AA Edit | Wrestlers have a case

It may have taken a while for the Centre to act on the physical and mental harassment issue the accomplished women wrestlers of the country have brought to the fore by staging protests prominently in Jantar Mantar in the capital. The protocol of giving notice to the Wrestling Federation of India was followed leading to a gap of about three days before any action was taken. The norm in such cases should, however, be to suspend the sports administrator, coach or athlete immediately while a probe is being conducted and the financial or political stature of the person should not be allowed to come in the way.

The history of sport is replete with sexual harassment of young athletes in whose careers the coaches may play a larger-than-life role. It is not only girls who are vulnerable as sexual predators are known to take aim at both sexes. The problem does not exist in India alone but only now is a serious #MeToo movement taking shape in sport thanks to distinguished international medal winning athletes joining the battle for justice and putting an end to the creepy menace that toys with young lives.

It is clear that an opportunity has arisen in which the broom must be taken to the entire closet and the system cleaned up. Mechanisms and SOPs for making complaints anonymously etc. against coaches and admin men may exist, but what is really needed is the will to sanitise the very environment of sport so that India’s young sportspeople may take up their favourite game and practice and play it without fear of being exploited in any way.

A fair inquiry into the wrestlers’ complaints should only be considered a starting point. Too many accused of misdemeanours have got away once time passes and their suspensions and other disqualification actions run out. The time to clean up the Augean stables is now. It might be a herculean task, but a line must be drawn, the code of conduct refreshed and a system of sensitising and counselling of athletes and coaches put in place so that there is no space for a sexual predator to threaten the fabric of sport and life.