NEW DELHI, Feb. 15 (APP): Gorkha ex-servicemen, numbering over 50, 000, have demanded Gorkhaland in Darjeeling hills as they are suffering from an identity crisis.
They have threatened to return their medals to the Indian government if their demand was not met within a “reasonable timeâ€. They have also decided to stage demonstration in front of Parliament House in the national capital during the forthcoming session of the parliament.
Col. (retd) Ale, a spokesman for the ex-servicemen, said 50,000 Gorkha members of Bharatiya Gorkha Bhutapurba Sainik Morcha (BGBSM), an organization representing them in India, want their separate state. About 30,000 of them resided in the Darjeeling hills, media reports quoting him said.
The Gorkha ex-servicemen belong to the Army, Air Force, Border Security Force and para-military forces.
The spokesman said Gorkhas had been living in the Darjeeling Hills since 17th century. They spoke a different language and their area had a different topography which demanded of a separate statehood, he added.