Olympic Wrestlers Threaten to Restart Protests over Brij Bhushan's Son's Appointment

Olympic medalists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik have warned that they will restart their protest over the appointment of Karan Bhushan Singh as the president of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association. Karan Bhushan Singh is the son of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The wrestlers have also expressed their disappointment with the return of Sanjay Singh, a close associate of Brij Bhushan, as WFI president.


“Just 2-3 days back, Brij Bhushan’s son became the president of the UP wrestling body despite him saying no one from his family will come into wrestling administration. The government had promised that Brij Bhushan or his relatives or associates will not govern the sport,” said Bajrang Punia in a social media post. He urged the government to take heed of the situation, failing which, the Olympians would resort to protesting once again. “I request the government to take a quick decision. Even though the IOA has suspended the WFI, the WFI conducted its nationals in Pune. The WFI thinks it is bigger than the government. We wrestlers will talk to all those who support us — farmer groups, khap panchayats, labour unions and women organisations — and make a decision in the next two to three days. I request the government not to force us to start the protests again,” added Punia.


“Sanjay Singh has done some setting with the UWW and got the suspension lifted. I have retired from wrestling but I won’t allow Brij Bushan and his people to run the federation and also trouble women wrestlers. In the next few days, we will talk to everyone who was involved in the protest and decide the future course of action. I request the government to remove people connected to Brij Bhushan from the WFI and place someone who is clean and capable at the top,” asserted Sakshi Malik in a video message posted on social media platform “X”.


Last year, Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, and Vinesh Phogat spearheaded protests demanding Brij Bhusan’s arrest following charges of sexual harassment leveled by 6 female wrestlers. The ace wrestlers returned awards and accolades given to them by the Indian government. The demonstrations stopped after a meeting with Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, who assured them that no one from Bhushan's family would contest WFI elections. However, three days after the elections, the Sports Ministry suspended the newly-elected committee due to Bhushan's continued influence over WFI affairs amid harassment allegations.