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- Art, literature and more
- Special issues
This is the first part of a series examining India's criminal justice system through the synecdoche of Brij Bhushan Singh and the wrestler' protests. In this part, the author traces the antecedents of Brij Bhushan Singh and how he became a bahubali from a lawyer and then a powerful politician.
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WRESTLING, or dangal, as it is better known in the northern parts of India, is an internationally recognised sport.
Back in the day, rustic wrestlers like The Great Gama pehelwan and the more mainstream Dara Singh were stuff of legend. For millennials, the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstars brought in a charisma that swept them up in a whirlwind of sports marketing and branding.
The wrestlers inspired generations of boys and girls to enrich the akhadas (training pits) with their blood, sweat, toil and tears. From aspiring to become a good shagird (disciple) of the guru (teacher) who ran the traditional akhadas with a rod and an iron fist, the wrestlers ultimately attained stardom in distant lands and became overnight celebrities.
The gurus stayed focused on their akhadas, unaffected by the adulation that their wards were receiving. Their eyes were trained and ever watchful, searching for the next Gama, the next Dara Singh, the next Phogat.
“From aspiring to become a good shagird (disciple) of the guru (teacher) who ran the traditional akhadas (training pits) with a rod and an iron fist, the wrestlers ultimately attained stardom in distant lands and became overnight celebrities.
Out of this quest emerged Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, Bajrang Punia, the Phogat sisters, Pooja Gehlot, Babita Kumari and Sakshi Malik. Of these, Sushil Kumar got onto the wrong side of the law, but the lives of the Phogat sisters were immortalised in an appropriately eponymous film called Dangal.
Dangal is a film about dedication, perseverance and discipline neatly intertwined with the message of women empowerment. A perfect formula which kept the box office registers ringing for a long time.
So the world of wrestling in India seems near perfect. It has got a robust and time-tested influx of talent from the grassroots level.
Indian wrestlers have good international coaches and for those who win laurels, there are film deals, brand endorsements, government jobs and fame beyond their dreams. To top it all, men and women stand on an equal footing in the wrestling world.
Sounds like utopia. Except that it isn't.
Jantar Mantar, a renowned landmark in Delhi has, in the past two decades, become the epicentre for all kinds of protests.
The protests by the female wrestlers (joined by their male counterparts, sports stars, political leaders and media personalities) began in January 2023. The flashpoint was the reluctance of the Delhi police in registering a first information report (FIR) against the accused, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, on charges of molestation and sexual assault.
Prior to January 2023, Brij Bhushan Singh's name rang no bells and upset no apple carts. He went about his life and his business in a rather nondescript manner.
To activists and nonactivists alike, Singh was a person of no interest. Given his numerous run-ins with the law, this by itself seems rather strange. If anything, it attests to the deeply impaired and fractured state of each of the four pillars of our democracy.
Singh studied law (he is an alumni of Saket Degree College, Ayodhya, where he was the secretary of the student union) and wasted no time or thought on practising law. Instead, he went about putting together a 'resume' which would get him noticed by those in power.
Between the years 1974–2007, Singh had almost 40 complaints against him. The complaints covered his alleged criminal acts ranging from murder, attempt to murder, dacoity, theft, criminal intimidation and kidnapping.
Singh was also arrested in connection with the demolition of the Babri Masjid and he was booked under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 for allegedly harbouring shooters of D-Company, who, in 1992, had gunned down three people at Mumbai's JJ hospital.
“To activists and nonactivists alike, Brij Bhushan Singh was a person of no interest. Given his numerous run-ins with the law, this by itself seems rather strange.
His acquittal in all cases for 'lack of evidence' preceded the filing of his first nomination papers for a Lok Sabha seat on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket in 1991.
In 1996, while Singh was in Tihar jail for helping the shooters of D-Company, the BJP propped up his wife, Ketki Devi Singh, who won the Lok Sabha election from the Gonda constituency by a staggering 80,000 votes. In the 1999 election, Brij Bhushan Singh returned and won the election from Gonda.
Ahead of the 2004 polls, Singh locked horns with a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh functionary Nanaji Deshmukh, against renaming Gonda as Jayprakash Nagar. The BJP high command replaced Deshmukh at Gonda with the BJP member of legislative assembly (MLA) Ghanshyam Shukla.
While Brij Bhushan Singh sat in Balrampur, still smouldering at the treatment he had received from the BJP high command, another twist was yet to come.
On the day of the polling at Gonda, the BJP candidate, MLA Ghanshyam Shukla died in a road accident. Eyebrows were raised but the faint murmurs never became strong voices and in time, Brij Bhushan Singh reclaimed Gonda. In three decades, he had well and truly become a 'bahubali' in Gonda and beyond.
Achieving an acquittal in a staggering 20 plus cases is no mean feat by any yardstick. Either Brij Bhushan Singh was wrongly accused in each of these cases or the investigating agency entirely bungled it up by shoddy investigative work or by allowing themselves to be pressured by shadowy power brokers and fixers.
“A BJP candidate, MLA Ghanshyam Shukla died in a road accident. Eyebrows were raised but the faint murmurs never became strong voices and in time, Brij Bhushan Singh reclaimed Gonda.
The question arose whether the courts duly exercised their powers and why the Allahabad High Court did not take suo moto (of their own accord) cognisance.
Whatever the reason may be, it leads to the conclusion that, instead of rising to the occasion and nipping the evil in the bud by ordering proper and fastidious investigation, the haloed judicial institutions and law enforcement officers took ringside seats and became willing spectators to this naked dance of perversity, by allowing this juggernaut called Brij Bhushan Singh to continue his actions unobstructed and unabated.
Singh was born into a family of well-known Congress supporters and members, yet it is ironic that he won five Lok Sabha seats on a BJP ticket and one on the Samajwadi Party ticket.
After his expulsion from the BJP for 'cross-voting' in the Lok Sabha's vote of confidence, he showed a brief stint of 'loyalty' to the Samajwadi Party in 2008.
Singh's initial success around 2011–12 propelled him to throw his hat in the ring for presidency of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). Until that time, the only wrestling he had ever done was with the law and he had emerged victorious each time.
“Up until 2011–12, the only wrestling that Brij Bhushan Singh had ever done was with the law and he had emerged victorious each time.
Ironically, Brij Bhushan Singh's antecedents seemed rather inconsequential to the then managing committee of the WFI, which included a president, a senior vice-president, four other vice-presidents, a general secretary, a treasurer, two joint secretaries and five executive members.
In the decade to come, their mistake would prove to be the biggest blunder in the federation's history.
[To be continued…]
