Sakshi Malik Writes Letter To PM Modi, Kiren Rijiju To Ask If She Will Ever Receive Arjuna Award

Sakshi Malik wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, and asked what should she do to win Arjuna Award.

The Sports Ministry on Friday explained why it decided against conferring Indian freestyle wrestler Sakshi Malik and weightlifting world champion Mirabai Chanu with the Arjuna Award for 2020.

As per the ministry, both Malik and Chanu would not receive the honour this year as they have already won India's highest sporting honour, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2016 and 2018, respectively.

The miffed Rohtak-born wrestler wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, and asked what should she do to win Arjuna Award.

"Manniye Pradhanmantri @narendramodi ji aur manniye khel mantri @KirenRijiju ji. Mujhe Khel Ratna se sammanit kiya gaya hai, mujhe is baat ka garv hai. Har khiladi ka sapna hota hai ki woh saare puraskaar apne naam kare. (Respected Prime Minister @narendramodi and respected Sports Minister @KirenRijiju. I have been honoured by the Khel Ratna and I am proud of it. Every sportsperson dreams of winning all the awards)," Sakshi has written

"Khiladi iske liye apni jaan ki bazi lagata hai. Mera bhi sapna hai ki mere naam ke aage Arjuna puraskar vijeta lage. Main aisa aur konsa padak desh ke liye lekar aaun ki mujhe Arjuna puraskar se sammanit kiya jaaye. Ya is kushti jeevan me mujhe kabhi ye puraskar jeetne ka saubhagya hi nahi mile ga? (A sportsperson puts her life at risk for it. I also dream of seeing Arjuna award winner against my name. What more medal do I get for the country that I be honoured with the Arjuna award. Or in this wrestling life, I would never have the good luck of winning this award?" Sakshi said.

Last week, the Justice (retd) Mukundakam Sharma-led selection committee had recommended 29 names for the Arjuna award to the Sports Ministry.

Athletes who will receive Arjuna award this year are: Atanu Das (archery), Dutee Chand (athletics), Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Chandrasekhar Shetty (badminton), Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (basketball), Subedar Manish Kaushik, Lovlina Borgohain (boxing), Ishant Sharma, Deepti Sharma (cricket), Sawant Ajay Anant (equestrian), Sandesh Jhingan (football), Aditi Ashok (golf), Akashdeep Singh, Deepika (hockey), Deepak (kabaddi), Kale Sarika Sudhakar (Kho Kho), Dattu Baban Bhokanal (rowing), Manu Bhaker, Saurabh Chaudhary (shooting), Madhurika Suhas Patkar (table tennis), Divij Sharan (tennis), Shiva Keshavan (winter sports), Divya Kakran, Rahul Aware (wrestling), Suyash Narayan Jadhav (para swimming), Sandeep (para athletics) and Manish Narwal (para shooting).