Virender Singh Yadav To Return Padma Shri Award Over WFI Polls (image X @GoongaPahalwan)
Virender Singh Yadav to follow Bajrang Punia in returning the Padma Shri Award. The move is in protest against Sanjay Singh, who is a close aide of Brij Bhushan Singh, being chosen to lead Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). Virender Singh Yadav was awarded with Padma Shri in 2021.
Taking to X (formerly twitter), India’s Goonga Pahalwan said he will “also return the Padma Shri award for my sister and daughter of the country”. By addressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi he said that he is proud of “your daughter and my sister SakshiMalik”.
He also asked the top players of the country like Neeraj Chopra and Sachin Tendulkar to weigh in on the protest.
मैं भी अपनी बहन और देश की बेटी के लिए पदम् श्री लौटा दूँगा, माननीय प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी को, मुझे गर्व है आपकी बेटी और अपनी बहन @SakshiMalik पर… जी क्यों…?
पर देश के सबसे उच्च खिलाड़ियों से भी अनुरोध करूँगा वो भी अपना निर्णय दे…@sachin_rt @Neeraj_chopra1 pic.twitter.com/MfVeYdqnkL
— Virender Singh (@GoongaPahalwan) December 22, 2023
Earlier on Thursday, Sakshi Malik announced about quitting Wrestling after Sanjay Singh was elected as the president of WFI. She removed her boots and left them on the table. She left the press conference very emotionally.
On Friday, Bajrang Punia also decided to give back his Padma Shri award in protest against Sanjay Singh being the President as WFI. One of the Sports Ministry officials said that “it is Bajrang Punia’s personal decision to return Padma Shri. The WFI elections were held in a fair and democratic manner”. He further added that, “we will still try to persuade Bajrang to reverse his decision to return Padma Shri”.
