It is mystifying why the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which did not flinch or hesitate before setting aside stalwarts like Shivraj Singh Chouhan or Vasundhara Raje Scindia from office, would continue its association with a man like Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
The dual images of the last 24 hours are devastating for women’s rights. An Olympian broke down in tears, bowing out from the sport she loves, her spirit wrestled to the ground by the man she charged with abuse. On show at his house — crackers, celebrations, and brazen impunity.
Accused of sexual harassment on six different counts by women wrestlers, including stalking, molestation, and “repeated and continuing” harassment in one case, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is presently out on bail. In court, the Delhi Police, criticised for dragging their feet on the chargesheet, “neither opposed nor supported” bail.
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh did not spend a single day in custody.
Instead, after 12 years of controlling the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), he was able to ensure the victory of his key aide, Sanjay Singh. For wrestlers like Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat who have spent a year in protests, including camping out on the national Capital’s pavements, it was a body blow. “I do not know how to get justice in our country,” said Malik, placing her light blue boots on a desk crammed with myriad microphones, making a dramatic and poignant visual statement. At Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s house, Sanjay Singh said: “Bhushan is like my elder brother.”
Wearing a mountain of marigolds, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh declared the moment to be “pahelwano ji jeet” (victory for the wrestlers). It was a victory proclamation for the sport at the very moment that the first and only woman wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics had quit in protest. Can it get any more bizarre than this?
I have seen some comments arguing that the protests by the wrestlers were politicised. Others have suggested that they were remote-controlled by the Hooda clan in Haryana. Some others have offered instances of similar violations in Congress-run states.
But I am pretty sure that notwithstanding these murmurs, an overwhelming number of Indians, irrespective of how they vote, were crushed to see Sakshi Malik run out of the press conference in tears and disgusted to see Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s thuggish delight. Whataboutery does not change that.
This brings me back to my question: Why would the BJP not abandon this parliamentarian with the same surgical detachment that they have shown for other party veterans when realpolitik or internal strategic calculations have demanded that? Or, at the very least, publicly distance themselves from him?
A cursory glance at his 2019 election affidavit shows Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh still has four pending criminal cases against him, including attempted murder. These are leftovers from 38 cases over the years. He has boasted in interviews that Atal Bihari Vajpayee suspected he was behind the death of BJP candidate Ghanshyam Shukla. In the past, he has served jail time under an anti-terror law for sheltering associates of Dawood Ibrahim, a case in which he was eventually acquitted.
So why is Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh not deemed “anti-national”, to pick from the favourite jargon of trolls?
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a six-time member of Parliament, has contested five elections on a BJP ticket and once for the Samajwadi Party (SP). In eastern Uttar Pradesh, his writ runs large, and his cronies have been legitimised with the ownership of scores of educational institutions. On occasion, he has praised the BJP’s bête noire Azam Khan and even said he would be happy to meet him in jail. He has openly criticised the otherwise all-powerful Yogi Adityanath for the state government’s handling of floods saying, “people had been left to God’s mercy”.
Why is he being allowed to get away with it?
One theory offered by BJP watchers is that the Modi-Shah-led party does not relent on any cause supported by liberal media. And that, except for the farmers’ agitation, it has never really been steered by popular street protests.
But then the Modi-Shah BJP is also known for not tolerating challenges to its authority within the party. Nor has it been known to allow individuals to grow larger than the roles they represent.
So, this does not add up.
The other theory is that Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh can influence the outcome of roughly 10 seats in eastern UP if acted against. And that parties like the SP would take him into their fold if rejected by the BJP. But does the party really need Singh in UP in the age of Modi and Yogi?
This makes no sense either.
Singh’s win at the WFI and that he continues to thrive politically will eventually impact the efficacy of the legal case against him. If Sakshi Malik, a celebrity, could be so badly broken by his clout, think of how scared other witnesses cited in the chargesheet must feel today. Will they still testify? Will they still stick to their account of harassment?
The message to women from the firecrackers outside Bhushan’s house is only one: Stay silent.
Barkha Dutt is an award-winning journalist and author. The views expressed are personal
