AMRITSAR: A Sikh wrestler refused to participate in his maiden international wrestling competition in Turkey after he was ‘forced’ to remove ‘patka’ by the organisers of the world ranking tournament, United World Wrestling.Talking to TOI on his return from Turkey on Thursday, Tarn Taran resident Jashkawar Singh, famous as Jassa Patti, said he was part of the team that had gone to participate in the invitation wrestling tournament in Turkey, which was held from July 27 to 29. My bout was with Ukrainian wrestler on July 28 but the organisers insisted that I take the fight only after removing my headgear which I refused,” he said, adding that wrestling was a game of contact and if he had removed ‘patka’ then his hair would have untied and covered his eyes and face.He said the organisers also asked him to make a braid like women but he refused the proposal. He said his coach also raised the issue with the organisers but that didn’t help much. “May be, they didn’t understand or there was some miscommunication,” he said. Jashkawar’s father Salwinder Singh, who had also been an international wrestler, said players were allowed to wear headgears that didn’t harm the opponent during the bout. Jashkawar said his coach had taken up the matter with the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) so as to prevent such a situation in future. Meanwhile, it is learnt that Union sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore had assured to look into the matter.Meanwhile, SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal said the Sikh wrestler had brought pride to the community.

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