After Bajrang Punia, deaflympics gold medalist Virender Singh to return Padma Shri over WFI president’s election

After Bajrang Punia, deaflympics gold medalist Virender Singh to return Padma Shri over WFI president’s election

A day after Bajrang Punia returned his Padma Shri, deaflympics gold medalist Virender Singh Yadav, better known as Goonga Pehlwan, has now decided to return his Padma Shri to the government, in solidarity with the country’s top wrestlers who objected to election of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh loyalist Sanjay Singh as the president of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).

Sanjay Singh was elected as the president of the WFI after the panel led by him won 13 of the 15 posts on Thursday.

“I will also return the Padma Shri for my sister and the country’s daughter. Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, I am proud of your daughter and my sister Sakshi Malikkh,” Virender wrote on X.

“I would also request the top players of the country to also give their decision,” Virender, said in his post, tagging cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra. He also sought their opinions on the issue.

Virender was awarded the Padma Shri, the country’s fourth highest civilian award, in 2021. In 2015, he was honoured the Arjuna award.

The country’s top wrestlers Sakshi, Bajrang and Vinesh Phogat had demanded that no close associate of Brij Bhushan should enter the WFI. They alleged Brij Bhushan of sexual harassment of other women grapplers.

Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Bajrang Punia on Friday returned the Padma Shri that was conferred on him in 2019.

Bajrang, who has won multiple medals for India at the World and Asian Championships apart from the Asian Games, was stopped by Delhi Police as he tried to walk towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence. He left the award on the footpath and walked away, which was later picked up by a policeman.

After sometime, he posted a strongly-worded letter on his social media, saying that he gave back the war in protest over Singh’s election as the WFI president, and signed off his letter, addressed to the Prime Minister, as an “asammanit pehelwan (dishonoured wrestler)”.