Olympian Vinesh Phogat said on Tuesday, December 26 that she would be returning her Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards as a mark of protest against the ongoing Wrestling Federation of India row. In an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, shared on social media, Vinesh Phogat expressed disappointment over the treatment meted out to female wrestlers even as they protested against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was accused of sexual harassing wrestlers.

Vinesh Phogat highlighted how “oppressor” Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has managed to “ridicule” female wrestlers umpteen times even as the top wrestlers in the country protested against the BJP MP and the ex-president of the WFI.

Vinesh highlighted that Sakshee Malikkh retired in protest against the newly-elected WFI body and that Bajrang Punia left his Padma Shri Award on the pavement of Kartavya Path in New Delhi as a mark of his stand.

Vinesh Phogat’s letter to PM Modi comes days after the Sports Ministry suspended the newly-elected Wrestling Federation of India body, accusing it of being under the influence of its former office-bearers. The government, in a strongly-worded statement, highlighted that the WFI office was also functioning from the ex-president, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s residence.

Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur also wrote a letter to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), urging the governing body to form an ad-hoc panel to oversee the daily functioning of the WFI.

Notably, Vinesh Phogat, along with Olympic medalists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, had addressed a press conference in New Delhi, hours after Sanjay Singh, a close aide of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, won the elections for the post of the president of the WFI. The wrestlers expressed their disappointment and said that the power returned to the hands of those who had oppressed them in the past.

Vinesh Phogat also said that her Olympic dream is fading and said there has been lack of support from the government.

VINESH PHOGAT’S LETTER TO PM MODI: FULL TEXT

Respected Prime Minister,

Sakshi Malik has quit wrestling, and Bajrang Punia has returned his Padma Shri. The entire country knows the reasons why athletes who won Olympic medals for the country had to take such steps, and being the leader of the nation, you must also be aware of this matter. Prime Minister, I am Vinesh Phogat, a daughter of your country, and I’m writing this letter to tell you about the condition I’ve been in for the past year.

I remember the year 2016 when Sakshi Malik won a medal in the Olympics, and your government appointed her as the ambassador for the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ campaign. When this announcement was made, all of us female athletes in the country were happy and were sending each other messages of congratulations. Today, when Sakshi had to quit wrestling, I keep recalling that year 2016 repeatedly. Are we female athletes only meant to feature in the government’s advertisements? We have no objection to appearing in those advertisements because the slogans used in them make it seem like your government is working earnestly for the upliftment of daughters. I had dreamt of winning medals in the Olympics, but now even that dream seems to be fading away. I just pray that the dreams of upcoming female athletes do come true.

But our lives are not at all like those fancy advertisements. Female wrestlers know from the suffering they’ve endured in the past few years how much we are struggling. Those fancy flex boards of yours must have become old by now, and now even Sakshi has retired.

The oppressor has managed to maintain his dominance, even putting forth slogans in a very grand manner. Just spare 5 minutes of your life to listen to the statements given by that man in the media, and you’ll know what he has done. He has called female wrestlers ‘mantras,’ openly accepted on national TV that he finds female wrestlers unnatural, and hasn’t missed a chance to humiliate us female athletes. More alarming than this is how he has pushed numerous female wrestlers into oblivion. This is extremely alarming.

Many times, I’ve tried to forget this entire sequence of events, but it’s not that easy. Sir, when I met you, I also explained all this to you. For the past year, we’ve been on the streets fighting for justice. Nobody is listening to our plea.

Sir, our medals and awards are being valued at 15 rupees, but these medals are more precious to us than our lives. When we won medals for the country, the whole nation celebrated us with pride. Now, when we raise our voices for justice, we’re being called traitors. Prime Minister, I want to ask you, are we traitors?
I don’t know in what circumstances Bajrang decided to return his Padma Shri, but seeing that photo, I feel turmoil inside me. After that, I’m also starting to feel disgusted by my own awards. When I received these awards, my mother distributed sweets in our neighborhood and told my aunts to watch Vinesh on TV, how beautifully my daughter looked while receiving the award.

Many times, I get anxious thinking, what would my aunts say to my mother when they see our situation on TV? No mother in India would want her daughter in such a state. Now, I, taking the awards, want to get rid of that image of Vinesh because that was a dream, and what’s happening to us now is reality. I was awarded the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award, but they hold no meaning in my life anymore. Every woman wants to live life with respect. Therefore, Prime Minister, I want to return my Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award to you so that these awards don’t become a burden on us in the path of living with honor.

A daughter from your country,

Vinesh Phogat.

Meanwhile, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh distanced himself from the suspension of the WFI, saying he had retired from wrestling administration and the Sanjay Singh-led camp will deal with the proceedings in the near future.

Sanjay Singh, in an exclusive interview, said that he would approach the Sports Ministry and explain the newly-elected panel’s stand and seek revoking of the suspension.