Several cultural organisations organised
a rally in Siliguri today condemning the assault on a particular
ethnic community by some political activists on 2 May. The
rally also slammed the district administration for being dictated
by the ruling party. A number of academicians hailing from
the north Bengal participated in the rally that terminated
at the Siliguri court premises after marching through various
lanes in the town.
Mr Bani Prasanna Mishra, a retired director, Centre for Himalayan
Studies, North Bengal University, said that a solution to
the vexed Darjeeling Hill crisis would continue to elude so
long as the administration remained partisan in dealing with
a democratic movement. “A political problem must be
solved by political means principally through dialogue based
on restraint and understanding. Hooliganism has no role in
a democratic system of polity,” Mr Misra said. Prof
Ajit Roy of North Bengal University also castigated the administration
for having remained mute spectators while some political activists
had gone berserk in tyrannising over innocent people belonging
to a particular ethnic community on 2 May.
Mr Mishra alleged that the ruling party with the connivance
of a pliant administration was actively instigating communal
discord. “The approach as clearly manifested on 2 May
would further dim the prospect of an amicable solution to
the Hill problem. Innocent families belonging to a particular
community were subjected to humiliation by a group of goons
owing allegiance to a political party. This is unacceptable
to the peace loving people of the region,” the noted
academician affirmed.