What explains the silence of India’s sporting icons on wrestlers’ protests?

The protests against Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, which began in January over allegations of the sexual harassment of women wrestlers, has held up a mirror to Indian politics, law and society.

A quick, and by no means comprehensive, checklist of phenomena it has revealed includes the following: One, the law does not apply equally to all citizens. Despite the public protests by the wrestlers, who have won several medals for the country, and a chargesheet against Singh, the Wrestling Federation of India president and Bharatiya Janata Party MP continues to roam free – and until recently, was making belligerent statements.

There are many who have been put behind bars on far less serious or frivolous charges but in Singh’s case the Supreme Court had to intervene even for a first information report to be registered.

Two, Singh’s immunity from the law takes the logic of elections and electoral winnability to an extreme. The BJP parliamentarian, who wields considerable influence in eastern Uttar Pradesh, is seen as indispensable to his party despite the bad press he has been getting for the BJP. It also says something about parliamentary representatives in India who are not only usually very wealthy but...

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