Indian woman wrestler quits in protest over new president of wrestling body, man to return honour

NEW DELHI – A top Indian male wrestler is returning one of the country’s highest civilian awards in protest over the election of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanjay Singh.

Sanjay is backed by his predecessor Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is accused of sexually harassing female wrestlers.

Bajrang Punia, the first Indian wrestler to win four world championship medals, was awarded the Padma Shri – the fourth highest civilian award – by then Indian President Ram Nath Kovind in 2019 for his achievements as an athlete.

The 29-year-old on Dec 22 shared his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media site X, saying he would “not be able to live with the respect bestowed upon him by the government of India at a time when women wrestlers have been insulted”.

His shock move came a day after a top female wrestler announced she was quitting, also in protest at Sanjay being elected as WFI chair.

Sakshi Malik, who won the women’s 58kg freestyle bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics, had led protests earlier in 2023 against Brij Bhushan in a case that drew international headlines and cast a spotlight on the safety of women athletes in India.

Brij Bhushan, who is also a federal lawmaker from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was charged in June with sexually harassing six female wrestlers during his tenure.

He has rejected all the charges against him and his case is pending before the trial court, BJP officials have said.

“We slept for 40 days on the roads and a lot of people from several parts of the country came to support us,” Malik told a news conference in New Delhi, referring to the protests in 2023.

“If Brij Bhushan Singh’s business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I quit wrestling,” she added, before leaving the venue with tears in her eyes.

Asked on the same day about Malik’s decision to quit, Brij Bhushan insisted that “I have nothing to do with it”.

In recent months, Brij Bhushan actively campaigned for Sanjay to replace him and predicted his victory to the local press. Sanjay told the Indian Express: “We have the relationship of an elder and younger brother.

“We know each other from the time when both of our families would organise kushti in Kashi and Ayodhya.”

However, Sanjay did tell local media that he was committed to support wrestlers who had suffered a setback in recent months. He did not comment on Malik’s decision.

Malik and other wrestlers held their first protest in January but called it off that month after Brij Bhushan was stripped of his administrative powers by the sports ministry and the government promised to investigate the complaints.

But the athletes resumed their protest in April after the government did not disclose the findings from a panel that investigated the allegations.

United World Wrestling, the sport’s world governing body which had suspended the WFI after the scandal, was not immediately available for comment on Dec 21.

The WFI had missed the August deadline to appoint a new president, forcing Indian wrestlers to compete as neutral athletes in global events. REUTERS