Continuing to build up pressure with the state government apparently dithering on the emotive issue of the state capital being shifted from the plains to the hills, the activists who are now on the stir spree, demanding declaration of Gairsain as the permanent capital of Uttarakhand, have warned that they would resume their hunger strike if the State Government fails to declare Gairsain as the State capital before the monsoon session of the State Assembly.
The hunger strike by three activists dragging for nine days had been suspended on Friday evening after the state education minister Arvind Pandey met them at the government Doon Medical College Hospital and assured them that the state government is moving forward in the direction of declaring Gairsain as the state capital. One of three who had sat on the hunger strike Praveen Singh said on Saturday that though they have suspended their fast unto death on the minister’s assurance they would resume it if Gairsain is not declared the permanent capital of the state before the monsoon session of the Assembly. “We would not sit idle if the ruling and the opposition parties continue to procrastinate on the matter which fired the statehood agitation,” he said.
Meanwhile in Dehradun, a discussion on making Gairsain as the permanent state capital was held at Hindi Bhawan on Saturday. The speakers said that Gairsain symbolises the aspiration of the people of Uttarakhand while affirming that shifting the capital there would go a long way in solving the problems of migration from the hills that resulted from the unemployment problem haunting the youth of the hills.
They were of the firm view that a full- blown public movement should be started to step up pressure on the vacillating government on the lines the statehood movement was organised.
Many intellectuals, activists, retired government officers and members of political parties attended the deliberations and averred that there was no alternative to shifting the capital to bring about the real development of the highlanders.