Will Wrestlers Get Justice in Sexual Harassment Case Against BJP Leader?
Will Wrestlers Get Justice in Sexual Harassment Case Against BJP Leader?
You can safely conclude that the wrestlers’ protest will go futile and they should be prepared to face more injustice in today’s India.
By Rakesh Raman
Top Indian wrestlers have refused to pause their protest against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who is facing multiple allegations of sexual harassment involving women wrestlers.
Brij Bhushan – who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of prime minister Narendra Modi – is alleged to be a wild predator who has tried his dirty hands on most female athletes including minors. He denies allegations.
As Modi and BJP were trying to protect Brij Bhushan, the police were not filing a case against him. While wrestlers have been protesting for the past few days in Delhi, they also approached the Supreme Court to get Brij Bhushan punished.
After the Supreme Court intervention, Delhi Police – which works like a mercenary private militia of the Modi regime – agreed today (April 28) to file an FIR (first information report) against the accused Brij Bhushan.
However, Delhi Police’s reputation is so bad that the wrestlers said they have no trust in this police and decided to continue their protest until Brij Bhushan is arrested and removed from his position at the WFI.
But the wrestlers should know that even a jail term for Brij Bhushan will not be sufficient. These days, top politicians enjoy all luxuries – including full-body massage in jails – and keep moving out of jails at their will.
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According to reports, Brij Bhushan has 40 criminal cases filed against him. Therefore, it will not be easy to keep him in jail and Modi’s BJP – which has special liking for people with criminal records – is not expected to remove him from any position.
Earlier, despite a massive protest by farmers, Modi did not remove another BJP leader Ajay Mishra, a Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India. Ajay Mishra is accused of a conspiracy to murder a few protesting farmers in 2021 at Lakhimpur Kheri in the Uttar Pradesh (UP) state.
And even if Brij Bhushan is jailed, the Modi government will soon release him as it had released last year the Bilkis Bano case convicts who were jailed for the rape and murder of innocent people.
So, the protesting wrestlers – including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, and Bajrang Punia – should not expect any justice in the current regime. Rather, all sports persons should never hobnob with politicians when they win laurels for the country because most politicians are crooks.
If these aggrieved wrestlers have any doubt and want to know more about the extreme lawlessness in India, they should watch the recent BBC documentary: India: The Modi Question.
So, you can safely conclude that the wrestlers’ protest will go futile and they should be prepared to face more injustice in today’s India.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
