After India's Olympic medallist quits, wrestler returns award

India's Olympic medalist grappler Bajrang Punia on Friday announced he was returning his Padma Shri (India's fourth-highest civilian award) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in protest, reported Xinhua.

"The daughters who were to become the brand ambassadors of 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' (Save the girl child, educate the girl child) were put in such a situation that they had to step back from their sport. We 'respectable' wrestlers could not do anything. I will not be able to live my life as 'respectable' after female wrestlers were insulted. Such a life would be suffocating. That's why I am returning this honour to you," reads Punia's letter to Modi.

The 29-year-old star wrestler also shared the letter on his social media platform.

Punia's announcement to return the award was prompted by India's top woman wrestler, Sakshi Malik's decision on Thursday to quit the sport in protest.

An emotional Malik, in tears, told the media she was quitting wrestling to protest the election of a close aide of Brijbhushan Sharan Singh as the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).

Brijbhushan, the former chief of the wrestling body, who is also a lawmaker from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been accused of sexually harassing female wrestlers, a charge he has outrightly denied.

Brijbhushan's aide, Sanjay Singh, was elected as the new chief of the WFI after a landslide victory on Thursday.

India's prominent wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, and Bajrang Punia were at the forefront of the protests - against Brijbhushan's alleged misconduct - that first began in January.

The wrestlers called off the protests after the government promised to investigate their complaints. Feeling neglected, the wrestlers resumed the protest in April.

The issue hogged headlines globally after the police detained the wrestlers when they tried to march to India's parliament.

The International wrestling body, United World Wrestling, condemned their detention and called for an impartial inquiry into their complaints.

"You must be aware that the women wrestlers of the country started a protest in January this year against Brijbhushan Singh accusing him of sexual harassment. I too joined their protest. The protest stopped after the government promised strong action," Punia stated in his letter. "There were 19 complainants in January but the number came down to seven by April. This means Brijbhushan exerted his influence on 12 women wrestlers."

Punia pointed to Brijbhushan's remark after the election results on Thursday when he had said, "dabdaba tha, dabdaba rahega" (our dominance will continue).

"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 (the highest sporting honour of India) and Arjuna Award (the second-highest sporting honour of India). 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 wrote.