Violence erupts amid Gorkha protest for separate state

[ejaz007]

Violence erupts amid Gorkha protest for separate state:
India calls in army in Darjeeling

* Ethnic Bengalis chase away protesting Gorkhas

KOLKATA: Protesters clashed with police in India’s famed Darjeeling hills on Thursday as a strike over demands for a separate state triggered violence and forced the government to call for the army, police and witnesses said.

Gorkhas, who are ethnic Nepalese, have been demanding a separate state called “Gorkhaland” be carved out of the eastern state of West Bengal to protect their culture and heritage. Supporters of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (Gorkha People’s Liberation Front) asked tourists to leave Darjeeling town to avoid getting caught in the strike.

On Thursday, supporters of the ruling communist government said tourists had been beaten up by Gorkhas and called a parallel strike in Siliguri, a town on the foothills, officials said. They also beat up ethnic Nepalese, triggering clashes that police tried to contain with batons and tear gas. Dozens of people were injured.

Gorkhas driven off: “The Gorkhas were chased away by the Bengali speaking people from the plains who are opposed to the statehood (demand),” KL Tamta, a senior police officer said. In Siliguri, hundreds of Communist supporters on motorcycles tried to enforce a strike, officials and witnesses said. They also blocked roads to cut off supplies to the hills and forced traders to close shops.

In Darjeeling town, a three-hour drive from Siliguri, Gorkhas relaxed an indefinite strike for two days to allow tourists to leave the hills. “We have nothing against tourists, the communist supporters are spreading violence and blaming it on us,” Roshan Giri, a senior Gorkha leader said from Darjeeling. At least 1,200 people died in the first Gorkhaland campaign in the 1980s, but protests ended a few years later after Gorkha leaders accepted limited autonomy.

Tour operators have warned tourists to avoid Darjeeling for the time being. “As responsible tour operators we have asked tourists not to come to Darjeeling,” said Samrat Sanyal of Eastern Himalaya Tour and Travel Operators’ Association.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Flintlock]

Commies again. They can't let anybody else live in peace.

 

[vish]

Its election time; unfortunately, these things happen in India through the hands of certain short sighted politicians. The protestors that you see have been bought and are paid to mess things up.

Things will be back to normal after the elections.

 

[ejaz007]

Thousands pray for separate state for Gorkhas in India
* Campaign organiser says move to boost campaign for separate state

DARJEELING: Leaders of the ethnic Nepali-speaking minority in India’s mountainous and tea-rich northeast have started month-long prayers to press for their own federal state.

Ethnic Gorkhas - who number more than a million in the eastern state of West Bengal - have been demanding a separate state within India for decades, and renewed their movement last year under a new leader. More than a thousand people poured into the main square in the tea-producing and scenic town of Darjeeling, where the Gorkhas are concentrated, to join in the prayers on the first day on Monday.

Campaign boost: “We want a peaceful protest. These prayers will give power to our movement,” said Bimal Gurung, the chief of the Gorkha People’s Liberation Front, who floated the idea. Separate prayers will be held for various castes among the Gorkhas and for other communities in the region, wedged between Nepal and Bhutan and overlooked by Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest mountain. Many locals believe the gods will fulfil their wishes after the West Bengal government rejected demands for a separate Gorkhaland state last month.

“We don’t want any violence. That’s why we pray to our gods for our Gorkhaland,” said NK Kumai, one of the organisers of the prayers. Last month, an indefinite strike in Darjeeling hills hit tourism and its famous tea industry - the mainstays of the local economy - as activists ratcheted up the pressure. The strike was called off temporarily and has now been postponed to August to facilitate school exams and the prayers.

The fresh impetus for a new state comes almost two decades after an insurgency - in which more than 1,000 people died - ended with the government granting limited autonomy to the Gorkhas. But people soon grew disenchanted with the hill council that was formed as a result, as its leaders were seen to be corrupt.

Many blame the West Bengal government for the dismal state of roads and lack of job opportunities in the region. “We have made so many sacrifices in the Indian army. We consider ourselves Indians but for long we have been treated as second-class citizens of this country,” said a government official who did not want to be named.

The 44-year-old Gurung rose to prominence after spearheading a campaign to get telephone votes for Tamang, while at the same time starting up the Gorkha People’s Liberation Front. “Our fight is for our identity. We don’t want any money, any freebies. If the Punjabis can have their Punjab and the Biharis have Bihar, why can’t we have our Gorkhaland?” Gurung said, referring to other Indian states. Gurung says his movement will remain peaceful. afp

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[cactuslily58]

The genesis of this problem lies in the following :

1. Ostrich - like approach at the center to regional problems.
2. Stoking of "political' fires by various parties at diff stages.
3. Realisation that its easier to make money if larger states splinter. ( More CMs, more bureaucracy, more police brass - all round creation of vacancies , more regional clout etc .
4. Now that Subash Gesing has made his money in the Hill council ( which was a carrot to him), another Gent now wants to do the same by sidelining him.
5. Since the Commies are making things difficult in Delhi, this is a counter balance to them in their state.

Indian politics will plod on...