Wrestler Bajrang Punia returns Padma Shri over election of new WFI chief
Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia has announced his decision to return Padma Shri in protest over.
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh loyalist Sanjay Singh’s election as the president of the Wrestling Federation of India. Bajrang took to X (previously Twitter) to share a lengthy letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Olympic medalist announced his decision to return the award in the letter, citing the denial of justice to female wrestlers as the reason.
“I am returning my Padma Shri award to the Prime Minister. This is a letter to say that,” Bajrang Punia wrote on X.
“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,” Punia wrote.
“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.”
Sanjay Singh defeated former Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anita Sheoran by 40 votes to 7 in the much-awaited WFI elections which were held in New Delhi on Thursday, December 21. Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, and Vinesh Phogat addressed a press conference following Sanjay Singh’s election, during which Sakshi announced her intention to quit the sport in protest. “We fought from our heart but if a man like Brij Bhushan, his business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I give up wrestling. From today onwards you will not see me on the mat,” Sakshi said.
Sakshi Malik broke down while addressing the press conference in the national capital before leaving the venue, expressing deep distress and emotion. The WFI elections, which were originally scheduled for August 12, were postponed due to a Punjab and Haryana High Court order, which extended the stay until September 25.
These elections, which were originally scheduled for June, govern wrestling across the country. Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik met Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur in the national capital earlier this month to discuss the WFI elections.
Top wrestlers from the country had staged a 5-month long protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan after accusing the former chief and BJP MP of sexually harassing female wrestlers.