A FIGHT IN ARENA TO FIGHT ON STREET
"With great power comes great responsibility"
is an adage popularized
by Spider-man in
Marvel comics and related feature films. This means that if you are in a
position and have an ability to do something, make sure that you do it for the
good of others and in a very responsible manner. However, the real life
experiences on ground are contradictory to this adage and power, rather than
making one responsible and accountable, is often being influenced by the
politics and politicians. Even the voices that show dissent against such misuse
of power are being silenced and politicised differently by different people and
parties.
There
are innumerable instances, which covertly or in some cases overtly, have endorsed
this very fact that power and politics go hand in gloves with each other. The recent
example that unveils this sort of nexus is a fight of the pride of India, our
Olympic and World champions in wrestling, against the state and its de facto
instrumentalities like the Wrestling Federation of India. The wrestlers, who
brought glory to our country in the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, the Asian
and World Championships, have left their arena (akhara) and come on the streets
to protest and express deep dissatisfaction against the system. It seems that
the pride of India has lifted the veil from the most extensive and most shameful
moral decay in a section of our sports infrastructure.
The protest is
inherent to democracy and, on one hand, it acts like a pressure relief valve
while on the other hand, it exemplifies a symptom of an underlying system. The protest
was started in the beginning of this year and despite the formulation of
committee by the state administration, multiple attempts were made to silence
the protest. As per the reports rather
than taking a decisive step, feelers were sent across for a compromise which
the wrestlers negated. In this way the State and its agencies were the biggest violators of the law, especially
the laws enacted to ensure the rights of women. Keeping in consideration the
previous happenings where the perpetrators of violence against women were never
punished, the wrestlers anticipated that justice was neither certain, nor
speedy and almost denied. They took on to the streets yet again and, this time,
in a much more aggressive and disciplined manner.
The repeated urge to protest by wrestlers highlights
the situation in the institutional set up of the Wrestling Federation of India
wherein the top sports bodies are dominated by politicians or their scions and
the violators use their political
clout to bully the complainants into silence. The blatant misuse of official position and muscle power, which used to be an
affair happening behind the curtains and many a times used to get brushed under
the carpet, is now being used unreservedly and unhesitatingly. The lack of
political view to implement the law on the part of the state is an add on to
the irony as it provided a free space for opposition and other organisations to
intrude and butt in. However, the motto or goal of all those who have come to
support them at this crucial juncture should not be to politicise and hijack
the movement, but to support them whole heartedly with no selfish motives till
end.
This is not a case of West accusing us of
the human rights violations, but it is the pride of India who have put their
life and honour at stake to unveil the morally sick mentality within the
system. As a nation, if we have acknowledged their efforts, celebrated at a
time when they brought laurels to our country, and have done photo shoots with
them at various occasions it is our responsibility to stand with them in this
difficult time and urge authorities to deal with this issue in an impartial and
transparent manner. It is hoped that the rule of law shall prevail and the
dignity of our athletes shall be protected. For that to happen, justice must be
delivered in this case, and in all such cases, in a time-bound manner.
Dr. Pawan Suri
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