Love is no joke
Sir — ‘Wife jokes’ have been around since Victorian times — no less than Charles Dickens is known to have cracked them. Such jokes are also popular as WhatsApp forwards among Indians. Ajay Devgn could thus not have anticipated the onslaught of criticism because he made fun of his wife at the talk show, Koffee With Karan. He painted his wife, Kajol, in a very poor light at the show. People are quick to sneer at those who publicly flaunt their love through pictures and mushy quotes. But surely that is a far better approach to a relationship than cracking patronising, misogynistic jokes about one’s wife.
Shubham Jha, Patna
Justice denied
Sir — The Olympic medal-winning Indian wrestler, Sakshi Malik, announced her retirement from the sport in protest against the election of Sanjay Singh, a close associate of the Lok Sabha member, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, as the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (“Olympian hangs up boots in tears”, Dec 22). In January this year, several wrestlers had accused Singh, the former WFI chief, of sexually harassing female wrestlers and called for immediate action against him. Long, public protests yielded no results. Instead, the wrestlers were manhandled by the Delhi Police on the day of the inauguration of the new Parliament building.
It is disheartening to see an Olympic medallist retire because of the government’s inability to ensure the safety of sportspersons, especially since the prime minister has often used these very sportspersons for photo ops during election campaigns. The future of women seems bleak in India.
Aayman Anwar Ali, Calcutta
Sir — Sakshi Malik’s untimely retirement from wrestling has had no impact on the government, which continues to support Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and his aides. The Bharatiya Janata Party government has repeatedly shielded party loyalists no matter how grave their offence. Malik’s retirement has come as a blow for many young women who dream of pursuing wrestling professionally.
Zakir Hussain, Kazipet, Telangana
Sir — Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, among others, raised their voices against a sexual predator for the sake of young sportswomen. As a woman at the peak of her career, it must have been tough for Malik to confront political leaders on their hypocrisy and hang up her boots following Sanjay Singh’s election as the WFI chief. While Malik and her allies are understandably enraged at the government’s inaction, they should perhaps have given Singh a chance to make amends. Moreover, instead of retiring early, Malik should have continued to fight for younger sportswomen.
Kirti Wadhawan, Kanpur
Sir — New India is unsafe for women. After Sakshi Malik’s retirement, another wrestler, Bajrang Punia, has returned his Padma Shri award in protest against the state of affairs at the WFI (“Punia returns Padma Shri”, Dec 23). When he was prevented from meeting the prime minister, Punia left a letter for Narendra Modi as well as his award on the pavement of Kartavya Path while stating his intent to assembled reporters. His stand is justified. One hopes that other wrestlers will express solidarity with Malik and Punia and support their protests to make sports a safer sector for women.
Jang Bahadur Singh, Jamshedpur
Sir — Sakshi Malik’s retirement and Bajrang Punia’s returning of the Padma Shri paint a deplorable picture of India. While Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh might no longer be an official part of the WFI, he was garlanded and lauded after Sanjay Singh’s election, implying that the former will continue to run the show. Wrestling in India has been marred by dirty politics.
Bal Govind, Noida
