Bajrang Punia was one of many wrestlers who had protested in opposition to Brij Bhushan.
New Delhi:
A day after Sakshee Mallikh introduced that she was quitting the game to protest the election of an in depth aide of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh because the president of the Wrestling Federation of India, one other prime wrestler, Bajrang Punia, stated on Friday that he has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will likely be returning his Padma Shri to him.
Mr Punia was one of many wrestlers who had protested in opposition to Brij Bhushan, a BJP MP and former chief of the wrestling physique, who was accused of sexual harassment by at the least 12 ladies wrestlers.
After making an announcement on X, the Olympic medal-winning wrestler reached Kartavya Path on Friday night and saved the Padma Shri medallion on a footpath there. It was later picked up by police personnel.
Mr Punia stated “When the ladies wrestlers are usually not given due respect, I don’t deserve this honour both. We have been on the highway for 40 days, however the guarantees made by the federal government haven’t been fulfilled. Our combat isn’t in opposition to the federal government, however in opposition to a person. I consider within the judiciary however, with what is occurring, I can not hold religion within the system.”
Requested whether or not something would change for him so far as wrestling is anxious, the Olympian stated, “This won’t have an effect on my wrestling profession, and I’m making ready for the Paris Olympics.”
‘Spent Complete Evening Crying’
Sanjay Singh, an in depth aide of Brij Bhushan, received the election to the wrestling federation by a landslide on Thursday, defeating Commonwealth Video games gold medallist Anita Sheoran, who was backed by the protesting wrestlers. Mr Singh received 40 votes in opposition to solely 7 for Ms Sheoran.
In an emotional letter to PM Modi, Mr Punia pointed to Brij Bhushan’s comment after the election outcomes on Thursday, when he had stated, “dabdaba tha, dabdaba rahega” (our dominance will proceed). The Olympian stated it was this psychological strain that compelled Ms Mallikh to give up the game and that the wrestlers concerned within the protest spent the entire evening crying.
“I could not perceive the place to go, what to do and dwell. The federal government and the folks gave me a lot respect. Ought to I proceed to suffocate beneath the burden of this respect? Within the 12 months 2019, I used to be awarded the Padma Shri. I used to be additionally honoured with the Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award. I used to be very completely satisfied once I obtained these honours. It appeared that life had been profitable. However, right now, I’m a lot unhappier than I used to be completely satisfied on the time, and these honours are suffocating me,” Mr Punia wrote in Hindi.
“There is just one purpose for this: It was wrestling that received me these honours and feminine wrestlers are actually having to give up that very sport for his or her security,” he added.
‘Girls Making India Proud’
The wrestler stated sport has made an enormous distinction to the lives of women and that nobody might have imagined girls and boys taking part in collectively within the villages. He stated ladies are making India proud in sports activities arenas on the worldwide stage and asserted that this had solely been doable due to the braveness of the primary technology of sportswomen.
“However even the shadow of those that have dominated or will proceed to dominate scares ladies wrestlers, and now they’ve utterly taken over once more. The photograph of them with garlands round their necks should have reached you,” Mr Punia stated in his letter to the PM.
“The daughters who have been to turn into the model ambassadors of ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ have been put in such a state of affairs that they needed to step again from their sport. We ‘respectable’ wrestlers couldn’t do something. I won’t be able to dwell my life as ‘respectable’ after feminine wrestlers have been insulted. Such a life can be suffocating. That is why I’m returning this ‘honour’ to you,” the letter stated.
