Nepali Indians-Gorkhas-Want Their Own State Under the Union of India
By Swaroop Chetry
A routine day in Darjeeling begins with cabbies waiting for tourist to clamber on to their seats and rush to Tiger Hill to see the majestic Kanchanjunga change colour as the Sun rises from the far horizon, but nothing of this is quite happening now, the tourist numbers are thin and the people who are otherwise dependent on tourism are suddenly at loss, when I ask one of the taxi driver, he lamented things will all change for good once the State of Gorkhaland is created. This is the mood in the Darjeeling, people here seem to understand that this may be long drawn struggle and are ready to sacrifice and sustain. As the day progressed, the market starts to buzz with people buying essential commodities as nothing remains certain as when the next shutdown is imposed, evenings in Chuarasta is seemingly dull, interestingly there seems little of Government machinery functional, offices are either shut or the employ do not return to work voluntarily, only the traffic points are manned by unarmed police personnel obscure by the fact that many vehicle plying on the street bear Gorkhaland- registration. Continue reading
