In a chaotic development in Indian sports on Friday (Dec 22), Olympic bronze medalist winner Bajrang Punia abandoned his Padma Shri award in protest against the newly elected panel of the World Federation of India (WFI). Punia and fellow wrestlers vowed to protest against former WFI president and sitting ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Brij Bhushan Singh Sharan if his aide Sanjay Singh won the elections. On Thursday, the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Federation chief became president of WFI, promoting Sakshi Malik to retire while Punia to return his Padma Shri.

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Punia returns Padma Shri

On Friday evening, Punia with his aides turned to the footpath near Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence where he was seen abandoning his Padma Shri. He was seen with an emotional touch while rejecting a request from the authorities to take back the award. However, he rejected the request and abandoned the award by keeping it on the footpath. He was also seen joining his hands in request to allow him to leave the area while refusing to take back his honour.

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What was the case?

The new WFI chief, Sanjay Singh, a close aide of former President Brij Bhushan Singh, saw off competition from Anita Sheoran to win the top post. In protest, Bajranj decided to return his Padma Shri honour as he did not support newly elected member Sanjay Singh. On Friday, he tweeted of returning the honour in a mark of protest against the new panel.

“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 Brish Bhushan Singh accusing him of sexual harassment. I too joined their protest. The protest stopped after the government promised strong action,” Punia wrote in Hindi on his social media account.

With the vote counting taking place immediately in the aftermath of the elections on Thursday, Sanjay Singh gained 40 votes out of 47 to succeed his close friend Brij Bhushan.

With a new president, the ban imposed by the United World Wrestling (UWW) on WFI could now be lifted with much relief to Indian sports. Wrestlers were earlier banned from competing under India’s flag in wrestling due to the ban imposed by the UWW on WFI.

Year of chaos for WFI

The protests had begun in January 2023 by top wrestlers like Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and others in the epicenter. The cluster of top wrestlers wanted then-President Brij Bhushan to be thrown out of power for sexual harassment charges against him. The protests were first held at the iconic Jantar Mantar in New Delhi while the attention then switched to the holy city of Haridwar (210 km North of New Delhi). Protestors even protested in New Delhi during the inauguration of the new parliament building of India on May 28. 

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