The former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has taken a leave to serve his unit from July 31 to August 15 2019. Dhoni is a Lieutenant Colonel (Honorary) in the Parachute Regiment of the Territorial Army and hence will be doing his duty.
MS Dhoni will be in the Kashmir Valley as a part of Victor Force along with his unit. He will be staying with the troops and will fulfil the duties of patrolling, guard and post duty. But post the news there has been a general concern over Dhoni’s safety as he is a civilian. But the Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat said that like any other soldier MS Dhoni will be performing the role of a protector and he is well equipped for the same. Speaking to NDTV he said, “When a citizen of India wants to don the military uniform then he has to also be prepared to fulfill the task for which the uniform has been assigned to him. MS Dhoni has carried out his basic training and we know that he will be able to accomplish the task.
In 2015, Dhoni completed five parachute training jumps from Indian Army aircraft at the Agra training camp and became a qualified paratrooper. So the Chief believes that Dhoni does not need anyone to protect him and will be part of the duties his troop is involved with. “I don’t think we will need to protect him, he will protect the citizens and garrison entrusted to his task.” He further informed, “In fact, he will be protecting a lot of other people because he will now be performing with the 106 Territorial Army battalion (Para). It is a very good battalion and they have been performing line of communication duties, static protection and he will be a part of it.”
