Coach Kaushik told me it’s good to have sex: Ranjitha

Mangalore Today News Network

Mumbai, July 23:  Hockey India’s  five-member committee, including two former Olympians Ajit Pal Singh and Zafar Iqbal, is likely to nail former chief coach of the Indian hockey team M K Kaushik for the alleged sexual harassment of the members the Indian women’s hockey team.

Ranjita Dev spilled the beans on sexual harassment by writing a long letter to Hockey India, giving details of the sexual harassment by Kaushik and his coaching staff. The letter was signed by 30 of her fellow players. Indian hockey was rocked by a fresh controversy on Tuesday with a member of the women’s team sending a written complaint alleging sexual harassment against one of the coaching staff.

In an interaction with national level TV channel, Ranjitha has revealed about how kaushik was talking with her unduely... Excerpts from her statement to the TV channel....

“One day during the camp in Bhopal, Kaushik sir called me to his room and asked me whether I have had sex. I was quiet for a while, then he said it’s good to have sex. Then I told my senior that Kaushik sir spoke to me in a disgusting manner. Still I remained quiet. Kaushik sir used to have one-on-one meetings with everybody for 10-15 minutes, but with me he used to always take an hour. He used to repeatedly say that I am beautiful. Can I talk to you whenever I feel like? And this kind of a conversation used to take place very often. One day it just went out of limit. During our tour to China one night, he called me to his room and started talking about my game. Soon he started talking about all sorts of things. He said you are pretty, you stay in Mumbai alone, you must be having a lot of fun. He even said that he was available 24 hours for me. He did not say it once or twice, he repeated it at least 5 times and that too pointing at the bed. I always thought he would stop on his own. I kept forgiving him. He was about to go to Germany, and he asked me tell me if you want something from there. He even offered me something another team member had asked for, saying that if I wanted it I should meet him the next day....”

 

The complaint letter against M K Kaushik

The ugly sex scandal that has broken out in the Indian women’s hockey team erupted after a member of the team wrote a letter to the Hockey India alleging that national team coach M K Kaushik had indulged in harassment of the players.


I am a member of the Indian Women’s Hockey team. My object behind writing this letter to you is to share with you certain facts. And why ’You’ is because common people like me dont trust any politician but you seem different.I, admire your openmindedness and the way you carry yourself.

The Indian Women’s Hockey Team is being coached by Maharaj kishan Kaushik since 2003. He is an Olympian and also a Dronacharya Awardee and has a big name. He has been deputed as the national coach till the 2010 C’wealth Games. but apart from the past glory there is nothing concrete about this coach.The Women Hockey Players who work with him,only know his true colours.

* Mr. Kaushik asks for sexual favors from the junior girls and passes lewd comments by calling them to his room on the pretext of ’game meeting’.the girls, all comimg from poor and humble backgrounds are too scared to speak against the coach. a couple of years back the coach also had adulterous relations with the then lady manager Mrs. Anurita Saini and they  together spoiled the whole atmosphere of the camp. Camp had become a means for their illicit deeds.

* Our team has two videographers. one is mr. Basavraj who is basically a photographer employed with the Sports Authority of India , Banglore.He only knows how to record matches and has zero knowledge of computers. the other videographer is Ms. H. Nalini who is a software professional.she not only makes videos but also operates the latest software for minute and detailed observation. Hence Nalini, is the main requirement of the team looking into the importance of video analysis in modern hockey. yet for any foreign tour M  k Kaushik takes Basavraj only with the team.The reason being, Basavraj bribes Kaushik and also buys him drinks on tours abroad and pays for his shopping. So, the team has the tecnology  but it is not being utilised as the coach is more concerned about personal gratification. The whole team is too upset with this.Moreover Kaushik has made false allegations on Nalini to justify his choice of Basavraj.
 
* Mr. Vasu Thapliyal is the Asstt. coach. he knows all the truth about MK Kaushik.Vasu aims only to safeguard his post in the team and hence dances to the tunes of Kaushik and turns blind to all his misdeeds.With regards to game- Vasu is just a textbook coach with no innovative thinking. He always accompanies the team on tours and honestly he is just a waste of Government Money.No benefit the team has got in any way till date with the presence of Vasu Thapliyal.ironically the team has  far more efficient and intelligent coaches like Sandeep Somesh and Khalid Modi who are genuinely dedicated to the purpose of team improvement. They spend hours studying opponents and have the quality to plan tactics.But Mr. Kaushik prefers Vasu instead.

* The team can still overlook the above but the main purpose for which Mk Kaushik has been deputed is also not met.  He lacks the quality of tactical play that is required to compete at elite level.He is psychologically unfit. the reason being when the team is about to play a strong opponent he plans before hand what reasons he’d give for the failure of the team. when the team was to leave for the Asia cup ... he was sure the team would lose and not stand anywhere on the podium.but the team ended winning the silver. this was solely due to the planning of the girls. the coach is timid and therefore not fit as a national coach. he pretends as if he does a lot of work but in reality it is just a  show off. his interest lies in gossiping about girls and manipulating the team for personal benefits.
 
Sir, Our women Hockey players are really talented and the team can be amongst the best in the world. but the politics of the coach is ruining the team. MK Kuashik is using his reputation to hide his wrong doings and his inefficiency. nobody questions him about the choices he makes of players and staff. hence he is misusing his position as the chief coach.

He says..." no one cares how the women’s team fares in the tournaments". Kaushik is least bothered about the performance of the team. so he can remove any player from the team. so the girls are not speaking out. all have worked hard and want to play for the national team . hence they are simply putting up with the injustice.

Sir, the downfall of hockey is becuase of such people are in the system who try to cash on ’their olympian tag’ who use the game to reap as many personal benefits as possible. If you could do anything for Women hockey in this regard, it will a great service to the national game.

Here is the copy of the signatures of the 31 players.