Wrestler Virender Singh comes in support of athletes, to return Padma Shri
PTC News Desk: Wrestler Virender Singh has backed fellow athlete Sakshi Malik, who announced her retirement from the sport after an aide to former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh succeeded him.
Brij Bhushan has been accused of sexual harassment by Malik and other athletes.
"Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, I am proud of your daughter and my sister Sakshi Malik, and I will also return the Padma Shri for my sister and the country's daughter...However, I would also like to request that the country's top players make a decision," Virender Singh stated. He also tagged Sachin Tendulkar and Neeraj Chopra.
Virender Singh's post comes a day after another top wrestler, Bajrang Punia, said on Friday that he has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will return the Padma Shri award.
After making an announcement on X, the Olympic gold medalist made his way to central Delhi's Kartavya Path on Friday evening and placed the Padma Shri medallion on a footpath there. The police eventually found it.
"When women wrestlers are not treated with dignity, I do not deserve this honour. We had been on the road for 40 days, but the government's promises had not been kept. Our battle is not with the government but with the individual. I believe in the judiciary, but what is happening makes me lose faith in the system," Punia told reporters on Friday.
Vijender Singh, India's first Olympic medalist in boxing, also expressed his support for Malik yesterday. "The daughters' parents are concerned that if an Olympic medalist is not given justice, how will we get it? The Prime Minister, Vice President, and President should all come and explain what happened... This raises many concerns about the justice system and the democratic structure," Vijender Singh said.
-
