Thousands pray for separate state for Gorkhas in India
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008 [2008-7-10]
Tag : Nepali Tea
* Campaign organiser says move to boost campaign for separate state
DARJEELING: Leaders of the ethnic Nepali-speaking minority inIndia's mountainous and tea-rich northeast have started month-longprayers to press for their own federal state.
Ethnic Gorkhas - who number more than a million in the easternstate of West Bengal - have been demanding a separate state withinIndia for decades, and renewed their movement last year under a newleader. More than a thousand people poured into the main square inthe tea-producing and scenic town of Darjeeling, where the Gorkhasare concentrated, to join in the prayers on the first day onMonday.
Campaign boost: We want a peaceful protest. These prayers willgive power to our movement, said Bimal Gurung, the chief of theGorkha People's Liberation Front, who floated the idea. Separateprayers will be held for various castes among the Gorkhas and forother communities in the region, wedged between Nepal and Bhutanand overlooked by Kanchenjunga, the world's third highest mountain.Many locals believe the gods will fulfil their wishes after theWest Bengal government rejected demands for a separate Gorkhalandstate last month.
We don't want any violence. That's why we pray to our gods for ourGorkhaland, said NK Kumai, one of the organisers of the prayers.Last month, an indefinite strike in Darjeeling hills hit tourismand its famous tea industry - the mainstays of the local economy -as activists ratcheted up the pressure. The strike was called offtemporarily and has now been postponed to August to facilitateschool exams and the prayers.
The fresh impetus for a new state comes almost two decades after aninsurgency - in which more than 1,000 people died - ended with thegovernment granting limited autonomy to the Gorkhas. But peoplesoon grew disenchanted with the hill council that was formed as aresult, as its leaders were seen to be corrupt.
Many blame the West Bengal government for the dismal state of roadsand lack of job opportunities in the region. We have made so manysacrifices in the Indian army. We consider ourselves Indians butfor long we have been treated as second-class citizens of thiscountry, said a government official who did not want to be named.
* Campaign organiser says move to boost campaign for separate state
DARJEELING: Leaders of the ethnic Nepali-speaking minority inIndia's mountainous and tea-rich northeast have started month-longprayers to press for their own federal state.
Ethnic Gorkhas - who number more than a million in the easternstate of West Bengal - have been demanding a separate state withinIndia for decades, and renewed their movement last year under a newleader. More than a thousand people poured into the main square inthe tea-producing and scenic town of Darjeeling, where the Gorkhasare concentrated, to join in the prayers on the first day onMonday.
Campaign boost: We want a peaceful protest. These prayers willgive power to our movement, said Bimal Gurung, the chief of theGorkha People's Liberation Front, who floated the idea. Separateprayers will be held for various castes among the Gorkhas and forother communities in the region, wedged between Nepal and Bhutanand overlooked by Kanchenjunga, the world's third highest mountain.Many locals believe the gods will fulfil their wishes after theWest Bengal government rejected demands for a separate Gorkhalandstate last month.
We don't want any violence. That's why we pray to our gods for ourGorkhaland, said NK Kumai, one of the organisers of the prayers.Last month, an indefinite strike in Darjeeling hills hit tourismand its famous tea industry - the mainstays of the local economy -as activists ratcheted up the pressure. The strike was called offtemporarily and has now been postponed to August to facilitateschool exams and the prayers.
The fresh impetus for a new state comes almost two decades after aninsurgency - in which more than 1,000 people died - ended with thegovernment granting limited autonomy to the Gorkhas. But peoplesoon grew disenchanted with the hill council that was formed as aresult, as its leaders were seen to be corrupt.
Many blame the West Bengal government for the dismal state of roadsand lack of job opportunities in the region. We have made so manysacrifices in the Indian army. We consider ourselves Indians butfor long we have been treated as second-class citizens of thiscountry, said a government official who did not want to be named.
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