In Haryana’s wrestling belt, budding female athletes rethink their careers

Kajal, 17, has been training for wrestling competitions for five years now. In that time she has won several medals in championships organised by the Haryana Wrestling Association. She also participated in last year’s Khelo India Youth Games. Now, though, she is no longer sure about staying in wrestling.

Reason: the protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar by the country’s top wrestlers against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and what it has revealed about the state of professional wrestling in India. The wrestlers, who include star names such as Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat, are seeking the removal and arrest of Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Uttar Pradesh, whom they accuse of serial sexual harassment of female athletes. At their insistence and the intervention of the Supreme Court, Singh was booked by the Delhi Police on April 28, but has escaped further action thus far.

“Those who have made India proud time and again are facing such grave injustices. If they can be brought to tears, who will listen to us if anything untoward were to happen?” Kajal said during a break from training at an akhada in Rohtak’s Khidwali village where she has been practising since she was 12. She was referring...

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