Top India wrestler to return honour in protest against sport body’s new chief
Al Jazeera
Punia says he will return award to protest election of new president backed by predecessor accused of sexual assault.
A top Indian male wrestler says he is returning one of the country’s highest civilian awards in protest against the election of a president to the sport’s ruling body backed by his predecessor, 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 the Indian president in 2019 for his achievements as an athlete.
On Friday, Punia shared his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on X, formerly Twitter, 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 decision to return the award came a day after Sanjay Singh was elected as chair of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). Singh was backed by former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Singh.
