While inaugurating the new Parliament building in New Delhi on May 28, 2023, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “There comes a time in the history of every country, when the consciousness of the country is reawakened.” Indeed, May 28, 2023 is an unforgettable day in the history of Independent India. On this day, the Delhi Police registered an First Information Report (FIR, a written document prepared by the Police when they receive information about the commission of a cognizable offence. It is a report of information that reaches the Police first in point of time and that is why it is called the First Information Report) against Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and other wrestlers who won Olympics medals for India. The Police also harassed them for staging protests on the streets of the capital city, as they have been demanding the arrest of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the Chief of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), on grounds of sexual harassment of female athletes (including that of a minor) since April 23.

Although the Police did not use the term Anti-National in the FIR, which could have been the real allegation against these international medal-winning wrestlers. It is because the antipathy towards the Nation that the Narendra Modi Government has built in the last nine years and which it has been able to fully impose on the Indian State, is evident in the behaviour of the wrestlers. In this nation, one cannot point a finger at the politicians, especially when they are busy with festivals.

When these successful wrestlers did not complain against the concerned authorities in the past, the Prime Minister himself received their jerseys with their autographs on them. Perhaps, the wrestlers thought that Prime Minister Modi would listen to them. However, they forgot the fact that the Prime Minister is no more interested in listening to the people of India. They also had no idea that the Indian State cannot tolerate protests, especially when the Prime Minister enjoys his achievements.

Since April 23 (2023), the medal-winning women wrestlers of India have been staging protests against sexual harassment. They have accused WFI Chief Brij Bhushan of harassing female athletes, sexually. It is to be noted that Brij Bhushan is a senior leader of Prime Minister Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a parliamentarian. Hence, the Modi Administration is not ready to take necessary actions against the accused. Instead, the PM seemingly considers the wrestlers’ protests as an anti-national activity. So, it is natural for the Indian State to suppress the wrestlers.

Not only women sportspersons, but women representatives are also victimised by the masculinity of the ruling party leaders in the system established by the Modi Government. A BJP leader in the western Indian Province of Maharashtra recently asked NCP leader Supriya Sule to go home and engage herself in kitchen-oriented activities. As expected, the top BJP leadership did not take any action against that leader. Veteran BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, too, expressed his willingness to publicly slap women five-seven times.

Amidst such a scenario, Sakshi, Vinesh and others have shown the courage to point the finger at the ruler of the patriarchal Indian State. On May 28, Modi’s India made it clear that such arrogance is no longer acceptable in this nation.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das