Ace Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, informing him of the decision to return the Padma Shri award. The development comes a day after Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik announced her retirement protesting the election of Sanjay Singh as the chief of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). Sanjay Singh is a close aide of former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is accused of sexual assault by a group of national grapplers including Punia and Malikkh.
"I am returning my Padmashree award to the Prime Minister. This is just my letter to announce that. This is my statement," Bajrang Punia's Hindi post on X (formerly Twitter) read.
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
Sanjay Singh, a known aide of former chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, on Thursday was elected the new president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). Sanjay Singh's panel comfortably won most of the posts -- reportedly giving the controversial Brij Bhushan indirect control over WFI. All five executive committee members were also from the outgoing chief's camp.
n a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bajrang 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 Brij Bhushan Singh accusing him of sexual harassment. I too joined their protest. The protest stopped after the government promised strong action."
Expressing his disappointment, the star wrestler added, "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."
Bajrang was stopped at the Kartavya Path by Delhi Police officials when he tried to reach the Parliament to meet PM Modi and hand over his letter in protest against Sanjay Singh's election.
"No I don't have any permission. If you can please forward this letter to the PM because I can't go inside. I am not protesting nor being aggressive," Bajrang said while being stopped by Delhi Police officials.
- With PTI inputs
