?
When I say “speak” just imagine this. They have had to talk about traumatic events not once but many times — to the Oversight Committee, to an Indian Olympic Association Committee, to record statements to the police and then before the magistrate.
The Asian Games is around the corner… though we have to represent India and win medals, this is a bigger battle… What’s the point of the medals around your neck if you can’t fight for justice?
Yet, as of today, one month since we started the protest, there is no justice in sight. For the complainants talking again and again about being sexually harassed has been like torture.
Like many other girls, I had to suffer silently all these years because of this man and I had no option. (Despite several attempts, Singh was unavailable for comment. He has denied any wrongdoing.)
Why Brij Bhushan, A Member of Parliament, is being protected is anyone’s guess.
But, like we have said, we won’t be leaving Jantar Mantar until he is arrested. The past few months have been stressful and I have shed tears. But I know this could be a long and testing battle to get justice for women and I am ready to make any sacrifice.
The Asian Games is around the corner and the qualifying cycle for the Olympics is beginning and though we have to represent India and win medals, at the moment this is a bigger battle. Because if we wind up our protest without getting justice, then women who face sexual harassment will stay silent and suffer.