A group of Meiteis from Manipur are protesting the violence that is roiling their state in one part of Jantar Mantar. A young guy is speaking passionately about inflation and unemployment fifty yards to their left. Some YouTubers are attempting to find anybody who is ready to speak up and has an opinion. From behind a barrier, Bajrang Punia scans the scene, contemplates, and shakes his head slowly. It dawns on you sometimes that your suffering is not the only one in the world. There are others who have endured worse conditions and for a longer period of time, the Olympic wrestling champion told HT on Thursday.
Punia claims that during the last 33 days since he and other wrestlers started a sit-in seeking the arrest of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, they have received a reality check. “We believed that, with all of our medals, we would be taken seriously. But the truth is otherwise.
Punia has discovered that the match is a David vs Goliath struggle, and that, contrary to what they had previously thought, the wrestlers are the Davids.
Punia immediately added, “We know what we are up against, but we are not afraid.
Wrestling legends Punia, Vinesh Phogat, and Sakshi Malik methodically considered the worst-case scenarios while drafting the plan for their January sit-in last December. However, the way things turned out was outside of their expectations.
We realised that our careers may end. We were aware that we may not be able to pursue post-career alternatives like coaching or administration. We were aware that we may be falsely accused in situations. However, there is no place for fear when the purpose is sincere and the commitment is strong. Although it wasn’t an easy choice, once we made up our minds, there were no turning back, he added.
“However, I never expected this demonstration to go this long. We believed that since we are professional athletes, the government would pay attention to us. That was the main reason we put our jobs at jeopardy. The fact that we were abandoned outside stings. But since we are wrestlers, we won’t give up easily. I really believe that our nation has two sets of laws: one for the average people and one for strong persons like Singh.
The wrestlers have accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has presided over Indian wrestling for 12 years and is also a Gonda-based member of parliament for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of sexual harassment and mental abuse. He has refuted the allegations, and the police are still looking into them. However, the main demand of the wrestlers—that he be arrested—has not been fulfilled.
Punia would ideally be practising at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) facility in Sonepat to defend the Asian Games gold medal he won in 2018. However, his training programme is now in ruins, his sports aspirations have been dashed, and his goal of earning an Olympic gold medal is far away. Instead, he spends his days giving lectures, consulting with attorneys, and interacting with the media.
This may be thought of as our introduction to the outside world. We have a really fortunate, clean existence as sportsmen. Here, I met a lady who had endured sexual harassment and had been campaigning for justice for more than a year. She approached me and began to tell me her tale. She said that seeing our suffering gives her the will to fight,” he stated. “I almost lost it. Because of this, we assert that the struggle is for all women in our nation, not just wrestlers.