Cutting across their political labels, five Members of Orissa legislative Assembly extended their moral support to Sundargh people who are spearheading a movement to save the honour of their legendary son Dilip Tirkey. These MLAs were present at the rally organized by an instant group which in the end submitted a memorandum to the administrative head of the region, on Wednesday.

More than a thousand hockey players, sports lovers and promoters took out a rally in Rourkela on Wednesday. They took this extra-ordinary step to protest against Pratap Satpathy (Secretary, Orissa Hockey Association) who cast aspersions on the very integrity of Orissa Steelers’ captain Dilip Tirkey for the team’s semifinal defeat at the recent Premier Hockey League.

Holding a life size portrait of Dilip Tirkey and placards written in Oriya, they marched along the 3 km stretch between Bisra Chowk and Asst. District Magistrate Office, raising slogans against Satpathy and his coterie before submitting a memorandum to the ADM to be forwarded to the Orissa State Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, an ardent follower of Dilip’s sporting feats.

In the memorandum the former players of national and international repute, most of them from Sundargarh district, have sought an unconditional apology from Satpathy for his derogatory remarks against Dilip Tirkey. They have also demanded his resignation from both OHA and the Indian Hockey Federation. The memorandum also seeks to shift the State Hockey Association Office now in Cuttack to Sundargarh. They have requested the Chief Minister to de-recognise the OHA if they do not heed to these demands.

The rally was led by former Olympian Michael Kindo, former Orissa captain Gregory Minz , who is also a Congress MLA from Rajgangpur constituency, and scores of other former state players and hockey lovers. Rourkela MLA Sarada Nayak (Biju Janta Dal), Talasara MLA Dr. Prafulla Majhi (Congress) and Raghunathpali MLA Halu Mundari (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha) were also present at the ADM Office. Sundargarh MLA Srimati Sushma Patel (BJP), Bonai MLA Laxman Munda (CPM) Birmitrapur MLA Nihar Surin (JMM) sent their messages in support of Dilip Tirkey and the rally.

Member of Parliament from Sundargarh, Jual Oram (BJP) has also come out in support of Dilip Tirkey. In his message he has strongly criticized Pratap Satpathy for questioning the integrity of Dilip Tirkey as a committed player. All the speakers at the rally denounced Pratap Satpathy’s remark that Dilip in league with former coach of Orissa Steelers A.K.Bansal sabotaged the Orissa Steelers team in the just concluded PHL at Chandigarh. What hurt them the most is Pratap Satpathy’s claim in the press that Dilip Tirkey found a place in the national team because of his recommendation, which sends a wrong message to public that Dilip Tirkey plays for India, not because of his talent, but because of someone’s recommendation.

All MLAs of Sundargarh district irrespective of their party affiliation have joined hands in their fight against ignorant OHA Secretary. They have taken the comments in bad taste as an insult to the tribal community, dominated in Sundargarh district, and vowed to raise this matter in the State Assembly. The tribal leaders have particularly highlighted how much the community is insulted by Satpathy’s insult. Sundargarh district is a cradle of hockey in the state, if not for the whole of India. Almost all the state and international hockey players of Orissa comes from the glorious belt.

Hockey is a tradition with tribals of the district. Orissa Hockey Association has not played any meaningful role to promote the sport. It is almost left to these hard working tribals to come out on their own, whose cause surely is supplemented by a plethora of Sports Hostels being run by the government. Many players from the State serve leading institutional teams in and outside Orissa. Majority of them also represent India. In this scenario, a non-functioning paper organization like OHA claiming credit for the stars is rather ridiculous.

Dilip insult has become a very sentimental issue with the tribals. Michael Kindo went further and said despite he being the chief selector of OHA, hardly does he get any opportunity to select the State team. “OHA Secretary just nominates the team without any consultation with me”, he rued. The speakers have indicated that in the event of Satpathy not apologizing and tendering resignation, they will not hesitate to launch a continuous agitation till their demands are met, and also will not hesitate to form a parallel State Hockey Association.

Tribals are very simple by nature. They turn hostile whenever they feel they are cheated or humiliated. Dilip Tirkey is a veritable role model for the tribal youths. Things being as such, Satpathy’s idiotic remarks, which demeans Dilip’s stature, will never be acceptable to them. They won’t just lie down and let the things pass by. Satpathy is a villain in the eyes of tribals now. They have lost faith in him. His continuance will only ruin Orissa’s hockey reputation, and hence his removal is a must to save the State Hockey which provides half of the current national team. This is view of the majority who assembled on Wednesday at Rourkela.

Note: The author of the story, Satish Sharma, a Rourkela based journalist, follows hockey passionately, and reported the rally specially for stick2hockey.com.