Vinesh Phogat to return Khel Ratna, Arjuna award; writes letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Wrestler Vinesh Phogat, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games gold medallist, announced her decision to return the prestigious Khel Ratna award and Arjuna award amidst the ongoing controversy surrounding Wrestling Federation (WFI). Phogat wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that she shared on micro-blogging platform ‘X’, that she was returning the state awards.

मैं अपना मेजर ध्यानचंद खेल रत्न और अर्जुन अवार्ड वापस कर रही हूँ।

इस हालत में पहुँचाने के लिए ताकतवर का बहुत बहुत धन्यवाद 🙏 pic.twitter.com/KlhJzDPu9D

— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) December 26, 2023

Vinesh wrote in the letter: 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.

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Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s aide Sanjay Singh was on 21 December elected the new WFI president, a decision that left the wrestlers furious and upset. Brij Bhushan had been accused of sexual harassment by the wrestlers and had earlier this year stepped down as WFI chief. The aftermath of Sanjay Singh’s appointment led to the WFI being suspended by the Sports Ministry. Vinesh Phogat’s letter to PM Modi comes just days after Sakshi Malik quit wrestling and Bajrang Punia also wrote a letter to PM Modi stating that he wished to return his Padma Shri award. En route to PM Modi’s residence, Punia was however stopped by Delhi Police at Delhi’s Karthavya Path. Punia later said that he won’t take back the award until justice was served.