“Mother, wrestling has won and I have lost. Pardon me! Your dreams and my courage are all shattered. I have lost hope and am left with no more strength. Goodbye wrestling 2001-2024. I shall always be indebted to you all, Sorry!” On 6th August during the Paris Olympics, Indians were greeted by a cheerful news that Vinesh Phogat had created history by prevailing over the Cuban wrestler Guzman in the semi-finals. But the next day, came the shocking news that Vinesh had to exit the competition because of being overweight by 100 grams! The entire nation was stunned by the dramatic turn of events. Her dream of winning the gold medal lay shattered. Crestfallen, she decided to quit wrestling forever and then made this emotional post to her mother.
No Vinesh, you have not lost! The entire nation stands with you. Right from the social media to the bustling street corners of the country, people are talking about you. You have grown taller in stature than any medal could have given you. You have emerged as a symbol of hope and struggle for crores of Indians. Were you really fighting Susaki or Guzman? You were fighting the Brij Bhushans, who were conspiring to oust you from the wrestling ring. Only a few months ago, you had been dragged on the streets of the national capital Delhi and humiliated but you remained steadfast in your resolve to fight with all your strength against all odds and humiliation. You reached the finals in Olympics and what a wonderful performance it was - victory after victory. What a spectacular show up to the finals! How could the likes of Brijbhushan tolerate all this?
When you won in the semi-finals, the social media was flooded with memes. Matted below your palms and feet lay not Guzman but a defeated Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in the memes. The video of your struggles on the streets of Delhi became viral. How could they tolerate that you would contest in the finals and win a gold medal ! What happened on the night of 7th August remains shrouded in mystery. What we do know for sure is that suddenly you gained 2.7 kilogram and even after many efforts to shed it, you remained overweight by 100 grams. While many were concerned by your sudden rise in weight, our lapdog media was ready with a convenient explanation and continued to spew venom against you in its campaign.
But your struggle has resonated in the world media. American media channel CNN has written that Vinesh Phogat was protesting a year ago against sexual harassment on the streets of Delhi. On Tuesday, her luck took a bad turn and inspite of hard work, she could not compete in the match which was being contested for the gold medal. She was confident that after so much struggle, she would win a gold or atleast a silver medal. She had defeated one of the best wrestlers in freestyle wrestling, Susaki, to become the first Indian woman to reach the finals of wrestling in the Olympics. The channel Al Jazeera focussed on her struggles last year against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The channel said that winning the gold in Olympics was not the only dream of Vinesh but before that she fought for the dignity of women wrestlers in her country. It is only through that struggle that she reached such a stage.
Is it not shameful that our social media savvy prime minister did not come up with a single tweet till she reached the finals, but once she failed to compete for the gold medal, there were many tweets from him? It seemed as if he was waiting for this to happen. In the parliament, all limits of decency were crossed by the sports minister while explaining the context in which Vinesh was declared unfit for competition. He went on to point out that Rupees 70,45,775 were spent on her by the Indian Government. What was the need of talking about money at that point. The social media was abuzz with a blatant display of hate campaign. Does all this not point fingers toward the intentions of government and the BJP? Should not the Indian wrestling association have registered its opposition to the hate campaign? Was there a conspiracy behind what happened? There is no proof but there were indications that something strange might happen and the statements of the sports minister lends credence to it.
That there could be a conspiracy is not a fallacious argument. Let us read a post of Vinesh Phogat, dated April, 2024- “On 19th April, the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament is beginning. I have been requesting the Indian government (S.A.I. and T.O.P.S.) for the past one month to grant recognition to my coach and physio. Without this, it would not be possible for them to assist me in the competition. Even after repeated requests, there has been no satisfactory response from any quarter. Will the future of athletes be spoiled like this. Brij Bhushan and his dummy Sanjay Singh are trying their level best to ensure that I do not make it to the Olympics. The coaches associated with the team are close to Brij Bhushan and his people. It cannot be ruled out that during the bouts, they may add some spurious ingredient in my water. I may even be trapped in a doping case. No stone is being left unturned to mentally harass us. Is it fair to mentally torture us before an important tournament? Has the situation come to such a pass that even before representing the country, we will be pawns of politics because we raised our voice against sexual harassment? Is this the cost that one has to pay in this country to speak the truth? I hope that I will get justice before I go out to play for the country. Jai Hind!”
Many questions remain unanswered, Vinesh! Come what may of the conspiracies that may have been hatched against you, in the eyes of the people, you have won laurels. You are a ray of hope for many Indians against injustice- from the streets to the Olympics. Salute to you!
