Sikkim CM talks with Indian Express.

New Delhi

Frustrated at frequent blockades of NH-31A — the only road connecting Sikkim to the rest of India — by protestors seeking a separate Gorkhaland, Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling said on Friday that he often feels like a “hostage” in his own country and appealed to the Centre to “establish governance” in the region.



Chamling, one of the longest-serving chief ministers in the country, said repeated blockade of the road was hurting state’s economy and warned that the resulting discontent in the local population could be exploited by miscreants to disturb peace in the sensitive state.



“We feel trapped. A bunch of students and youngsters, who probably have no idea about the Gorkhaland issue, are able to isolate us from the rest of the country whenever they please. People in Sikkim are completely at the mercy of these so-called agitators. I feel like a hostage,” Chamling said in an interview with The Indian Express.


National Highway 31A is Sikkim’s only link to the rest of the country. The nearest rail and air links both lie in West Bengal, each more than 100 km away from the state capital Gangtok.



Agitators demanding a separate Gorkhaland state out of the hill districts of West Bengal have often resorted to disrupting traffic on NH-31A, which passes through that area, to put pressure on the Central and state governments to concede their demands. The Centre has, in the past, expressed its helplessness in dealing with this growing tendency to disrupt road and rail networks by agitating mobs in different parts of the country.




With the situation becoming desperate, Chamling met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier this week and urged him to resolve the issue quickly, by using force if necessary. “The Centre will have to ensure that there is proper governance in the Gorkhaland area. If nothing else works, the National Highway needs to be kept open by force. I don’t want geography to become a curse for my state,” he said.



The CM, who is in his fourth term in office, said a sense of frustration and alienation was slowly creeping into the local population because of the repeated blockades.



“For more than 15 years, I have worked extremely hard for the emotional integration of Sikkimese people with India. Now, such blockades are leading to a lot of resentment as people’s livelihoods are getting affected. This season there was a huge reduction in tourist inflow in the state because of the uncertainty over road communication" he said.

Source:Indian express.com