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On wrestler Vinesh Phogat returning her Khel Ratna Award to protest against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Wednesday said that “these tactics of returning awards” must be stopped.
“…These tactics of returning awards should be stopped. The players have earned these awards. Their awards cannot be taken back by whichever organisation they are issued… The awards honour our nation..,” Vij said in Ambala.
On Tuesday, Vinesh Phogat, 29, decided to return her Khel Ratna and Arjuna awards to the prime minister.
She said that such honours have become meaningless when wrestlers are struggling badly for justice, aggravating the crisis that has gripped the sport.
Phogat, the two-time World Championship medal winner, announced her decision in her letter penned for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In her letter posted on X (formerly Twitter), Phogat said that their lives are not like those “fancy government advertisements” that talk about women’s empowerment and upliftment.
“The Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna and Arjuna awards don’t have any meaning in my life now. Every woman in this country wants to lead a dignified life. So PM sir I want to return my Dhyan Chand and Arjun award to you so that these awards don’t become a burden on us in our endeavour to lead a dignified life,” she wrote in her letter.
Her decision comes days after Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia and Deafylmpics champion Virender Singh Yadav returned their Padma Shri awards and Rio Games bronze medallist Sakshi Malik quit the sport after Sanjay Singh’s election as WFI president on December 21.
Sanjay Singh is an associate of Brij Bhushan Singh Sharan, former WFI president and BJP MP.
Brij Bhushan was accused of sexual harassment by Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik.
The sports ministry had suspended the newly elected WFI.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Wednesday constituted a three-member ad hoc committee to run the day-to-day affairs of the WFI.
Wushu Association of India president Bhupinder Singh Bajwa will be the chairman of the panel with hockey Olympian MM Somaya and former international shuttler Manjusha Kanwar being the other two members.
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Published: 27 Dec 2023, 07:09 PM IST
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