New Delhi. Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist wrestler Bajrang Punia on Friday decided to return his Padma Shri in protest against the appointment of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s confidant Sanjay Singh as the president in the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections. Sanjay, a close aide of outgoing WFI president Brij Bhushan, became the WFI president in the elections held here on Thursday and his panel won 13 out of 15 posts. This result disappointed three top wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Punia, who had pushed hard to bring about change in the federation.
These top wrestlers had started a protest against Brij Bhushan earlier this year, whom they accused of sexually exploiting women wrestlers and the case is pending in the court. Soon after the election results, Sakshi decided to retire from wrestling.
A day later, Poonia issued a statement on ‘X’ and said, “I am returning my Padma Shri award. This is my letter. This is my statement.” In this letter, he talked about everything from the protest against Brij Bhushan to his close aide winning the election, and the conversation with a minister of the government and his assurance. And finally, he talked about returning the Padma Shri.
Poonia wrote, “Prime Minister, I hope you are healthy. You must be busy serving the country. Amidst your busy schedule, I want to draw your attention to the country’s wrestling.” He wrote, “You must be aware that in January this year, women wrestlers had made serious allegations of sexual harassment against Brij Bhushan Singh. I too had joined their movement. When the government talked about taking concrete action, the movement stopped.”
Expressing his disappointment, the star wrestler wrote, “But no FIR was filed against Brij Bhushan for three months. We again started protesting on the streets in April so that the police would at least file an FIR against him.” Poonia wrote, “In January, the number of complainant women wrestlers was 19 which came down to seven by April. That means in these three months, on the basis of his strength, Brij Bhushan pushed back 12 women wrestlers in their fight for justice.”
When Poonia tried to reach Parliament to meet PM Narendra Modi and hand over his letter opposing Sanjay Singh’s election, Delhi Police officers stopped him on the road of duty. When Poonia was stopped by Delhi Police officers, he said, “No, I don’t have any permission. If you can hand over this letter to the PM, then do so because I cannot go inside. I am neither protesting nor aggressive.”
(Input also from PTI)
Tags: Bajrang’s blessings, Shut up sir
FIRST PUBLISHED : December 22, 2023, 17:16 IST