RETURNING MY PADMA SHRI: WRESTLER BAJRANG PUNIA

India’s ace wrestler Bajrang Punia on Friday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that he is returning his Padma Shri as a mark of protest over the results of the recent Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections where Sanjay Singh, an aide of former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, was elected as the president.

Punia shared a detailed post on X, stating, “I am returning my Padma Shri award to the Prime Minister. All I have to say is in this letter; this is my statement.” “Dear Prime Minister, I hope you are healthy and busy serving the country. Amid your busy schedule, I want to draw your attention to our wrestling. You must be aware that in January this year, women wrestlers in the country made serious allegations of sexual harassment against Brij Bhushan Singh, who was in charge of the WFI,” the Olympic medallist expressed.

“When those women wrestlers started their movement in January, I also joined the agitating wrestlers. They returned home when the government told them to take concrete action. However, even after three months, when no FIR was filed against Brij Bhushan, we wrestlers took to the streets again in April. We wanted Delhi Police to take action against Singh and file an FIR, but things did not work out. Hence, we had to go to court and file an FIR,” he added.

Earlier, Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik, a face of the wrestlers’ protest against Brij Bhushan over sexual harassment allegations, announced on Thursday that she is quitting wrestling. Her decision came within an hour after Sanjay Singh was elected as the new WFI chief, replacing Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.