Sikkim Democratic Front extends support to Gorkhaland demand

Darjeeling: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) activists protest during a bandh called by the outfit in Darjeeling on Saturday. (Source: PTI)

The Sikkim Democratic Front, the ruling party in this north-eastern state, today extended its support to the “democratic demand” for a separate Gorkhaland and expressed its opposition to the “illegal, undemocratic and unconstitutional” acts committed in Darjeeling.

A meeting of the SDF leadership here, without naming anyone, hoped that peace would return to the Darjeeling hills soon and demands of the Gorkha people would be fulfilled. The Sikkim Assembly had, on March 29, 2011, passed a resolution in favour of Gorkhaland.

The SDF appealed to the Centre, the West Bengal government, the people of Darjeeling and the political parties in the hills to ensure that National Highway 10 (Siliguri-to-Gangtok), about a 70-km stretch of which passes through the Darjeeling and Kalimpong sub-divisions, was left open as it was the “lifeline” of land-locked Sikkim.