'You have not lost, you are our hero': Women activists across India rally in support of Vinesh Phogat

Hyderabad: Women activists across India have rallied in support of wrestler Vinesh Phogat following her disqualification from the Paris Olympics due to being 100 grams overweight, an incident that led her to announce her retirement from the sport.

An open letter endorsed by numerous activists, educationists, and writers was addressed to Vinesh, expressing solidarity and admiration for her achievements.

"Dear Vinesh, Congratulations!! You have not lost. You are our hero and will remain so. Yesterday in Paris you showed what you are. Your skill is unmatched and there is no height that you can’t scale. Please don't be disappointed by this ‘disqualification’. We understand that it was not your responsibility to take care of your weight. There should be an investigation as to where and by whom the mistake has been made. We express our protest against your disqualification and would like to request you not to feel sad at this moment. You will keep flying high, do not lose hope. You are and will remain our hero. When you return from Paris, we will all meet once again at Jantar Mantar and celebrate your success. Winning a medal or not is not the measure of victory. The measure of success and victory is your determination and courage. Justice-loving and feminist saathis of India and around the world were, are, and will always be with you!" the letter stated.

The letter was endorsed by numerous prominent figures including Devyani Bharadwaj, Annie Raja of NFIW, Kavita Srivastava of PUCL, and many others from various feminist and activist organizations.

Statements and views

Meera Sanghamitra from the All India Feminist Alliance and NAPM also expressed her support for Vinesh, condemning the disqualification:

“This is an open letter of feminists across India in solidarity with our champion Vinesh Phogat who has been wrestling for justice since last year. She has attained global recognition and we are very proud of her. This letter also indicates our protest towards the disqualification that has happened in the Paris Olympics. We think winning a medal or not is not a measure of victory. She is a champion. In our eyes, she has emerged victorious because she has been fighting against injustice. We salute Vinesh. We urge her not to feel disheartened at this moment because all of us are with her.”

Varsha Bhargavi, a research scholar, emphasized the broader implications of Vinesh’s disqualification:

“Vinesh's disqualification is truly a loss for our nation at the Olympics. While her journey to the Paris Olympics is no less important, amidst the struggles she faced personally, in training, and with the establishment, this disqualification comes as a severe blow to all her fans like me. We were overjoyed when we came to know that she made it to finals. As a woman, it felt like redemption, as Vinesh and Sakshi fought for all the sportspersons who faced harassment and abuse from the then WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and his aides. No political leader including the Prime Minister, Home Minister, Minister for Women and Child Development, or even National Commission for Women, supported them. We were aghast at how Delhi Police dragged our champions from the protest site. Subsequently, when Sakshi Mallik quit wrestling by hanging down her shoes, me and my friends were very disturbed at the apathy of the government who were protecting an abusive man from their party. Now when Vinesh is disqualified after an astounding victory in the semifinals, we are disillusioned. Surely there is an Olympic delegation who traveled with our sportspersons whose sole job is to take care of the sportspersons representing India. There must be an inquiry and they should be questioned to ensure that such mishaps do not happen in the future. While our grief is in no way compared to Vinesh's, we would like to use this media statement to send warm wishes to Vinesh who did her best for the country and made us all proud. She was and will be our champion with or without medals, for she was our collective voice against harassment and abuse in sports.”

Political Reactions

The Congress party has criticized the BJP-led government for allegedly failing to support Vinesh Phogat. Party general secretary and MP Randeep Singh Surjewala claimed that Vinesh’s disqualification was part of a deliberate conspiracy.

"Phogat was sacrificed at the altar of sports politics,” he remarked during a press conference at the AICC headquarters. He condemned the Indian Olympic Association and the Wrestling Federation of India for not assisting Vinesh and highlighted the unprecedented nature of her disqualification for being slightly overweight. Surjewala quoted Olympic rules allowing athletes time to adjust their weight and questioned why Vinesh was not given this opportunity. He suggested that political motives linked to her activism against sexual exploitation led to her disqualification.

Call for Investigation

Surjewala called for an investigation into the actions of the officials accompanying the athletes, questioning their effectiveness in supporting the players. He reiterated the Congress party's demand for justice for Vinesh Phogat, stating that her disqualification unjustly deprived her of a potential Olympic medal.