Olympic-medal-winning Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia took to social media to announce that he would be returning his Padma Shri award, which he received back in 2019, to the Prime Minister. This comes after wrestler Sakshi Malik announced her retirement following the election of Sanjay Singh as the new President of the Wrestling Federation of India.
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Sanjay Singh is the close aide of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, WFI’s former chief who was accused of sexually harassing female wrestlers. Indian wrestlers had been protesting against Brij Bhushan Singh since January this year and he was forced to step down because of it. But now, with Sanjay Singh being elected as the new WFI President, it’s like Brij Bhushan Singh has won all over again.
Hence, Bajrang Punia, as an act of protest, reached Kartavya Path on Friday evening and kept the Padma Shri medallion on a footpath there, which was then picked up by a police officer.
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He posted a lengthy statement in Hindi on social media. Here is a translation of what he wrote:
“Dear PM Ji, hope your health is well. You must be busy in many work but I am writing this to draw your attention 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 Brish Bhushan Singh accusing him of sexual harassment. I too joined their protest. The protest stopped after the government promised strong action.
But there was no FIR against Brij Bhushan even after three months. We again took to the streets in April so that the police 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 on 12 women wrestlers.
Our protest went on for 40 days. There was much pressure on us during those days…We went to immerse our medals to the Ganga River. Then we were stopped by farmer leaders. At that time a responsible minister from your cabinet called us up and assured us of justice. Meanwhile, we met Union Home Minister Amit Shah who too promised us justice. We stopped our protest.
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 as he always did. Coming under tremendous pressure, Sakshi Malik announced her retirement from wrestling.
We all spent the night in tears. 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.
Sports have empowered our women athletes and changed their lives. All credit to the first-generation women athletes. The situation is such that the women who could have been the brand ambassadors of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao are now taking back their steps in their sports. And we ‘awarded’ wrestlers could not do anything. I can’t live my life as a Padma Shri awardee while our women wrestlers are insulted. Hence I return my award to you.”
Have a look at his statement here:
मैं अपना पद्मश्री पुरस्कार प्रधानमंत्री जी को वापस लौटा रहा हूँ. कहने के लिए बस मेरा यह पत्र है. यही मेरी स्टेटमेंट है। 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/PYfA9KhUg9
— Bajrang Punia 🇮🇳 (@BajrangPunia) December 22, 2023
It is painful to see the condition of our wrestlers.