Women Wrestle With Fallout Of Brij Bhushan 'Clean Chit'
It came as a shocking setback to the cause of women battling sexual harassment in India when, in one of the most high-profile cases in recent years, the accused, former chief of the Wrestling Federation of India and Member of Parliament Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, was let off by the Delhi police. The cops filed a closure report this week in the Patiala House Court, effectively cancelling the sexual harassment case filed by a wrestler who was a minor at the time of the alleged incident. The case, besides other laws, had attracted provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. After the ‘clean chit’, Singh went to Ayodhya and held a ‘victory parade’ with thousands of supporters and 100 SUVs, which must be read as a clear message: do not wrestle with me.
Singh may have other cases of sexual harassment against him, but in the popular non-factual imagination of his supporters and a large number of Indians, he has got the coveted ‘clean chit’, leading them to question the legitimacy of the months-long protest by India’s Olympic and other award-winning wrestlers at Jantar Mantar in 2023-24. Given the high-profile nature of the protest, which was televised, including the rough treatment of the ‘Desh ki Beti’ protestors by the Delhi Police, and Singh’s public persona, this is a double blow to the cause of minimising and eliminating sexual harassment in various sections of Indian society. This ‘clean chit’ will continue to dominate public perception, even though Singh continues to stand trial in other cases, making it harder for women to speak out against what they face at work or in public places.
As the #MeToo movement in 2018-19 in Hollywood and India’s entertainment and corporate sectors showed, it requires immense courage and steel in the spine for women to even make allegations of sexual harassment or molestation against men in positions of power. The movement, though flawed in some ways, opened up spaces for many women to speak out and point fingers. A few may have been motivated, unfortunately so, but a large number of women who spoke up and filed cases then paved the way for strengthening the systems and processes against sexual harassment, especially at workplaces. What the Delhi police have done with this case is to roll back these small gains and diminish the space that was hard-won.
What is also astounding is the stony silence from women and women’s groups across India to this ‘clean chit’, especially by those who raised the #MeToo flag then, by women in positions of power, by women politicians, if not of Singh’s party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, then the opposition. The issue was never Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh alone; it was the uncomplicated issue of sexual harassment at workplaces or public places against which voices must continue to rise and rally.
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