Andolankaries climb Communication tower, demand Gairsain as permanent capital of hills

The first day of the much awaited newly build Legislative Assembly’s budget session that started with the speech of the Governor of Uttarakhand Dr. KK Paul today turned out to be quite a hectic and acrimonious one as hundreds of Gairsain capital supportive movement activists who included large number of women, youths, journalists, social activists and volunteers of regional parties such as Uttarakhand Kranti Dall, Uttarakhand Parivartan Party, Gairsain Rajhani Nirman Sammittee, Uttarakhand Third Front, the left party activists and even Congressmen marched towards the Assembly secretariat raising anti establishment and anti Trivendra Singh Rawat slogans demanding Gairsain to be declared as the hill state’s permanent capital confronting hundreds of policemen and finally sqatting at the Vidhan Sabha bhawan premises. The protestors carried yellow flags and the flags of UKD in large numbers beating scorching sun and breaking police cardons one after another.

A group of protestors led by Naman Chandola climbed a high altitude communication tower at Gairsain raising anti government and anto CM slogans demanding immediate declaration of Gairsain as the permanent hill capital. The protestors have recorded and shot a video from the high rise tower and shared it on facebook raising Trivendra Singh Rawat murdabad slogans and pledging not to get down till their demand Gairsain capital is not met forthwith. People from all the districts of Uttarakhand including Dehradun, Almora, Haldwani, Rudraprayag, Pauri, Srinagar and Gairsain Bhararisain had started pouring in since morning and finally marched in unison to the secretariat raising pro Gairsain and anti chief minister slogans breaking the police cardons and barriers on the way. One of the MLAs from Jhabreda Haridwar came on the self driven motor cycle covering 350 kilometres to attend the session while the chief minister, ministers and all the MLAs from BJP and Congress came on their air conditioned luxury cars by road.

The movement for Gairsain capital has crossed 115th day and the hunger strikers are still undergoing fasts and dharna continuing since then. Sevetal hunger strikers had been forcibly lifted and taken to hospital when their physical condition deteriorated and were forcely fed. The way Gairsain movement is gaining tremendous momentum all over the state with newspapers and electronic channels higlighting the issue to the core the government od the day which was earlier completely deaf on the issue seems to have fianally come under extreme pressure and hsd to convene the assembly session twice at Gairsain including its current budget session. Political analysts say that the BJP government is in absolute majority at both the centre as well as in the state and can fulfill this demand outrightly if it wishes so.

An assembly secretariat haas already come up there with the expenditure of over several hundred crores and the entire population and political parties are in favour of the new state capital, then what’s the hitch? It is high time that this demand needs to be met forthwith, failing which it will be a waterloo for the ruling BJP? What do you say friends?
SUNIL NEGI