Bajrang pens letter to PM, returns Padma Shri award

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia on Friday returned his Padma Shri award in protest over the election of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's aide Sanjay Singh as Wrestling Federation of India's (WFI) president.

- Shantanu Srivastava

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia on Friday returned his Padma Shri award, the country's fourth highest civilian honour, in protest over the election of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's aide Sanjay Singh as Wrestling Federation of India's (WFI) president.

Punia, along with Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik and double World Championships medallist Vinesh Phogat, was the face of wrestlers' protest against Brij Bhushan over the alleged sexual harassment of six female wrestlers.

The 29-year-old took to X to announce his decision. "I am going to return my Padma Shri to the Prime Minister. This is a letter to say that," he wrote.

"Respected Prime Minister, hope your health is well. You must be busy serving the nation. 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 started a protest in January this year against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accusing him of sexual harassment. I too joined their protest. The protest stopped after the government promised strong action," the two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist wrote.

"But even after three months, when there was no FIR against Brij Bhushan, we took to the streets in April so that Delhi Police at least files an FIR. Ultimately, we had to go to court to get an FIR registered against Singh. 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 retract," he continued.