28 May 2023: A demonstration of women wrestlers was going on at Jantar Mantar. The new Parliament building was to be inaugurated and the wrestlers wanted to march to the Parliament building. The road leading to the protest site was blocked since morning. Police and Rapid Action Force personnel had started arresting the protesters. At the same time, suddenly Sakshi Malik came out tearing through the crowd like a lioness and started moving forward rapidly. The crowd of protesters also started increasing around Sakshi, but the policemen managed to nab them. Sakshi Malik was surrounded by the police just like dozens of goons try to catch her in Sunny Deol’s films. In fact, in the group of women wrestlers, Sakshi Malik was the most popular and vocal as compared to Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia. The first female wrestler of the country who created history by winning a medal in the Olympics.
The purpose of telling this story is that the voice that put everything at stake against the sexual harassment of women wrestlers is today saddened by the joining of its colleagues in politics. Malik feels that Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia have weakened the voice of women wrestlers by joining the Congress on Friday. Sakshi Malik, the most prominent character in this fight, says that ‘they are resigning and will join the party. This is their personal decision. I believe that we should give up. Our movement should not be given a wrong shape. I will stand for women, I also had an offer but I stand with wrestling and women.’ There is sadness in her voice, there is the pain of being alone in the fight, there is the helplessness of not being able to stop the comrades. The question is why was Sakshi Malik forced to say this? Is she angry with her colleagues in the fight of women wrestlers? And the biggest thing is what can be the meaning of Sakshi Malik’s statements?
1- Was there a rift between the wrestlers?
Sakshi Malik has been with her colleagues Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat at every step. Be it a protest or filing a complaint, a press conference or criticizing the Modi government, Sakshi has never lagged behind her colleagues. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to call her the leader of this movement. But the way she is giving an interview to a journalist on Friday, it seems that she has had a rift with her colleagues. The pain is clearly visible in her voice. She repeatedly says that we should sacrifice. The meaning is clear that without sacrifice and dedication, the movement of women wrestlers will not reach its destination. She says that ‘I will take the struggle to the end, I have always thought about wrestling, I have worked in the interest of wrestling and will do so in the future too. I have also received big offers but whatever I am associated with, I have to work till the end. Until the federation is cleaned and the exploitation of sisters and daughters stops, my fight will continue. The direct meaning of everything he said is that his colleagues made a mistake by joining Congress. I also got offers but I did not go, which directly means that they (Vinesh and Bajrang) should not have gone either.
2- Is this a deliberate strategy to keep the issue of harassment of wrestlers alive?
There is also a possibility that this is a well thought out strategy of the wrestler group. A person who is not interested in politics should continue the fight. Without any political inclination. Because the support that the women wrestlers got from the beginning in social media and mainstream media was due to the fact that they were not associated with any political party. Even the wrestlers refused to let the leaders of any political party come on their stage. This could also be a well thought out strategy so that after Vinesh and Bajrang joined the Congress, their movement does not get the stamp of the Congress party.
2- Will Sakshi Malik also join politics in future?
Sakshi Malik, when asked by the reporter, will she go to campaign for Vinesh and Bajrang? Malik repeats one thing many times in response to this that she is not associated with any party and neither does she have any political inclination. She clearly says that I do not have enmity with any party. My fight was only and only with the then President of Wrestling Federation, Brajbhushan Sharan Singh and it will continue till I get justice for the players. There are two meanings of this statement of hers. Firstly, she is not going to campaign for Vinesh or Bajrang or even Congress. Second, she does not have any enmity with BJP. By the way, she does not have enmity with Congress either. In such a situation, it should not be surprising if she also enters the arena of politics in future.
Sakshi Malik also comes from a Jat family. There is no doubt that Sakshi must have received political offers. After all, she is the first and only female wrestler of the country who has won an Olympic medal.
Follow us On Social Media Google News and Twitter/X
