Usha’s unforced error not befitting of an IOA president
On Thursday, P T Usha, one of India’s first sporting icons, slipped from that lofty pedestal. She was way off the mark and sounded insensitive in saying the protesting wrestlers were tarnishing India’s image. Allegations of sexual harassment are a matter of grave concern across the globe. She may have reservations about supporting them, but that is no justification for such harsh words. It’s worse, considering she’s heading the country’s top sports body, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). The wrestlers, if at all, were looking to Usha for empathy and to listen to their concerns. Instead, she sounded more like a Rajya Sabha MP than an administrator protecting athletes’ rights. She must understand that she represents an autonomous body that aims to promote sports and safeguard athletes’ interests. She should know that as IOA president, she is above an MP. If any comment is construed as politically laced, it is terrible at all levels. The Olympic movement should remain apolitical.
If anybody knows about the severity of the situation, it is Usha herself. Even earlier this year, the 58-year-old, who runs an academy in Kerala, broke down as she feared for the safety of her female athletes. She even urged the state’s chief minister to address the issue. Yet, the offhand comments, including accusing the wrestlers of ‘indiscipline’ for protesting (they had alleged that Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the ex-Wrestling Federation of India chief and BJP MP, has sexually harassed wrestlers), don’t augur well for her and the organisation.
It seems more intriguing how the IOA has handled the issue since it began in January. After receiving the wrestlers’ complaint, the IOA formed an enquiry committee (the report is under review). But neither she nor the IOA’s Athletes Commission has met them. Rather than saying the wrestlers didn’t come to her earlier (to be fair, the wrestlers did take it up with the IOA and the sports ministry in January itself), she should have reached out to them. All is still not lost, though. She can bring all the stakeholders back to the table, open all lines of communication, show empathy and win back the trust of the wrestlers and the nation.