Bhubaneswar/ Rourkela, Feb. 5: Indian hockey team captain Dilip Tirkey will tie the knot tomorrow amid protests from his community.

The 29-year-old is getting married to Meera Tirkey, the daughter of Isidore Tirkey, a former hockey player and the man behind the launch of the Jaipal Singh Gold Cup. Dilip first met Meera at a gathering in Rourkela three years ago.

The wedding is to take place at a church in the steel city.

But not everyone is happy. Dilip, one of modern hockey’s best defenders, is under attack from a section of his community for choosing to marry another Tirkey. Some have even threatened to ostracise the hockey star ? who is also Orissa’s biggest sporting hero ? if he goes ahead with the marriage.

A meeting of community leaders on January 29 had passed a resolution denouncing the wedding. The chief of Sarna samaj, Mansid Ekka, described it as a “dark” chapter and dared Dilip to leave the community and forgo the benefits of being a tribal. The meeting also decided to boycott the families of the couple.

Dilip thinks the brouhaha is “unnecessary”. “A few are just jealous. Everyone else is supporting me,” he told The Telegraph.

Initially, the sportsman’s mother Regina, too, was against the marriage but she changed her mind. “My mother is solidly behind me,” he said.

Yesterday, the hockey star addressed a news conference in Rourkela. “I know Meera for the past three years and there has been no objection to our wedding. I do not understand why they are trying to create all sorts of problems at the last moment,” Dilip said.

“In fact, our ancestors have come from Patna while those of Meera from Jashpur. So, there is absolutely no problem. The marriage has been cleared by the highest authority of our society.”

But the defender is not taking any chances. He has sought police protection, just in case the protests turn nasty.

After the marriage, Dilip will throw a reception in Bhubaneswar that is likely to be attended by several domestic and international hockey stars.

He will return to the turf soon after, for the India-Pakistan series beginning on February 17.