Azhar in trouble for dubbing Biharis thieves
Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin did to the denizens of Bihar what Justice Milap Chand Jain did to the natives of Tamil Nadu. And like the Justice before him, the Indian cricket superstar finds himself in a boatload of trouble.
In Jamshedpur to play for Hyderabad against Bihar in the Ranji Trophy Super League fixture, Azhar stirred a hornet's nest with his off hand remark, Sab Bihari chor hain, na? ("All Biharis are thieves, no?").
The provocation apparently was that as he returned to the pavilion with his bat under one arm and his yellow cap under the other, he was mobbed by autograph hunters. And while obliging, he found his cap missing.
The outraged skipper immediately summoned the Bihar Cricket Association officials and informed them that unless his property was restored to him forthwith, he would take no further part in the game.
And, as the BCA officials scurried in search of Azhar's yellow cap, the Indian skipper followed up with the words quoted above -- casting aspersions on the honesty of all Biharis. Worse, he had done so in public, before a large crowd of witnesses.
The local media has already shown signs of making this a cause celebre. Meanwhile, the officials, with help from the cops, finally tracked down the culprit -- a young man who had apparently made off with the cap in order to boast to his friends that the Indian captain had personally gifted it to him -- and restored the headgear to the Indian skipper.
Azhar is happy.
And the Bihar media is outraged -- the cap of dishonesty, the local media has suggested in strongly worded articles, does not fit the natives of that state, and Azhar should apologise, pronto.
The Indian skipper for his part strongly denied using derogatory language to refer to the people of Bihar. "The incident was blown out of proportion," Azhar, now back in Bombay, said. "I was a guest in Bihar and it isnot my culture to apologise to all and sundry."
Azhar however admitted that he was annoyed at having had his property stolen. "Why should a cricketer lose anything, when he is playing in good faith?" he demanded.
Meanwhile, a Bihari lawyer filed a public interest case against Azharuddin with a conditional clause saying the suit will be withdrawn if Azhar apologises.
"I won't apologise for what I haven't done," said Azhar, sticking to his stance.
The case was adjourned today, the first day of hearing.
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