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Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia announced that he will return his Padma Shri in protest over WFI Chief elections. The wrestler wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing his decision. Punia kept his medal on the footpath in front of the official PM residence as a mark of protest. The 2022 Commonwealth Games medallist’s decision came after former WFI Chief Brij Bhushan’s close aide Sanjay Singh won the wrestling body’s polls on December 21, Thursday.
Punia took to Twitter and said, “I am returning my Padma Shri award to the Prime Minister.” In his letter, he wrote, “Dear Prime Minister ji, hope your health is well. You must be busy in many work but I am writing this to draw your attention to what is happening to the wrestlers of the country. You must be aware that the women wrestlers of the country started a protest in January this year against Brij Bhushan Singh, accusing him of sexual harassment. I too had joined their protest. The protest stopped after the government promised strong action.”
He continued, “But even after three months, there was no FIR against Brij Bhushan. So we took to the streets in April again so that the Delhi police would at least file an FIR against him. There were 19 complainants in January but the number came down to 7 by April. This means Brij Bhushan exerted his influence and forced the other 12 wrestlers to leave their protests.”
He added, “We did not understand what to do, or where to go. The government has given us a lot. I was conferred with the Padma Shri in 2019. I also received the Arjuna, Khel Ratna award. When I got these awards, I was on cloud nine. But today the sadness weighs more. And the reason is a woman wrestler left the sport because of her security.”
After Sanjay Singh won the WFI polls, the 2016 Olympics medallist Sakshi Malik announced her retirement from the sport on December 21, Thursday. The wrestlers conducted a press conference, where Malik made a symbolic protest by keeping her wrestling boots on the table. She said that she won’t compete under the presidency of Brij Bhushan’s loyalist.
The 31-year-old said, "We slept for 40 days on the roads and a lot of people from several parts of the country came to support us. If Brij Bhushan Singh's business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I quit wrestling…”
