Olympic medal-winner Bajrang Punia, who was one of the central figures in wrestling protests last year along with Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, shared a cryptic Independence Day post on social media on Thursday.
While congratulating the country on the occasion, Bajrang added a photo to his post from the wrestling protests where Vinesh and his wife, Sangeeta, are seen on the road with India's flag while the police interevened to forcefully end the protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.
Bajrang, Vinesh, Sakshi and some of country's other top wrestlers had launched a protest against former Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, alleging him of sexsual harassment, for which he was later charged by a Delhi court.
Bajrang's post on Thursday led to a mixed reponse by users on X (formerly Twitter). While some questioned him for using that image with a congratulatory message on the occasion of Independence Day, a few others backed the wrestler for his fight against the wrongdoings and for the integrity of women in India.
Bajrang, who won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, missed the Paris bus. However, Vinesh was among one of the five woman wrestlers representing India at the Games in the French capital.
But Vinesh's record third Olympic campaign ended in a heartbreak as she was disqualified on the morning of her gold-medal match in the 50kg category after being found 100gm overweight on the second official weigh-in.
Her subsequent appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport to be given a silver medal was later dismissed. Before that, a heartbroken Vinesh had announced her retirement from wrestling.
