This refers to 'Bajrang to return Padma Shri in protest over WFI chief election' (TGE, Dec 23). It is unfortunate that a close aide of former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has been elected as the new president of the wrestling federation.
Sadly, the new development has been disappointing for our international wrestlers, who were hoping that the vacant post would go to a person with a sports background other than a politician. A politician or his aide winning an election to an administrative post in a sports body is not uncommon in India. The election of Brij Bhushan’s man as WFI president shows the complete insensitivity of Narendra Modi’s government to the long protests held by Indian wrestlers last January and the hollowness of its claims about safeguarding women.
In fact, sport in free India is riddled with the proliferation of politicians seeking to soak in the popularity of sports and sportspeople by seeking office. Wrestling, especially among women, is poorer and continues to be beholden to politics. This also does not augur well for the nation’s athletes in the run-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
