“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”: Martin Luther King Jr.

Blind eyes, deaf ears, complicity and a tacit acceptance of the current situation, seems to be like the perfect storm gathering with the women wrestlers at the center of it. When this godforsaken era finally passes into the history books, I hope the chroniclers find space for at least a footnote of how the entire journey was itself a form of mental and physical abuse.

I hope it will be written in bold, how the girls had to steel themselves in an almost Stockholm Syndrome like manner to face a monster. Just because they had no choice. I hope there is mention of how the country was divided and could not see right from wrong. Just because they were blinded by a cult-like belief.

When the girls were being ‘examined’ for their breathing techniques, they probably knew something was wrong. But when the environment created is of fear and intimidation; when the iron grip of power lies within the organisation, and when these steely hands have the ability to suppress and squash laws or to threaten, terrorise, twist and ruin careers, the victims are silent because of the ramifications.

When you are a new recruit, the line between the ‘duty to obey’ and ‘abuse’ gets blurred. In most cases, the power emanates either from one figure who is a celebrity; or from a backstage manipulator. Or, the rot is within the system itself.

So when the manipulator’s influence is so total and so destructive, all crimes are allowed to be concealed and perpetuated. The man Brijwhatever, like all predators, looked skilled at deploying jargon to give himself cover for what young girls could sense was groping.

But if you are a woman; or a man who has a daughter, wife, sister or mother, just tune it out and really ponder on what Brijwhatever did. Think about the frequency and the ease at which he touched all women. You will find it was just wildly inappropriate!

No matter how it is projected by the media, no matter what the question of ‘why now, why not then?’ Twelve years of silence is proof of the perseverance and courage of all those who finally stood up when it was too much to withstand the fear of an ‘unsafe environment’.

They knew that they would be mocked, questioned, blamed and shamed. When a woman gives a statement of sexual harassment, it IS the evidence, because it’s tough to come up and say things that you can’t prove. It is scary for any self-respecting woman to do that because it is like giving up all the control.

The protest and its consequences is also a testament to the obsession that gave cover to that abuse so that we have winners at any cost. It makes a telling point of a nervous and shy environment. And is also proof to the fact that every high profile sexual abuse is like a spider’s web with toxic strands of enablers and conspirators, all wound into a larger cultural denial.

All those who had the guts to finally speak up are not victims but survivors. And when all the ‘survivors’ get together on one platform it is to say that the days of the manipulator are over. He can try to manoeuvre his way out with claims of ‘false certificates’ but does it really matter? They have a voice now. They have the power.

Earlier they were brainwashed into believing that they were the problem. But now they know. Now they have finally put the shame not on themselves but their abuser.

Therefore no matter what the arguments are of ‘International Conspiracies’ or ‘Anti National elements’, if it comes down to any kind of ‘abuse’, every man or woman who feels otherwise should be hanging their upright heads in shame. Such cases not only demean all women, they also glorify all the mighty giants.

In future I would never again want to watch footage of any woman wrestler performing dazzling feats or bringing back a medal, without actually feeling a little sick. Without thinking how these Olympians were shamed by their own countrymen

When Mohammed Ali had tossed his medal in the river to protest against racism, the entire nation stood by him. So with a tool kit by our IT cell and media, all ready to target the wounded with their unflinching devotion for the perpetrator, it's sad that even our sporting industry doesn’t seem so different from any cult.

I cannot not but marvel at the concentric rings of protection the evildoers are able to build so effortlessly around themselves. Or how all assailants are so willing to protect each other, regardless of how high the toll of misery is paid by the ‘survivors’.

And yet. I cannot not but also hope that these extraordinarily strong and gifted young women wrestlers, will rise like the phoenix from the ashes of their humiliation.

Anyway, it looks like the ‘rising’ has begun as many top sports personalities are coming forward in support of the wrestlers. And for the first time since the protest began, the IOC has stepped in, asking for an ‘unbiased, criminal investigation’.

Their remarks also coincided with a statement by the United World Wrestling, which condemned the arrest and temporary detention of the wrestlers, even threatening to suspend the WFI if its pending elections are not held within the stipulated time.

Meanwhile, the Ayodhya district administration has also denied permission to Brijwhatever to hold a rally, where the purpose was to discuss the ‘evil forces’ that are spreading in the society. I wonder who the poor man was hinting at.

As for the wrestlers, we can only jointly pray that justice will be served; because unlike the bruises on the body that heal, those of the mind and heart take longer to repair. Until then probably the women might have to wear their injury like a badge of honour.

And instead of being incensed by the nature of the hurt, be inspired by its possibilities. But for that the entire nation needs to stand with the abused. Not the abuser.

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