Where does Mahendra Singh Dhoni belong to? Even a kid aware of cricket will tell that the Team India's star wicketkeeper belongs to Jharkhand. Dhoni, who has become an inspiration to the cricket-crazy young generation, has held Jharkhand's head high in the cricket world.
In fact, all states feel proud of their heroes. If West Bengal is proud of 'dada' Sourav Ganguly for winning the maximum number of matches as India's captain, Maharastra is proud of its prodigious sons Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar. Haryanavis feel proud of the "great" Kapil Dev who won India the World Cup in 1983.
Shockingly, Jharkhand has a section of political groups who treat Dhoni as an "outsider", and has opposed the state government's decision to give a piece of land to him to construct a house. The Adivasi Adhikar Morcha led by Mander MLA Bandhu Tirki has resolved to "strongly protest" the decision on the plea that "giving land to Dhoni is an extension of the conspiracy to usurp tribals' land".
I don't want to go into the details of the laws that govern the transfer, sale and gift of land in the state. But I am really aghast at the description of Dhoni as an "outsider". What empowers these Bandhu Tirkis and Amulya Neeraj Khalkos to describe Dhoni or for that matter anyone else who were born and brought up in the state and whose fathers or forefathers adopted it as their home as "outsiders".
In my knowledge of the Constitution, we don't have dual citizenship. We are the citizens of India and have the right to adopt any Indian state as our home.
I have learnt from my family history that my forefathers came from Srinagar to settle in a Bihar village centuries ago. But born and brought up in Bihar, I always feel a sense of belonging to Bihar and nobody has ever made me feel that I am not a Bihari. No one has the right to do so.
Moreover, giving Dhoni the "outsider" tag reflects an extremely parochial mindset of the Morcha leaders, which will do more harm to the Jharkhand society than good. There are hardly any cities or states that haven't got people from other cities and states settled there. Jharkhand, too, has thousands of its people who have made other states their home.
Poet Feraq Gorakhpuri sums up the Indian demography in a lovely verse: "Sar zameen-e-Hind mein aquam-e-Alam ai Feraq/ Qafilay baste gaye Hindostan bante gaya (Procession of people kept on moving and settling and that is how India came into existence).
The Dhonis came to Jharkhand from Uttarachanchal as factory workers and made Ranchi their home. Born, brought up and educated in cricket from here, Dhoni is as much a Jharkhandi as the other the state dwellers. As his other teammates go to their native places, Dhoni returns to Ranchi to be with his friends and family during a break from cricket. If Dhoni is an "outsider" to Ranchi, then which place does he belong to? And, who has given the license to the Tirkis and Khalkos to dub Dhoni an "outsider" on their whims and caprices?
Of course, there should be no opposition to their demand that the state government should honour Silvanus Dungdung and other sports stars that Jharkhand has produced. I don't think Dhoni will oppose it either. Nobody in his right senses will oppose their movement against the vested interests who usurped the tribals' land illegally. But then, how can they oppose the gift of land to Dhoni on the dubious plea that he is an "outsider"? Dhoni is the pride of Jharkhand. He is the hero of the young generation. I hope Dhoni and his heroics will inspire the youth — be the tribals or others — to disdainfully reject the Tirkis- and- Khalkos-sponsored opposition to him.
