How women are treated or seen in our country, is no suspense. The worst part is that we hardly see any hope for change. The news of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s aide Sanjay Singh being elected president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) erupted yesterday. Right then, Sakshi Malik, the wrestler who has been protesting against Brij Bhushan, announced that she quit wrestling.
She said in a press conference, “If Brij Bhushan Singh’s business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, (then) I quit wrestling.”
Of course, law and the society must treat all people, all women as equals. It’s no question. I wouldn’t even consider it an idealistic trait – this is bare minimum. The world, though, is a twisted place. So law, rules and humanitarian treatment depends on where you come from. JUST in that case, if the wrestlers who bring us medals, fame and whatnot with their work, aren’t safe, who is? If the women who HAVE access can still not find justice, who can?
When women demand justice we suddenly start caring for logistics. For some reason, the victims have to do more than the accused – they are put on a harder trial – which says so much about us as a society. This year has particularly been an eye opener for women. The country is not even trying to pretend that it cares – our intent is unabashedly wrongful.
We could say that we must hear the wrestlers because they do so much for that country, but that shouldn’t even be the prerequisite to be heard. The sad part is that not saying anything is a questionable trait, but as of now, being surrounded by all the victim-shaming comments, we’ll even settle for people who don’t take a stand.
As I write this, and read multiple headlines that prove how we are a country that always fails it’s women, there’s no hope. We will keep talking about justice and how these women wrestlers deserve better, but there will be no action; because there hasn’t been. If anything, the system has somehow managed to unhear them and make things worse for them at the same time – when they could do nothing. We shouldn’t stop talking or raising our voices, because we mustn’t. The fact remains that society is better for some people than the rest – which keeps making women feel that they’re losing battles.
The only resolution is seeing the society and the system for what it is, a not so faithful space for its ‘daughters’. It’s not even human.
