Athletes who made the country proud should not be made to weep

The national capital witnessed unfortunate developments after the election win of Sanjay Singh, a confidant of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who resigned following the sex allegations, as Wrestling Federation of India president to replace Brij Bhushan himself. This included Olympic medalist Sakshi Mallik's tearful public farewell to wrestling and Bajrang Punia's attempt to return his Padma Shri award. 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medalist Sakshi and Asian Games gold medalist Bajrang were among the athletes who brought their grievances against Brij Bhushan to national attention and went on strike for 40 days in Delhi.

After the news of Sanjay Singh becoming president, Sakshi announced her retirement emotionally at a press conference held in Delhi along with national wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sangeeta Phogat and Bajrang. Sakshi alleged that assurances given by Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur and others that BJP MP Brij Bhushan or his close associates would not be made President were violated. Saying that there was no point in her continuing to be a wrestler when Brij Bhushan's business partner was the president of the federation, Sakshi ended the press conference by taking off her shoes, placing them on the table and announcing her retirement. The new developments are a shame for the central government, which was relieved that the wrestlers' strike had been put to rest.

Brij Bhushan was forced to resign due to the strike of wrestlers which put a lot of pressure on the central government. Brij Bhushan's first move was to replace his son or son-in-law as president, but later he made Sanjay Singh, who was joint secretary in the committee with him, as president. The panel was elected with a large majority by a former High Court judge as administrator. Sanjay Singh got 40 out of 47 votes. His opponent was former Commonwealth Games medalist wrestler Anita Sheoran.

When the Brij Bhushan-led committee resigned, an ad hoc committee formed by the Olympic Association took charge of the wrestling federation. Due to not electing a new committee on time, a situation arose where India could be banned by the International Wrestling Federation. Due to this, the Ad Hoc Committee proceeded to the election process. However, the elections were postponed due to the intervention of the courts several times. Finally, the election was held.

While Sanjay Singh and his team may claim to have won democratically within the framework of the National Sports Code, Sakshi announced her retirement seeing that the Wrestling Federation of India would still be in Brij Bhushan's hands and that there was no other option before them. The fact that it is a sportsperson who has won a medal for the country in the Olympics facing this fate, casts doubt on our sports scene. The government should try to create an environment for the sports talents to progress without any pressures and sorrows.