GANGTOK, Aug 12: The ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) while claiming that the innocent Lepchas were being misled by the Opposition parties for political gains has assured members of the Affected Citizens of Teesta of constituting a committee to review the upcoming hydroelectric power projects in question and address their genuine concerns.The SDF has also been issuing statements in defence of the projects claiming that they would neither harm the environment nor the Lepcha culture through influx of labourers from outside the state as feared by the strikers. The strikers, however, are far from convinced. Though welcoming the state government's decision to set up a review committee, they insist on a notification in this regard and that majority of the committee members should be locals. The committee should be headed by a person without any political affiliations who could be expected to carry out the task in a neutral manner, they say.
With the state government yet to notify the constitution of a review committee for the proposed hydel power projects at Dzongu, one does not have a clue as to how long the hunger strike would continue. It may be recalled that the Congress activists demonstrated outside its office here last Saturday, burning effigy of the Governor, Mr V Rama Rao for the latter's apparent inaction in resolving the issue. The public demonstration against the constitutional office of the governor evoked sharp reaction from the administration, resulting in the arrest of four Congress workers.State Congress president and former chief minister Mr Nar Bahadur Bhandari later described their arrest as illegal. Pointing out that peaceful demonstrations and effigy burning were accepted modes of democratic protest, he demanded immediate release of his party colleagues. As it did not happen, 21 Congress workers led by their vice president Mr T Gyatso courted arrest here. The CPI-M which has long been trying to gain a foothold in the state organised a seminar here to mark the party's 30 years in office in the neighbouring West Bengal. West Bengal urban development minister Mr Asok Bhattacharya accused the state government of shying away from the issue instead of finding a solution.
With the state government yet to notify the constitution of a review committee for the proposed hydel power projects at Dzongu, one does not have a clue as to how long the hunger strike would continue. It may be recalled that the Congress activists demonstrated outside its office here last Saturday, burning effigy of the Governor, Mr V Rama Rao for the latter's apparent inaction in resolving the issue. The public demonstration against the constitutional office of the governor evoked sharp reaction from the administration, resulting in the arrest of four Congress workers.State Congress president and former chief minister Mr Nar Bahadur Bhandari later described their arrest as illegal. Pointing out that peaceful demonstrations and effigy burning were accepted modes of democratic protest, he demanded immediate release of his party colleagues. As it did not happen, 21 Congress workers led by their vice president Mr T Gyatso courted arrest here. The CPI-M which has long been trying to gain a foothold in the state organised a seminar here to mark the party's 30 years in office in the neighbouring West Bengal. West Bengal urban development minister Mr Asok Bhattacharya accused the state government of shying away from the issue instead of finding a solution. 