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NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after wrestler Vinesh Phogat returned her Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award at Delhi’s Kartavya Path. Rahul accused the Prime Minister, whom he called the ‘guardian of the nation’, of ‘cruelty’.
World Championship medalist Phogat returned left her awards in the middle of Kartavya Path after the Delhi Police stopped her before reaching the Prime Minister’s Office.
Phogat, Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, 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.
Rahul also shared a video of Phogat, and wrote: “For every daughter of the country, self-respect comes first, any other medal or honor comes after that.”
“Has the price of ‘political benefits’ received from a ‘proclaimed Bahubali’ exceeded the tears of these brave daughters? The Prime Minister is the guardian of the nation, it hurts to see such cruelty on his part,” the former Congress chief said.
Phogat decided to return her awards to the government saying such honours have become meaningless at a time when wrestlers are struggling to get justice. She wrote about her decision in a letter to PM Modi.
Malik also announced her retirement from wrestling soon after the appointment of the new WFI chief.
The sports ministry has, however, suspended the newly elected panel for not following the provisions of its own constitution while taking decisions, and asked the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to constitute an ad-hoc panel to manage the affairs of the sports body.
Acting on the ministry directive, the IOA on Wednesday constituted a three-member ad hoc committee to run the day-to-day affairs of the WFI.
World Championship medalist Phogat returned left her awards in the middle of Kartavya Path after the Delhi Police stopped her before reaching the Prime Minister’s Office.
Phogat, Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, 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.
Rahul also shared a video of Phogat, and wrote: “For every daughter of the country, self-respect comes first, any other medal or honor comes after that.”
“Has the price of ‘political benefits’ received from a ‘proclaimed Bahubali’ exceeded the tears of these brave daughters? The Prime Minister is the guardian of the nation, it hurts to see such cruelty on his part,” the former Congress chief said.
Phogat decided to return her awards to the government saying such honours have become meaningless at a time when wrestlers are struggling to get justice. She wrote about her decision in a letter to PM Modi.
Malik also announced her retirement from wrestling soon after the appointment of the new WFI chief.
The sports ministry has, however, suspended the newly elected panel for not following the provisions of its own constitution while taking decisions, and asked the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to constitute an ad-hoc panel to manage the affairs of the sports body.
Acting on the ministry directive, the IOA on Wednesday constituted a three-member ad hoc committee to run the day-to-day affairs of the WFI.
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