Vinesh Phogat leaves Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards on Kartavya Path

Star wrestler Vinesh Phogat returned her Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award and left it at the Kartavya Path in New Delhi on Saturday. Earlier, she had announced that she was returning the prestigious awards to protest against the election of Sanjay Singh, a close aide of former WFI president Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, as the wrestling body's chief.

New Delhi: Multiple World Championship medal-winning grappler Vinesh Phogat on Saturday returned her Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award, keeping the two awards lying in the middle of the Kartavya Path here.

The Asian Games gold medallist had decided to return her Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award to the government, stating such honours have become meaningless at a time when wrestlers are basking for justice. She had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Phogat was stopped by Delhi Police from reaching the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) after which she left the awards at the Kartavya Path.

On Saturday, she tried to reach the PM's office to return her awards but the police prevented her from reaching the PMO. As a mark of protest, she left the awards at the Kartavya Path and they were later picked up by Delhi Police.

Phogat, along with Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, had protested against the election of Sanjay Singh, a close aide of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who had been accused of sexual harassment by the three well-known grapplers.

Sakshi had also announced her retirement from wrestling soon after Sanjay Singh's appointment as WFI Chief. However, the Sports Ministry later suspended the newly-elected panel for not following the provisions of its own constitution while taking decisions while asking the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to constitute an ad-hoc panel to manage the affairs of the sports body.

In her letter posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Phogat said that their lives are not like those "fancy government advertisements" that talk about women's empowerment and upliftment. Acting on the sports ministry directive, the Indian Olympic Association on Wednesday constituted a three-member ad hoc committee, comprising Olympian M M Somaya to run the day-to-day affairs of the WFI.

For the record, Khel Ratna is the country's highest sporting honour.

(With PTI inputs).