A day after Sakshi Malik announced her retirement in protest against the outcome of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) polls in which Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s close aide Sanjay Singh was elected as President, another prominent face of the wrestlers’ protest — Bajrang Punia wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi threatening to return his Padma Shri award.

“I am returning my Padma Shri award to the Prime Minister. This is a letter to say that,” Punia posted on X (formerly Twitter).

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“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 Olympics bronze medal 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,” he continued.

“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 Commonwealth Games medal winning wrestler further wrote.

“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 always did. Coming under tremendous pressure, Sakshi Malik announced her retirement from wrestling,” Punia continued.

“We shed tears the entire night. 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.

“Sports have empowered our women athletes and changed their lives but the situation is such that the women who could have been the brand ambassadors of beti bachao, beti padhao are now leaving the sport. And we, the wrestlers who were ‘awarded’ could not do anything. I can’t live my life as a Padma Shri awardee while our women wrestlers are insulted. Hence I return this award to you,” he added in the letter.

On Thursday, Sanjay Singh polled 40 votes to defeat CWG medallist Anita Sheoran, who managed a meagre seven votes. Prem Chand Lochab, who was from the opposing faction seemingly supported by the protesting wrestlers, was elected as the secretary-general.

The process for the WFI election began in July, but court cases kept delaying it. This led to the international wrestling body suspending the WFI. The Supreme Court recently set aside a stay imposed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, clearing the decks for the polls.