Netaji's grandnephew demands respect for Gorkhas

Kolkata, June 14: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose has demanded respect for the Gorkha community amid the ongoing agitation by the GJM in the north Bengal hills pressing for a separate state of Gorkhaland.

"You have to win over the Gorkhas by giving them respect & identity-& not by the stick. #Gorkhas are warriors who fought for India's freedom," the BJP leader tweeted on Wednesday.

"Give #Gorkhas respect! Capt.Ram Singh Thakure a Gorkha of the INA composed #KadamKadamBadayeja. #Netaji gave them respect. @BimalGjm," he said.

The West Bengal hills have been on the boil for nearly a week after the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) launched an agitation against what it called the state government's "attempt" to impose Bengali on the Nepali-speaking people of the region.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has, however, made it clear there are no such plans for the hills.