Protest for Gorkhaland reaches Delhi

With a 110-metre long national flag, Gorkhaland supporters on Sunday marched in the national capital to reinforce their demand for a separate state and the immediate imposition of President's Rule in West Bengal.

Protesters belonging to the Gorkha Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti in New Delhi demanded the Centre's intervention in removing paramilitary forces with immediate effect.

"The West Bengal government is treating common people like terrorists and killing them. The central government should remove paramilitary forces and terminate the services of the Director General of Police," GSSS president Kiran B K said.

The protesters marched from Rajghat to Jantar Mantar carrying the flag, depicting 110 years of their struggle for separate state.

The march culminated at Jantar Mantar where they joined their co-supporters who had been protesting for three weeks now.

"Just like Bengalis have their identity, we are fighting for ours. We are getting killed for seeking the rights we deserve. The Centre should look into the issue," said Stuti Thami of Darjeeling, adding that she was 'ready to die' but not to stay under the West Bengal government.

Some of the placards that protesters carried criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party for its 'attitude before and after the elections'.

The Gorkha Janmukti Marcha on Sunday planned to take out rallies against the alleged killing of its supporters in police firing in Darjeeling as the indefinite shutdown in support of their demand for a separate Gorkhaland entered the 25th day amid a strict vigil by the Army and the police.

The Army was re-deployed on Saturday after fresh violence erupted in the Darjeeling hills where Gorkhaland supporters torched a police outpost, the toy train railway station and clashed with the police at two places.

‘Rajnath assures Sikkim CM of security of NH 10'

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday assured the Sikkim government that the Centre will ensure the security of national highway 10, the lifeline of the landlocked state, which is facing crisis of essential commodities in the wake of protests and counter-protests over the demand for Gorkhaland.

During a telephonic conversation with Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling, the home minister discussed the security situation in the state and areas neighbouring West Bengal.

'I assured him that the Centre will ensure the safety & security of NH 10 and do everything possible to save people of the state from any misery,' he tweeted.

Singh also directed Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi to coordinate with the West Bengal administration and ensure the safety, security and smooth traffic on NH 10, which connects Siliguri in West Bengal with Sikkim capital Gangtok.

Reports said traffic between Siliguri and Gangtok was affected as drivers of West Bengal-registered vehicles stopped plying to Sikkim.

There have been several incidents reported in the past week when Sikkim-registered trucks were vandalised and looted by unidentified miscreants in Siliguri.

There have also been reports of Sikkim-bound taxis, buses and private vehicles being targeted by anti-social elements in Siliguri.

The incidents of violence started after the Sikkim chief minister supported the demand of Gorkhaland and also wrote to the home minister saying it was a justified and long pending demand of the people of the Darjeeling hills.

Chamling had said Sikkim has been suffering 'untold loss owing to the recurring blockage of its one and only lifeline NH-10, during the last 30 years of Gorkhaland agitation'.

Sikkim transporters are on an indefinite strike demanding the immediate arrest of the miscreants who carried out attacks against Sikkim vehicles at Siliguri.

They are also demanding that West Bengal give assurance of providing safety to Sikkim-registered vehicles.

Expressing concern over vandalism of Sikkim-registered vehicles in West Bengal, Chamling had said he is planning to move the Supreme Court in this regard.

"I am in regular contact with the Union government on the issue and thinking of approaching the Supreme Court to settle the issue at the earliest," he told a meeting in Chisopani in South Sikkim district on Wednesday.

IMAGE: Members of Peoples Movement for Gorkhaland shout slogans during their Tri-Colour peace march from Rajghat to Jantar Mantar in demand for separate Gorkhanland, in New Delhi on Sunday. Photograph: Manvender Vashist/PTI Photo