Mahua Moitra's ‘#StopCrawling’ tweet as PT Usha hits out at wrestlers' protest

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra on Thursday lambasted Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha for alleging that the wrestlers were ‘tarnishing India's image’ by protesting on the streets over sexual harassment allegations against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Hitting out at PT Usha, Mahua Moitra asked whether the damaging allegations against a lawmaker of the ruling party and the Delhi Police's refusal to register a case “makes India smell of roses.”

“Wrestlers protesting on streets tarnishing India's image says @PTUshaOfficial” Moitra wrote on Twitter. “So ruling party MP chairing WFI for years accused of molestation & abuse of power against who @DelhiPolice refuses to lodge FIR in spite of SC order makes India smell of roses, does it?” she said, adding the hashtag ‘StopCrawling’.

Coming down heavily on the aggrieved wrestlers, PT Usha, a celebrated athlete and a nominated Rajya Sabha member, on Thursday said the wrestlers protesting on the streets “amounted to indiscipline.”

"Wrestlers staging protest on streets amounts to indiscipline. It is tarnishing the image of India," Usha told reporters after IOA's Executive Committee meeting.

The IOA and the government had managed to placate the wrestlers with assurances to probe their allegations against the BJP MP and the wrestling federation after the protest first broke out in January. With the IOA yet to complete its probe and the government-formed oversight panel's findings not being made public, decorated wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, resumed their protest. They also moved the Supreme Court demanding the registration of an FIR and the WFI chief's arrest under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act as one of the complainants is a minor.

"Our feeling is that for sexual harassment complaints, IOA has a committee and athletes' commission. Instead of going to the street (again), they should have come to us, but they have not at all come to IOA," Usha said.

Asked if the IOA would reach out to the wrestlers since they are adamant that they would not leave the protest site until their demands are met, Usha shot back by saying, “Thoda toh discipline hona chahiye (there should be some discipline). Instead of coming to us, they have gone straight to the streets. It's not good for sport.”