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Sakshi quits wrestling in anguish
The only Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal said that if a close aide of Bhushan can be elected then she won't step on the mat anymore
The contrast couldn’t have been starker. The scenes outside the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) office — also outgoing president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s official residence — were delirious. Drums and flowers awaited the newly-elected president Sanjay Singh, but no sooner did Brij Bhushan make an appearance, it was evident who was calling the shots. Brij Bhushan had, technically speaking, nothing to do with Thursday’s polls. His tenure as WFI president had maxed out, his son or son-in-law were not in the running, and he doesn’t hold any office in the federation too.
Still, when the 66-year-old BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaiserganj emerged from his office, his supporters literally bent over backwards to seek his blessings. Garlanded and elated, he declared Sanjay’s win as a “victory for the wrestlers”.
A little over 500m away, in the teeming, asphyxiating first floor hall of Press Club of India, three of India’s most accomplished wrestlers sat dejected and defeated. The sight of Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, and Vinesh Phogat collectively addressing the media had, in the course of this year, become a recurring leitmotif of the landmark protest the trio has led against Brij Bhushan, a five-time MP.
Not for the first time this year, they broke down, laying bare their emotions with raw passion and an aching, heartfelt monologue. But this one felt different, for this was devoid of promise or hope. In the room bursting at its seams, the three sports icons could be excused for feeling all alone. Regularly choking and pausing to catch their breath, they spoke of their fight against Brij Bhushan. The three began their protest in January and left the nation stunned with their allegations. Phogat revealed that she and Punia had met Home Minister Amit Shah before protesting in January and it was only after all options were exhausted that they took to the streets.
The names of the aggrieved wrestlers, she said, were provided to the home minister while complaining about the incidents that had taken place in a hope to save wrestling and women wrestlers. “We were asked to wait for 30-40 days. It was only after waiting for 3-4 months that we began our protest,” she said.
Punia, a bronze medallist from Tokyo Olympics and the only Indian wrestler to win four World Championships medals, accused Brij Bhushan of changing the narrative of their protest. “We tried to fight a man who we knew was sexually harassing women wrestlers. He used his power to change the narrative of our fight to politics or to religion. You saw this and we saw this,” the 29-year-old said. “Whoever was part of the protests, be it us, coaches or the wrestlers, none of our futures are safe. Anything can happen to any of us. It can be a car accident or any kind of accusation. All of us and the country have now seen his power and his way of working. When 20 women came forward, he broke all of their cases one by one,” he added.
Malik went on to thank everyone who supported the wrestlers during their protest. “At this moment, we would like to offer our sincere thanks to everyone who supported us. We met people from all walks of life during our sit-in. It was very humbling.
“We gathered a lot of courage for this fight against the Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. But today, his right-hand man (referring to Sanjay Singh) has been elected as the new WFI President. We had demanded a woman be made the president, but that has not been fulfilled,” added Malik.
The sucker punch came almost 20 minutes into the presser. A teary-eyed Malik, the only Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal, said, “We fought from our heart but if a man like Brij Bhushan, his business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I give up wrestling. From today onwards you will not see me on the mat,” she said before keeping her wrestling shoes on the table. A brief, stunned silence was broken by loud commotion from her supporters who urged her not to retire.
Unmoved and inconsolable, the 31-year-old rose from her seat and with her husband Satyawart Kadian in tow, exited the venue, her career that took wing a decade back with a Commonwealth Championships bronze, ending in the most dramatic and unfortunate way conceivable. On the table lay a pair of discarded blue shoes, a reminder of the toil put through years of punishing training and competitions cycle, an athlete’s purest belonging encapsulating a life of sweat and sacrifice.
Phogat and her husband Somvir Rathee and Punia left in a huff too, choosing not to take any questions. Brij Bhushan, celebrating not far from the unfolding drama, responded to Malik’s retirement with a curt, “I have nothing to do with it.”
Anita Sheoran, the presidential candidate propped up by the wrestlers also bemoaned the results, calling it a sad day for women athletes of the country. “It is a sad and unfortunate day for all women sportspersons. We fought the good fight but the garlands went Brij Bhushan’s way. It is heartbreaking. We were assured by the government that there will be a woman WFI president, so I am sad that the government didn’t keep its word,” she said.
