Now that the results of the Karnataka elections are out, and the excitement of uncertainty has subsided, we can return to Jantar Mantar. The women wrestlers are still there. And they need solidarity more than ever. It is more than three weeks since they started their sit-in protest demanding action against the chief of the IWF Brij Bhushan Singh.
They along with many women wrestlers have lodged complaints of sexual abuse against Singh and have been demanding action against him. Their demand has been stonewalled by the government. They allege that the minister in charge has tried to shield the accused.
The president of the Indian Olympic Association, herself a former sportswoman, tried to discredit the protest and shame the protesting sportspersons. The big media, both print and electronic, launched a smear campaign against the protests, as has become their habit for the last nine years. Any protest against the government is seen with suspicion and defamed. Be it the farmers, students, Muslims, or any other section of society, if they stand up for their rights, the governments and the media pounce on them.
Despite the attack on them by the media, gradually people from different sections of society have reached out to them. Students have organised solidarity marches, gotten beaten up for doing that, farmers have reached the protest site to express solidarity and political leaders are also coming. They have faced resistance from the police but they did not relent.