Wrestler Bajrang Punia Writes To PM Modi Saying He Will Return His Padma Shri

New Delhi: A day after Sakshi Malik announced she was quitting the sport, another Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia also registered his protest against the election of a close aide of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh as president of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).

Punia on Friday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Hindi, saying that he will be returning his Padma Shri award to the government.

“I am returning my Padma Shri award to the Prime Minister. This is my statement about what I have to say,” Punia posted on social media platform on X along with his letter.

Sakshi and Bajrang were at the forefront of months-long protest against former WFI chief Brij Bhushan, who was accused of sexual harassment by seven wrestlers including a minor.

They had demanded the arrest of Brij Bhushan and wanted a female candidate to head the wrestling body.

But after Brij Bhushan’s right-hand man Sanjay Singh beat Anita Sheoran in the election on Thursday, Sakshi said at an emotional press meet that she is bidding goodbye to the sport.

And now, Bajrang says he will be returning the Padma Shri.

“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 Tokyo Olympic bronze-medallist and Commonwealth Games winner 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.

“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 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.