Former skipper Pillay rallies behind players, but questions timing of the allegations
Former skipper Pillay rallies behind players, but questions timing of the allegations
Four-time Olympian Dhanraj Pillay is not at all shocked by the recent sex scandal to have hit Indian hockey.
One of the players of the national women's side, Ranjeeta Devi has alleged that women's coach MK Kaushik sexually harassed her, and a letter to this effect was sent to Hockey India signed by as many as 31 players.
Following this, Hockey India set up an inquiry committee to probe the matter even as Kaushik resigned from his post.
"I've seen Indian hockey go through so many lows in the recent past and this scandal does not surprise me one bit. I don't know the whole story since it broke after I left for Canada but from what I've seen on TV, I can tell you that 31 players cannot be lying," Pillay told MiD DAY yesterday from Toronto, where he is playing an invitational hockey tournament for his employers Air-India.
"We saw what happened when the men's hockey team got together to demand their outstanding wages. The administration had to give in eventually because the players were telling the truth. Here too, seeing so many players come out and stand united, it indicates that there is some truth in it. But I don't understand why these girls didn't come out and complain earlier," said the former India skipper.
Pillay admitted that Kaushik was a stalwart in the field of coaching. "He coached us to the 1998 Asian Games gold, which was one of the highlights of my career. So in that sense, he was good at his job. But he had his own inexplicable ways at times," said Pillay going on to cite an example. "Once, when the men's and women's team were camped together in Bangalore, the women's goalkeeping coach Mir Ranjan Negi requested our drag-flicker Jugraj Singh to take some pushes from the women's goalkeeper as it would give her good practice. But Kaushik immediately stepped in and said it was not required. He was completely against women players mixing with their male counterparts. He would not even approve of the girls talking to us. I found that weird," explained Pillay.
Hockey India's four-member inquiry committee comprising Rajeev Mehta, Zafar Iqbal, Ajit Pal Singh and Sudarshan Pathak is a farce, felt Pillay. "For a fair inquiry, we must involve people, who are not associated in any way with either the accused or the victims. Given the people in this committee, a fair trial is unlikely. I fear Indian hockey, that is already suffering at the hands of poor governance, will be further pushed into oblivion after this shameful incident."
