‘Painful to see athletes being criticised for stir’

Kolkata: On a day Bengal CM and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee lent weight to the athletes’ protest, party MP Mahua Moitra also criticised Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president P T Usha, who had said on Thursday that the protest was bad publicity for India’s image, and that the protesters should have approached the association first.Moitra wondered what tarnished India’s image more: was it wrestlers protesting on the streets, or that a BJP MP, chairing the Wrestling Federation of India, had been accused of molestation and abuse of power, but against whom “Delhi police refuses to lodge an FIR, in spite of a SC order.”TMC Youth Congress president Saayoni Ghosh said: “It’s painful to see our athletes being criticised for staging protest. BJP and its mouthpieces are hell-bent on showing the protesters in a bad light, and trying to safeguard the culprit. Only winning medals and trophies will not bring India honour. Supporting our athletes and addressing their issues certainly will.” tnn