People’s Democracy, August 22, 2004
A WAVE of spontaneous actions, bandhs, rasta roko, chakka jam followed the death of Baba Mohan Uttarakhandi while in the custody of the government, he had been picked up from Beni-Tal Udiyar where the legendary Baba had gone on a fast unto death demanding from the government a settlement of issues which are and have been dear to the Uttarakhandis. The issues were:
- Naming of the state as Uttarakhand
- Declaring Gair Sen as the capital of the state
- Special provision for the protection of Uttarakhandi resources like land, forests, water etc if need be under section 371 of the constitution
- Develop Beni Tal as a tourist area as envisioned by comrade Chandra Singh Garhwali
- Transferring those employees to UP who had opted for UP at the time of division of the state and creation of a new state, thus opening up the possibility of employment for Uttarakhandi youth. [more]
