Priyanka Gandhi Meets Wrestler Sakshi Malik, Assures Support

On Friday, December 22, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met Olympian wrestler Sakshi Malik to express her solidarity with her and assured her of her support in every way in her fight for justice.

Priyanka Gandhi arrived at Malik’s residence and met her and other wrestlers there.

Priyanka assured Malik of her support in every way in the fight for justice. She also said that the women players, who have brought glory to the country across the world, have accused BJP MP and former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment, but the BJP government took no action against him. On the contrary, the victims were tortured in various ways.

Priyanka Gandhi said, “The BJP is still standing with the accused and is rewarding him in every way. The women of the country are watching these atrocities.”

Meanwhile, slamming the BJP, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “The insult to players like Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik is not just an insult to them but to the entire country. It is shameful that the players who have raised India’s prestige in the world are helpless in front of their own government. The Prime Minister should at least have given up his ego in this matter and assured justice to the players who made the country proud. But the Prime Minister and BJP are with the accused of sexual exploitation. The country stands with its champions.”

Earlier, on Friday, freestyle wrestler Bajrang Punia announced the return of his Padma Shree award to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On Thursday, Malik, who was the 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist, announced that she was quitting wrestling following Sanjay Singh — who was an aide of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh — being elected as President of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).

An emotional Malik said, “I am dejected, and I will not be competing in wrestling anymore” after removing her shoes and putting them on the dais, before leaving the press conference in tears.

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At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Sakshi Malik won the bronze medal in the 58 kg category, becoming the first Indian female wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics. She is a part of the JSW Sports Excellence Program, along with fellow female wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Babita Kumari and Geeta Phogat.

Malik had previously won the silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, and the bronze medal at the 2015 Asian Wrestling Championships in Doha. She is one of the leaders of the ongoing 2023 Indian wrestlers’ protest against BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. She announced her retirement from wrestling after the election of a close aide of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh as WFI chief.

Malik was born on 3 September 1992 in Mokhra village of Haryana’s Rohtak district to Sukhbir, a bus conductor with Delhi Transport Corporation, and Sudesh Malik, a supervisor at a local health clinic. According to her father, she was motivated to take up wrestling from seeing her grandfather Badlu Ram, who was also a wrestler. She began training in wrestling at the age of 12 under a coach, Ishwar Dahiya, at an Akhara in Chhotu Ram Stadium, Rohtak. However, there were four people out there namely, Kuldeep Malik, Ishwar Dahiya, Mandeep Singh, and Rajbir Singh, who claimed themselves as the coach of Sakshi Malik.

Later on, Sakshi herself submitted an affidavit with the sports department, informing that Ishwar Dahiya and Mandeep Singh are her coaches.