Gurugram: After Olympian Bajrang Punia “returned” his Padma Shri over the election of Sanjay Singh — an aide of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh — as WFI chief, another wrestler from Haryana, Virender Singh, announced that he would do the same.
Punia had announced his decision in support of Sakshee Malikkh — India’s first female wrestler to have won an Olympic medal — who said Thursday that she was quitting wrestling over the WFI election. In his post on X late Friday night, Virender Singh, a hearing-impaired and non-verbal wrestler who was the subject of the national award-winning documentary Goonga Pehelwan (2014), also referenced Mallikkh.
He wrote in Hindi, “I will also return my Padma Shri for the sake of my sister and the country’s daughter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi @narendramodi Ji. I’m proud of your daughter and my sister @SakshiMalik. What do you say? But I will request the top sportspersons of the country to take a call on what they think, too.” He then tagged cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra.
Sanjay Singh’s election is seen as a major blow to the wrestlers’ protest against Brij Bhushan earlier this year. The protest, which was led by some prominent names such as Malikkh, Punia, and Vinesh Phogat, led to a chargesheet being filed against the Kaiserganj MP for sexually harassing, using criminal force to outrage modesty, and stalking women wrestlers, under sections 354A, 354 and 354D of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
On Thursday, soon after Sanjay Singh was elected, a heavily garlanded Brij Bhushan could be seen telling the media: “Kisi Ko Koi Message Lena Ho Le, Dabdaba Tha, Dabdaba Rahega. Ye Bhagwan Ne De Rakha Hai (People can take any message from this victory they want. I was powerful and will remain so because that’s God-given).”
दबदबा था और दबदबा रहेगा #BrijBhushanSharanSingh 🙄🙄
This victory is rather a shame for Indian society !!
It exposes the real face of it !!
मोदी था और मोदी रहेगा 🥵 pic.twitter.com/CX1TlMRT5r
— Rapunzel (@_DilS3Rahul_) December 22, 2023
Also Read: ‘Left our rooms in groups to avoid being alone with him’ — what FIRs against Brij Bhushan allege
Who is Virender Singh?
Born on 1 April 1986 in Sasroli village near Haryana’s Jhajjar, Virender Singh Yadav, who goes only by Virender Singh, is a freestyle wrestler who competes in the 74 kg weight category. He has won three gold medals — at Melbourne (2005), Sofia (2013), and Samsun (2017), as well as a bronze in Taipei (2009) in his four appearances in the Deaflympics.
In addition, he also won a gold medal at the 2016 World Deaf Wrestling Championship (Tehran), a silver at the 2008 World Deaf Wrestling Championship (Yerevan), and a bronze at the 2012 World Deaf Wrestling Championship (Sofia).
His profile on X says: “Official Account of Padmashri Arjuna Awardee Virender Singh @deafolympics #WorldDeafWrestling Bol Sun Nahi Sakta Par Apni Kalam Se Likh Sakta Hum (Can’t speak or listen but I can write with my pen)”.
He received the Arjuna Award in July 2015.
On 31 October, 2014, Goonga Pehelwan (translated: ‘mute wrestler’), a documentary film on Virender Singh’s life, was released at the Seattle South Asian Film Festival. The documentary, produced by Drishti Media and directed by Mit Jani, Prateek Gupta, and Vivek Chaudhary, brought to light the struggles of athletes with disabilities and won the National Film Award for ‘Best Debut Film of a director’ in the non-feature category at the 62nd National Film Awards.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)