Wrestler Bajrang Punia To Return His Padma Shri Award In Protest Against WFI Chief Election

On Friday (22 December), wrestler Bajrang Punia wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inform him of his decision to return his Padma Shri award as a mark of protest against the results of the Wrestling Federation fo India (WFI) elections.

Sanjay Singh, a close associate of ex-WFI chief Brij Bhushan, was elected as the president of the Wrestling Federation of India on Thursday, defeating Anita Sheoran by 40 votes to seven.

Meanwhile, Prem Chand Lochab, apparently backed by the protesting wrestlers, secured the position of secretary-general.

“I am returning my Padma Shri award to the Prime Minister. This is a letter to say that,” Punia posted 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,” the wrestler 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,” he continued.

“Our protest went on for 40 days. There was much pressure on us during those days. Our protest site was vandalized and we were also not allowed to protest any more. We did not know what to do next so we went to immerse our medals in the Ganga. Then we were stopped by the farmer leaders and coaches. At that time a minister from your cabinet called us up and assured us justice. We also met the Union home minister who also promised us of justice. So, we stopped our protest,” the statement further stated.

“But in the election of the WFI on December 21, the federation came under Brij Bhushan once again. He himself said he would prevail over the federation like he did always. Coming under tremendous pressure, Sakshi Malik announced her retirement from wrestling,” Punia continued.

“We shed tears the entire night. 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,” the wrestler said.

“Sports have empowered our women athletes and changed their lives but the situation is such that the women who could have been the brand ambassadors of beti bachao, beti padhao are now leaving the sport. And we, the wrestlers who were ‘awarded’ could not do anything. I can’t live my life as a Padma Shri awardee while our women wrestlers are insulted. Hence I return this award to you,” the statement concluded.

The wrestlers including Punia and Sakshi Malik had decided to call off their protest in June, saying that the fight will continue in the court.

During their protest, the wrestler also met Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur.

Thakur had said that all demand of the protesting wrestlers have been met and that they should let an unbiased probe be completed by Delhi Police.