Shillong, May 25: Meghalaya Cricket Association president James PK Sangma has directly blamed his honorary secretary in the scandal surrounding alleged harassment of members of the state U-23 women’s team, with Sangma accusing Rayonald Kharkamni of attempting a cover-up.
A few days ago several female cricketers filed a complaint with the Meghalaya State Commission for Women (MSCW) against the coach and manager of the U–23 women‘s T20 team that took part in a BCCI tournament last year.
The MSCW has sought a detailed report from former MCA president Nababrata Bhattacharjee, former honorary treasurer Dhrubajyoti Thakuria, Kharkamni and the former operations manager. They have been asked to explain why no action was not taken given that the matter had been brought to the MCA’s attention earlier.
The harassment predates Sangma’s presidency. He was elected in the second half of December last year but took charge in January. The cricketers had complained as early as December 3.
In a statement on Saturday, Sangma said that he had been kept in the dark over the allegations and that Kharkamni had tried to bury the matter for nearly six months.
“Sexual harassment, in any form and in any setting, be it a sports association or any other institution or organisation, is completely unacceptable,” Sangma wrote in the statement. “Feigning ignorance in the name of elections when a larger matter was at hand, misleading everyone when till date no inquiry was conducted, or even a basic response given to complainants, tells the larger story of what the MCA has been and continues to be for some people in it.”
Kharkamni’s attempts to cover up the issue didn’t stop there, according to Sangma. After the players field a complaint with the MCA Ombudsman, retired judge BD Agarwal, on May 8, Sangma said Kharkamni convened a meeting the following day with the “apparent objective of setting aside the office of the Ombudsman altogether, which would have had the effect of rendering invalid any independent intervention into this very matter of sexual harassment”.
The honorary secretary is not in Shillong at the moment, having travelled to the North East Cricket Development Council conclave in Imphal.
What happens next is uncertain. The very public accusations against Kharkamni could make his position untenable. He has been spared no mercy, even if he and Sangma both belong to the National People’s Party.
Sangma has not shied away from dishing out public disapproval. He had on more than one occasion criticised the previous Apex Council, such as for the delay in readying the indoor cricket facility in Madan Kurkalang, Ri-Bhoi, which was inaugurated in April, two years after its foundation was laid.
Sangma’s presidency has not been smooth sailing. After a disputed election process, he was elected by a narrow margin (according to sources, at least, as the official tally was not released). Those ex-members he has dressed down in public are resentful and he may have another election to think about, as his name is doing the rounds for the next Rajya Sabha MP. But this latest scandal demonstrates painfully that the MCA’s woes are not skin deep and fixing them could take much of his time and energy.
