Questioning the “deafening silence” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP with regard to allegations of sexual harassment levelled by protesting female wrestlers against one of its “powerful MPs”, jailed AAP leader Manish Sisodia penned a letter in their support from behind bars on Saturday.
Expressing distress at their ongoing protest at Jantar Mantar, the former Delhi education minister said the country’s top female wrestlers, who had once been feted by PM Modi himself for elevating the country’s honour, were now being treated as if they were “from Pakistan.”
“What baffles me is the deafening silence from the BJP, the central government, and even the Prime Minister himself, as if these women are from Pakistan…I’m sure we all remember the time when these wrestlers returned to India as proud medal-winners, and the Prime Minister hurriedly posed for photos and videos with these talented athletes,” Sisodia wrote.
In their moments of triumph, the former Delhi Deputy CM alleged, the PM would “laugh and cheer alongside these girls” proudly calling them “his own family” and yet today, as they left behind their training and responsibilities at home to protest, Modi was choosing to remain silent on the matter and was “indifferent to their plight.”
Wrestlers including Olympic medallists Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, Anshu Malik and Bajrang Punia among others have been protesting at Jantar Mantar since April 23 demanding the arrest of BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda and former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
“How can our Prime Minister, who once considered these girls as his family, remain silent when they face sexual harassment? Is it simply because the accused is a powerful Member of Parliament from his own party?” Sisodia asked.
Seeking to underline that the Prime Minister often proclaimed that daughters were the “pride of our nation” and it was these very daughters who had elevated India’s honour through their accomplishments, Sisodia compared the tears they had shed after successive victories with those they were now shedding at Jantar Mantar.
“When a daughter becomes emotional while bringing glory to India, tears of joy flow from her eyes, and we all share in that pride. However, today, as our daughters shed tears for justice at Jantar Mantar, as an Indian citizen, my blood boils with anger,” he stated.
What PM Modi was “doing to our daughters is not justified”, Sisodia alleged, accusing the Prime Minister of stifling the Constitution and misusing investigation agencies against his political opponents. While he could continue sending his political adversaries to jail in line with his “way of conducting politics”, Sisodia issued an appeal to the PM to “provide justice to these daughters.”
“Over the last eight years, you have stifled the Constitution, you have used every agency, every means at your disposal to hinder our work and unjustly imprison us in false cases…that seems to be your way of conducting politics,” he alleged.
“But I implore you, at the very least, provide justice to these daughters who have brought immense pride to India. Your failure to do so will discourage any talented daughter from daring to raise her voice against powerful individuals in this nation,” he added.
