Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat has decided to return her Arjuna Award and Khel Ratna as she wrote a letter to the Prime Minister expressing her disappointment after Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s aid Sanjay Singh was elected as the new WFI President.
The 29-year-old’s statement comes less than a week after the appointment of the new Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief, Sanjay Singh, who is closely associated with the former head of the governing body, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. This election was quickly followed by the retirement announcement of Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia returning his Padma Shri.
Vinesh Phogat, along with Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, played a pivotal role in the wrestlers’ protests earlier this year in the national capital. The protests were staged against the then WFI chief, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who faced allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment.
मैं अपना मेजर ध्यानचंद खेल रत्न और अर्जुन अवार्ड वापस कर रही हूँ।
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— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) December 26, 2023
“I remember the year 2016 when Sakshi Malik had won the Olympic medal and your government made her the ambassador for the ‘Beti Bachao, beti padhao’ campaign. All of us female athletes were happy and congratulating each other. Now that she has retired from wrestling, are we just meant to be published as government ads?
“I had dreamt of winning an Olympic medal, but now that’s becoming blurred. I’ll just pray that the female athletes in the future get to fulfill their dreams. Our lives aren’t as fancy as those advertisments. Female wrestlers have lived the past few years in suffocation. Those who’ve exploited us have managed to ensure that they stay in power as well. If you could spare five minutes of your life to go through what that man has said, you’ll know. He’s called women wrestlers as Manthara, openly accepted that he’s made us feel uncomfortable and never spared an opportunity to malign us. It’s scary how he has ensured that we step back,” Vinesh wrote.
“I tried forgetting all of what’s happened, but it’s not that easy. We dragged ourselves to the streets in search of justice. Our medals and awards are being termed as worth pennies, but they are more dear to us than our lives. When we won, we were called as pride of the country. Now that we raise our voices against injustice, we are being deemed as traitors.” she added.
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