NEW DELHI, Nov. 10, Reuter: Two people were killed in eastern India today when police and Gurkha separatists exchanged fire during a police search, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
PTI said the two victims were supporters of the Gurkhaland National Liberation Front (GNLF) which is fighting for a separate state in Darjeeling district in West Bengal state.
‘The clash occurred this morning in a Darjeeling town where a group of GNLF supporters fired on police searching for people involved in setting fire to 65 houses in the mountainous district recently, PTI said.
Dozens of people have died this year in clashes related to the GNLF campaign, centered in the Darjeeling area where Gurkhas make up 90 per cent of the one million residents.
But the Nepali speaking Gurkhas, who trace their origins to neighbouring Nepal, are a minority in West Bengal where most of the people speak Bengali.
The unrest has strained relations ‘between the Marxist government ‘of West Bengal state and the Indian government, ruled by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress (I) party.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 14, 1986
