Cornered coaches hit back

After days of silence,former chief coach of the Indian womens hockey team MK Kaushik on Monday hit back at Hockey India....

After days of silence,former chief coach of the Indian womens hockey team MK Kaushik on Monday hit back at Hockey India,threatening legal action against the federation for maligning him even as the Sports Ministry announced a five-member committee to look into allegations of sexual harassment against him.

The Sports Ministry,in a statement,said it had already constituted a committee comprising senior women officials from the ministry,including a member from a womens rights NGO to look into the matter. The committee will follow due procedure laid down by the honourable Supreme Court in the Vishakha case, the ministry statement said. The committee will also add a member from the Delhi Commission for Women,it added.

Kaushik,while welcoming the Ministrys decision,accused Hockey Indias interim secretary Narinder Batra of pursuing a personal agenda against him. He had earlier resigned after being accused of sexual harassment by Ranjitha Devi.

Kaushik not only questioned Hockey Indias authority to recommend police and government action against him,he also accused Batra of trying to deliberately malign him and remove him as coach for personal interests,saying Batra wanted another coach to replace him.

He said since the five-member inquiry committees report had only factual matters and no recommendations,HI could not recommend action against him. He also claimed that since the enquiry committee could not find anything negative against him during the hearing,its report had not gone down well with Hockey India and the federation was biased in its attitude.

Kaushik also pointed out discrepancies in Hockey Indias letter to the Ministry,saying that while the federation admitted it did not have the power to verify the charges,it still declared statements made by Th Ranjitha Devi as highly credible since she has levelled specific charges and specific instances against him. This shows that the hockey management is pre-decided against me, he said.

Kaushik appeared with his lawyer Mandira Mitra by his side,who said the issue had gone beyond mere allegations and counter-allegations. Filing a defamation case is an option always open to us but we want to follow the procedures. We welcome the ministrys decision to form a committee but this legal notice is to seek an immediate withdrawal of the statements made by the federation and Batra, Mitra said.