Over the past four months, a few nationally acclaimed wrestlers have been protesting against their federation chief, a strongman politician, who they accuse of both misusing his authority and of sexual harassment. On paper, the neat moral contrasts embedded in the saga seemed well suited to mobilise civil society opinion and force the government into a conciliatory posture.
Yet, as the protests met a disturbing denouement last week, the spurt of ‘citizen activism’ we saw a decade ago in the Nirbhaya protests and the Anna Andolan was nowhere to be seen.
Editorial | Wrestling for justice: On the protest by the wrestlers
