A Revsportz Exclusive
It was around 230pm and the decision to lodge the FIR had just been announced. Social media was in a frenzy and understandably Sakshi Malik’s phone was busy. A tried a couple of times and then decided to wait for her to call back. And she did. Her voice was sounding excited. “Sir suna aapne. Court mein FIR allowed hua hai. Pura viswash hai hume supreme court pe. Hume nyay zaroor milega”, she said in a flurry.
Here are the best of India’s wrestling fraternity. Two Olympic medallists and a two time world championship medallist. And there are on the streets protesting. Today is Day 6 and unless the FIR was allowed, it was seeming a battle too far for each of them.
While I could hear all the commotion behind, I did manage to ask her a few questions to understand the situation and all that she and her fellow wrestlers had been through.
Excerpts from the conversation:
Boria- So you will feel there is some positive development at last.
Sakshi- Yes like I said it feels good that the Supreme Court decided to hear the matter on an urgent basis and the Delhi police have now confirmed that they will indeed file the FIR. Hum yeh ladai nahi chorenge. Aakhir tak jayenge. Nyay hume milega, mujhe pura viswash hai.
Empathy over Ego – The Roadmap For Indian Wrestling
Boria- How tough was the last few days?
Sakshi- Very tough. Police refused to file their FIR despite the charge being sexual harassment. When we testified before the committee even the members had tears in their eyes. Mary Kom even said to us that she would get us justice. She knows what happened and was convinced. We don’t understand how she could submit a report, which gives a clean chit to the WFI President. There has to be pressure on her.
Boria- The ministry has declared the 7 May election of the WFI null and void and asked the IOA to conduct fresh elections within 45 days. That’s a positive sign.
Sakshi- All this won’t work this time. Last time they misled us and we called it off. We were convinced the promises were for real. We were tricked. This time round we will see it to the end. We have been here for 5 days. We won’t relent come what may. If they wanted to disqualify the WFI why did they wait for 3 months? All this is lip service and our only hope is the Supreme Court. The honourable court will surely give us justice.
Sir one thing you need to know. The police is supposed to help us. We went to file the FIR on the 21st and there was a minor with us. 7 of us went to the police station to file the complaint and when a minor lodges a complaint you need to arrest the person concerned. However, we were told they won’t take the complaint and that we should come back Monday. Also, the police leaked the names of all 7 of us and two coaches of the WFI have already gone to the houses of the girls and tried to scare them off. They have been threatened and also offered money to keep their mouths shut. Not taking the FIR is an attempt to give the President time to get his act together.
Boria- Aren’t you feeling scared?
Sakshi- We don’t care for our careers. Our future is uncertain. Now this is a fight to the finish. We were asked to give proof. We went to file the FIR but we are not being allowed to. Whatever happens we are not moving from here. However powerful the President might be we are convinced the country will listen to us and see our side of the story. And the court will deliver justice.
Boria- Justice or not, we do not know. What proof they have we do not know. Did Mary Kom agree with them? If she did, why is she silent? What does the report actually say and why is it that it has not been made public? None of these questions have a definitive answer. But what we can say is when Olympic champions are forced to sleep on the roads, it isn’t the India we stand for.