Jhajjar/Chandigarh8 hours ago
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Para wrestler Virendra Singh, who has been awarded Padma Shri award, has sat on a dharna at Haryana Bhawan in Delhi on Wednesday in protest against the Manohar Lal government of the state. Wrestler Virendra Singh, popularly known as dumb wrestler, is demanding that deaf and dumb players should be given equal rights as para players in the state.
President Ram Nath Kovind has honored wrestler Virendra Singh with Padma Shri on Tuesday itself. Virendra has tweeted, “Honorable Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar ji, I am sitting on the footpath of your residence Haryana Bhawan in Delhi and will not move from here until we give equal rights to deaf and dumb players like you para players. When the central government gives us equal rights, why not your government?’
Dumb wrestler’s tweet to give equal respect.
Taunt on CM’s congratulatory tweet
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal also congratulated Virendra Pehalwan on receiving the Padma Shri award. Virendra took a jibe at the state government while retweeting the Chief Minister’s tweet congratulating him. He wrote, “Chief Minister, if you consider me as a para player, then why don’t you give equal rights to them, for the last 4 years I am stumbling from rate to rate. I am still a junior coach and neither was given the same cash award. Yesterday this I have spoken to Prime Minister @narendramodi ji about this, now you have to decide!’
Taunted by retweeting the congratulatory message of the Chief Minister.
A video of wrestler Virendra sitting on a dharna has also gone viral on social media. In this, Virendra is sitting with one of his associates with Arjuna Award, his medal and Padma Shri award. A documentary has also been made in 2014 on the life and struggle of Virendra, originally from Jhajjar district. Currently, he is working as a junior coach for Rs 28,000.
Wrestling started at the age of 10
From the young age of 10, Virendra started learning the tricks of wrestling in the mud riot. He has been wrestling with ordinary wrestlers in the riots held in the fairs of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. After the akhadas of the fairs, in the year 2002, he got a chance to represent India at the international level. He won the Gold Medal in the National Rounds of the World Cadet Wrestling Championships 2002. In this match, he had a general category player in front of him. With this victory, he was sure to go for the World Championship, but citing his disability as the reason, the federation did not send him to play further.
Poster of the film on the struggle of Virendra Pehalwan in 2014.
Played in special category after discrimination
He was kicked out of the World Championships just because of hearing loss. After this discrimination, Virendra started playing in the deaf and dumb category. In 2005, Virendra won the first gold medal in the Deaf Olympics. Virendra has won many international medals, including four gold medals. He has also received the Arjuna Award in 2016 and now the Padma Shri award for his contribution to sports.
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