India's ethnic Nepalese step up demand for separate state

Activists of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), a regional organisation spearheading the demand for a separate state, stepped up their protest for 'Gorkhaland' for ethnic Nepalese on Saturday and went on a hunger strike in Siliguri town, in India's West Bengal.They were joined by many non-Nepalese who also demanded a separate Gorkhaland state.Protesters demanded the announcement of a new round of tripartite talks, as guaranteed by federal and provincial government officials at an earlier tripartite meeting in Darjeeling town in India's West Bengal state on December 21.Gorkhas have been demanding a separate state, to be carved out West Bengal, to help them protect their culture and heritage. The demand for Gokhaland gained momentum after New Delhi announced earlier this month that it would carve out the new state of Telangana out of the present state of Andhra Pradesh in south India. At least 1,200 people died in the first Gorkhaland campaign in the 1980s, but protests ended a few years later after Gorkha leaders accepted limited autonomy. The Gorkha population in West Bengal is around one million out of over 80 million.