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India’s champion women wrestlers are not only sports icons now, they have become liberating symbols of women’s rights — a role model for the young generation in India, especially women
By Kamran Khan
Wrestling in India is a sport rooted in mud, sweat and earth, and women wrestlers were unheard of in India at one time. Now, despite coming from a rural background in the Hindi-heartland, with their sheer guts, resilience and hard training, some of them have become national and world champions, outclassing the best.
Not only this, champions like Sakshi Malik, and Geeta, Babita and Vinesh Phogat have become role models of the sport. Vinesh and Sakshi have also become liberating icons of street struggles and women’s rights, among aspiring girls and women, across the rural and urban landscape of India.
However, it has taken a while. Now, Indian female wrestlers are bringing glory to the nation in every championship. Wrestling is becoming a beloved sport , and it continues to grow more popular by the day.
Bollywood box-office success, Dangal, was the icononic story of the celebrated Phogat family of wrestlers, whose visionary and stoic patriarch, Mahavir Singh Phogat, defied social norms and went against the dominant current of the time. He rejected the notion that wrestling should only be restricted within the male domain. Thereby, he made his ‘reluctant’ daughters go through the hard grind of daily training, in a village landscape, to become champion-wrestlers.
Indian female wrestlers are now out-performing men at the international level. Women continue to take up wrestling, unafraid of societal stereotypes and boundaries. Sakshi Malik won a bronze in the Rio Olympics, setting new standards of excellence, becoming a darling of nation.
Besides, there are other top women wrestlers who have made their name in the sport. While others are waiting to enter the portals of fame. Among the best are:
Geeta Phogat (born December 15, 1988) is one of the finest female wrestlers in the country. She ushered in a new era for women’s wrestling in what was an established male terrain. Geeta and her younger sister, Babita, used to get into fights in childhood. Their father, Mahavir Singh Phogat, a former wrestler, saw their potential and trained them in the art of ‘pehlwani’ (wrestling). Girls weren’t allowed to wrestle at the time and the ones who did proved no match for Geeta’s abilities. She had to resort to wrestling with boys who were bigger and older than her to get ahead. Yet, Geeta overcame all odds to reach the 2010 Commonwealth Games and won India’s first-ever gold medal in wrestling in the tournament.
Babita Kumari Phogat (born November 20, 1989), along with her elder sister, Geeta, won the gold medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games. She also won silver medals at the 2010 and 2018 Commonwealth Games and a bronze at the World Wrestling Championships, 2012. Babita entered politics by joining the BJP in 2019 and is known for her outspoken, Right-wing opinion.
Vinesh Phogat (born August 25, 1994) is an Indian wrestler. She became the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold at the Commonwealth and Asian Games. She is the only Indian woman wrestler to win multiple medals at the World Wrestling Championships. Vinesh became the first Indian athlete to be nominated for the Laureus World Sports Awards in 2019. The highest sports honour in India, the grappler received Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in 2020, Arjuna Award in 2016, and was nominated for Padma Shri in 2018 by the Sports Authority of India. She clinched a gold in the 55 kg category at the Senior National Wrestling Championships, 2024, in Jaipur recently after returning from a 16-month break. The break was due to the protracted protests, she, Sakshi Malik, wrestler Bajrang Punia and others waged, against sexual harassment of women wrestlers. In 2022, Vinesh took part in the World Championships in Belgrade, where she won a bronze. Now, she is all set to travel to the Paris Olympics.
Sakshi Malik (born September 3, 1992), is a freestyle wrestler. At the Summer Olympics of 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she won the bronze in the 58 kg category, becoming the first Indian female wrestler to win a Olympic medal. In 2017, the government of India honoured her with the Padma Shri, the country’s fourth-highest civilian award. In 2024, she became the first Indian wrestler to feature in Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. She is a part of the JSW Sports Excellence Programme, along with fellow female wrestlers Vinesh, Babita and Geeta Phogat. She is currently employed with the Indian Railways and won the gold at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
THE CASE AGAINST BRIJ BHUSHAN SINGH
The protests arrived suddenly, but it quickly grabbed national attention. Indeed, something like this had never ever happened in the history of Indian sports, ever before.
In January 2023, women wrestlers began a dharna at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, seeking immediate investigation into allegations of sexual harassment of several female wrestlers, including a minor, by Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, during his tenure as the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). Singh was the BJP MP from Kaisergunj, UP. Following the protests, the party top brass was forced to deny him a ticket for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, and, instead, gave it to his son.
A bahubali, and a powerful politician, despite the protests creating outrage in India and abroad, the BJP leadership refused to punish him, or remove him from the party. So much so, it took the Delhi police almost six months to register an FIR, even while the world champion women wrestlers were picked up, beaten, hounded and arrested in the heart of the capital. Truly, the BJP slogan of ‘Beti bachao..’, literally went for a toss.
The complainants accused Singh of groping, touching the body without consent, stalking, intimidation, and demanding “sexual favours” in exchange for professional help, all of which led to a “shared sense of fear and trauma” among the women wrestlers. He has denied all allegations in front of a government-appointed committee.
The wrestlers resumed protests in April, 2023 at Jantar Mantar demanding his arrest and that the report by the committee be made public. They said that nothing has been done to resolve these serious issues. Separate police complaints were filed by seven wrestlers against the BJP MP, but the police did not register an FIR. The central government, the prime minister, and the Union home minister, kept mum.
When an FIR was not filed by the Delhi police despite the protests and the national outrage, the wrestlers approached the Supreme Court. Before the case could be heard, Kapil Sibal, appearing for the wrestlers, said the FIR has not been registered as Singh is from the ruling party. Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Delhi Police, sought time for an enquiry; however, by the day of the hearing, he, reportedly, submitted before the court that the police has decided to register an FIR.
The court rejected the plea for the appointment of a retired judge for the oversight of the investigations. Two FIRs, one under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act), and the other for outraging modesty, were filed against Singh by on April 28, after the hearing.
Offences under the POCSO Act are cognizable, non-bailable and require immediate arrest, without a court warrant, but the police did not arrest the MP. This led to to accusations of unequal application of law. In addition to the POCSO Act, the FIRs include IPC Sections 354 (assault with intent to outrage woman’s modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking) and 34 (common intention) .
The police, thereby, formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the matter. It recorded Singh’s statements and those of the women wrestlers, under Section 164 CrPC, before a magistrate. During the investigation, the coach of a complainant, an Olympian wrestler, a wrestler who was a Commonwealth medalist, and a referee, confirmed about having knowledge of the alleged instances of sexual harassment, during the interrogation by the Delhi Police.
The 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, Anita Sheoran, 38, also corroborated one of the complainant’s statement. She, later, contested against the proxy candidate put up by Singh for the post of the president of WFI. She was backed by the women wrestlers.
In an interview to ‘National Herald’, she said, “You can say that I can’t stand any wrong, this is why I am also a witness in the case filed against Brij Bhushan… …My biggest agenda is to make the wrestling arena a safe place for women in India. Enough is enough.”
Singh has been questioned twice by the SIT in which he denied all the accusations against him, claiming he had been falsely implicated. WFI secretary, Vinod Tomar, has also been questioned by the SIT. The police had allegedly asked for videos and photos, and tried to recreate the scene of the incidents, as evidence. The wrestlers alleged that the government was putting pressure on them to withdraw the cases against the BJP MP. The minor in the case, whose statement was recorded under 164 CrPC, had, surprisingly, withdrawn her case. This was done, allegedly, due to pressure exerted on her father, who, himself was reportedly under pressure.
While protesting at Jantar Mantar, the wrestlers alleged that the Delhi Police had cut off electricity, water and food supplies at the protest site. They also said that their family and friends were not being allowed to visit them. The cops had detained students and civil society activists for protesting and supporting the wrestlers.
After a prolonged delay, a chargesheet was finally filed against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for the alleged sexual harassment of multiple female wrestlers. After charges were framed, he pleaded not guilty. “Koi sawaal hi nahi hai. Galti kiye hi nahi, to manenge kyun? (There is no question. When I did not make a mistake, why should I admit to it),” he had said.