A day after Olympic wrestler Bajrang Punia went to return his Padma Shri award, one other wrestler – Virender Singh claimed to return his award. Virender, who has received three Gold medals in 4 Deaflympics, took to social media to make the announcement.
Virender Singh has given his help to Sakshi Malik, who introduced her retirement from the game after former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s aide Sanjay Singh was named as the brand new president of the physique. “I will also return my 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 Malik. But I would also request the top players of the country to also give their decision,” Virender wrote on his X account whereas sharing a photograph of Malik.Â
India’s Olympic medal winner Bajrang Punia on Friday went to Delhi’s Kartavya Path and saved his Padma Shri award on the footpath. He reasoned his act saying that when the ladies wrestlers are usually not getting revered, he doesn’t need the award too. “When the women wrestlers are not given due respect, I do not deserve this honour either. We were on the road for 40 days, but the promises made by the government have not been fulfilled. Our fight is not against the government but against an individual. I believe in the judiciary but, with what is happening, I can’t keep faith in the system,” Punia instructed media after protecting the medallion on the footpath.Â
He also wrote a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating that the honours like Padma Shri are suffocating him. “I couldn’t understand where to go, what to do and how to live. The government and the people gave me so much respect. Should I continue to suffocate under the burden of this respect? In the year 2019, I was awarded the Padma Shri. I was also honoured with the Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award. I was very happy when I received these honours. It seemed that life had been successful. But, today, I am much unhappier than I was happy at the time, and these honours are suffocating me,” Punia mentioned in a letter.
