"It's very unfortunate...", AAP's Saurabh Bharadwaj expresses concern after Sakshi Malik's retirement
Dec 23, 2023
New Delhi [India], December 23 : After Bajranj Punia's letter to Prime Minister Modi, returning his Padma Shri and Sakshi Malik's announcement of retirement, Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that it's very unfortunate for India that our Olympian women, who made the nation proud, had to sit at the Jantar Mantar compound to seek justice against the former WFI chief.
"It's very unfortunate for India that our Olympian women who made our nation proud had to sit at Jantar Mantar compound to seek justice against former WFI chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh...Now, once again, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's aide has become the WFI chief. How would our women remain safe in such a situation? Who would send their girls to wrestle? The government has to think that," said Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj.
Meanwhile, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi met wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia on Friday after Sakshi announced her retirement from wrestling in a protest against the election of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's aide Sanjay Singh as the new president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).
Gandhi, after meeting the protesting wrestlers, assured them of her full support and said that she would stand in their fight till last.
After coming out of the meeting with the wrestlers, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi spoke to reporters and said, "I came here as a woman because I think what has happened to these girls is beyond disgusting."
After the election of Sanjay Singh as the new president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Sakshi Malik on Thursday put her shoes on the table at the press conference as she announced her decision to quit wrestling.
"We slept for 40 days on the roads and a lot of people from several parts of the country came to support us. If Brij Bhushan Singh's business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I quit wrestling," she said, accompanied by some other wrestlers who were part of the protest.
Meanwhile, India's ace wrestler Bajrang Punia, who on Friday announced that he is returning his Padma Shri after former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's aide was elected president of the federation, said he will not take the medal back home and placed it on the pavement near Kartavya Path in central Delhi.
"As I have said earlier we were fighting for our daughters and sisters. I could not get justice for them. Due to this, I think I do not deserve this honour. I came here to return my award, However, I could not meet with PM because I didn't have an appointment. PM has a busy schedule. So I am putting my award on the letter written to PM. I will not take this medal to my home," Bajrang Punia told reporters.
Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik were part of a protest by wrestlers against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over sexual harassment allegations against him.
Earlier, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections were held on Thursday after several postponements earlier in the year.
A panel led by Sanjay Singh won the WFI election. The other panel got seven votes.
Sanjay Singh served on the WFI's previous executive council. Since 2019, he has also served as the national federation's joint secretary.
The WFI elections were originally slated to be held on August 12. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, while holding a hearing on a petition in August, extended the stay on the WFI elections till September 25. Elections to the federation, which oversees wrestling in the country, were initially planned for June this year.
