The Gorkha Janmukti Vidyarthi Morcha rally for Anna

 Morcha student rally for Anna
Darjeeling, Aug. 18: The Gorkha Janmukti Vidyarthi Morcha that had forced the Darjeeling Civil Society to cancel a rally in support of Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption drive two weeks back has now decided to organise a procession tomorrow to support the cause.
Amrit Yonzone, the vice-president of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s student wing, said: “We have decided to hold a rally with the students of Darjeeling from Chowrastha tomorrow. We have asked the participants to assemble at the venue around 11am.”
He added that from Chowrastha the rally would go to the district magistrate’s office where a memorandum would be submitted.
On August 6, the Darjeeling Civil Society had to cancel its rally in support of Anna Hazare after the Vidyarthi Morcha protested the involvement of students without its permission.
“It is a well know fact that the Gorkha Janmukti Vidyarthi Morcha is the most active student organisation in the hills and we have continuously held programmes with students in the past. We fully support the fight against corruption but when students are involved, they (the civil society) should have discussed or at least informed us about the rally,” Yonzone had said.
He had also said if any “untoward incident” had occurred during the rally, the people would have blamed the Vidyarthi Morcha because they were the “sole representatives of the students in the hills”. Yonzone said that was why, the civil society members were requested to not go ahead with the programme.
Asked if the Vidyarthi Morcha would invite the Darjeeling Civil Society members to take part in the rally tomorrow, Yonzone said: “Everyone is welcome to join and we are thinking of inviting the members of the civil society.”
The civil society members had said that it was an apolitical organisation and the only reason behind taking out the rally was to educate the people about Hazare’s campaign about the provisions in the Lok Pal bill.
B.K. Pradhan, the president of Darjeeling Civil Society, said: “I heard about the rally today and we might think of attending it tomorrow. For us, the cause is more important.”
Nima Sherpa, the media and publicity secretary of the Vidyarthi Morcha, said students of all schools and colleges in Darjeeling had been asked to take part in the rally and they expected that a large number of people would show their support.
-VIVEK CHHETRI(TT)