Political analysts termed Tuesday’s protest as one of the largest agitations on the Gairsain issue since Uttar... Read More

DEHRADUN: The issue of Gairsain as the state capital took centrestage on Tuesday with political parties locking horns over the matter in the House while the streets outside resonated with cries of Gairsain as the capital.

Hundreds of protesters, including members of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), marched towards the assembly building at Bhararisain in Chamoli district holding flags and chanting slogans in support of their demand. Police had to use water cannons to disperse protesters when several of them climbed watch towers and broke through barricades.

Protestors took out rallies on routes leading to Bhararisain such as Jungle Chatti, Diwalikhal and Mehelchauri. At Diwalikhal, 12 km from Gairsain, protesters, including women, broke police barricading to walk towards the assembly building. Some walked through dense forests to evade police and reach Bhararisain.

Political analysts termed Tuesday’s protest as one of the largest agitations on the Gairsain issue since Uttarakhand’s formation 17 years ago.

UKD leader Trivendra Panwar said that Tuesday’s protest was just the beginning of another revolution and reflected people’s anger.

“Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh years ago but the people of the hills have remained ignored. While the plains were developed, no attention was given to the hills and as a result large scale migration has been witnessed in the past few years.”

A protester, Praveen Singh, said, “The state government is paying no heed to the emotions of people but the large turnout on Tuesday indicates that people will not stay silent until a decision is taken. This is not a picnic spot for MLAs.”

The assembly session in December had also seen protests and hunger strike on the issue but nothing of this scale, said a government official.