| New Delhi :Olympic winning boxer Vijender Singh has said he would return the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award – India’s highest sporting honour – if the centre does not repeal the three contentious farm laws.”If the government doesn’t withdraw the black laws, I will return my Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award,” said the boxer, who won the first ever Olympic medal for India in the sport in 2008. Mr Singh, who is from Haryana, said this while addressing a gathering of farmers at the state’s border with Delhi at Singhu where Punjabi singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh also spoke on Saturday. Vijender Singh is the latest in the line of sportsmen, artistes and activists from across the country – majorly from the key protesting states of Punjab and Haryana – to have thrown their weight behind the “Delhi Chalo” protest, which entered its 11th day on Sunday. A day earlier, boxing legends Kaur Singh, Jaipal Singh and Gurbax Singh Sandhu – instrumental in helping Vijender Singh secure his Olympic bronze – also made a similar statement if the centre did not heed farmers’ demands. On December 3, former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal returned his Padma Vibhushan award — the second highest civilian honour of the country – in show of support. |
