New Delhi: When Uma Chetry, the young wicketkeeper-batter from Assam, stepped off her flight in Guwahati, she carried a World Cup medal and the pride of an entire region. The 24-year-old had just become the first woman from the state to play in the ICC Women’s World Cup, returning home as a champion with Team India. But her homecoming soon became the centre of a heated debate.

On the night she landed in the state, no government officials were allegedly present at the airport to welcome her. All Assam Gorkha Students’ Union claimed it was its members and a few fans who received her with garlands and the traditional Assamese (traditional hand-woven scarf).

“Uma has created history. She deserved a grand welcome. We all saw how Richa Ghosh was honoured when she landed (in Kolkata, West Beng

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