Vinesh: Varnished?

8 August 2024

Truth be told, if the wrestler protests had not rocked over an administrator accused of serial and several instances of sexual abuse by lady wrestlers and wannabes, there was no way this episode of a wrestler from India challenging Olympics at a category well below her actual weight range would have had this traction. Vinesh Phogat was etched in the memory of most Indians as a gutsy fighter who stood her ground at the famous spot where once India’s Protests were sounded, Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, like how once the Chola Kings had their Bell of Justice.

That she created excitement by overthrowing a five time world champion enroute to the final where she could have wrestled for Gold and was assured a Silver was like the answer of Heavens to her cry for recognition and beyond sporting, one for justice as well. Then suddenly came a rumour of her being disqualified and then a famous tweet from Indian PM Mr Modi. She turned out to be a non show, disqualified for being overweight at the weigh in before her final bout at Paris. She was incommunicado, the contingent communique said she was recovering in a hospital after her struggle to pare down her weight to the admissible range for her 50 KG class.

The sullen, somewhat shocked, Indian fans were met with two officials who closed their arms around their chests and parroted something about the disqualification being inevitable despite their best efforts. One was PT Usha, who herself, as a sprint queen came so tantalisingly close to an Olympic Medal that the next day headline famously screamed ‘we P T you Usha’ ( a play on her initials) when by 1/400th of a second she could make it to a bronze in 1984. The other was a professional apparently, who worked for the Kokilaben Ambani Hospital.

MP Hema Malini fielded the press outside Parliament. Within it the Sports Minister offered an expenditure audit of the money spent on sending Phogat to the Games. MPs demanded an explanation of how this fracas occurred and then when it was apparently not forthcoming, walked out from the Opposition benches. Sudha Murthy MP was also seen on prime television offering her pearls of wisdom on inevitability and accountability of the athlete. Saina Nehwal tweeted questioning how a third time Olympian like Phogat would have allowed this to swamp her. Elder Sports Icon, Prakash Padukone criticised Phogat squarely for this disqualification. Of course, it would be cretinism to expect the makers and stars of ‘Dangal’ to stand up for Vinesh, wouldn’t it? After all Art is about being smart and viable…

The right wing, pro Government followers on X were seen trolling Ms Vinesh. Some termed it ‘Karma’ while others termed it as ‘Shiva’s retribution’ for trying to besmear the noble name of the leader Mr Modi at the height of the agitation to get justice from the Wrestling Federation of India.

Details of how Ms Phogat was laid off due to injury, how she applied late and how she was offered the only slot available by the federation which was well below her natural weight range have emerged. Even an emotional outburst of Ms Phogat where she claimed that she could be done in by doping in Paris was reprised on social media. Conspiracy rose from many corners, not least because most wrestlers and boxers supported her, led by Olympian Virender Singh who claimed that weight issue was passé for an elite athlete like her who were used to taking their weight up and down a range for sport.

For an analyst who detests sport as a contested arena, yours truly was only following the Telegram and X handles that were alleging that USA, Australia and France led the scientific doping scene at Olympics, and that an extraordinary percentage of these countries’ sports persons were found to be asthmatics or suffering from ADHD, which justified intake of inhaled steroids and amphetamines respectively and caused ‘blue faces’ at pool events. This spooky stuff was contrasted with how Chinese swimming team was subjected to disproportionate testing, by outrageous comments like ‘humanly impossible’ for Pan Zhangle’s back to back world record breaking performances. Marin was to retire due to injury in the badminton semis, and one set of Chinese ( as Americans) won over another set of Chinese at table tennis. So India’s silver lining was one lone silver lining of Manu Bhaker, winning two bronze medals for individual and mixed team in her event of shooting.

So this exertion about Vinesh on media and social media was certainly a byproduct of the earlier near year long protest against the federation’s then President Mr Brij Bhushan. The political positions that Indians took, determined how they viewed Vinesh’s performance and her subsequent disqualification. Was there anything sporting about it? Was there enough for the grist mill fuelling controversies?

Patriarchy and misogyny had a field day. Even rabid RW supporters actually found themselves voicing conspiracy due to their belief that it strengthens their view of how their government dealt with people who were ‘anti national’ or unpatriotic. That such people needed sorting, needed very much to meet their just ends! Folks who were not pro government, or who were anti government were buying into controversy more because of how the government was fielding women in leadership positions or sporting legends to downplay the controversy and to shift blame on Vinesh, in a classic ploy of entrenched patriarchy. A few enlightened citizens felt that the government could have done more, taking up the case of a Romanian gymnast whose bronze was taken away after America apparently bullied the jury, for which reason the Romanian Prime Minister is boycotting the Closing Ceremonies in Paris, in protest.

Vinesh, the human, the woman, from India, in last 72 hours showed the world India’s true colours- serial apologists, abject failures as critical thinkers and self respecting individuals, whose vileness and gender prejudice competes with a dire sense of fatalism. This deracination from Ancient Indic Mystic Moorings is most baffling to say the least. Only silver lining is that this is the India of social media, and one hopes the India of her villages and street corners is as rooted as her hoary ancestry was!

Vinesh on her hospital bed somewhere in Paris was defeated, disappointed, no doubt. She is alone. She is unapologetic. She remains unbowed. Her defiance and determination for her cause, her stand for her truth would be timeless testimonials. She will return home, a legend, like the slayer of Mahisha…