Marathon for Gorkha identity

Prashant Acharya, EOIC, Siliguri, 21 August 2013: At a time when the Gorkhaland statehood agitation has resurged following the announcement of a new Telangana state, 15 Gorkha marathoners from the hills and plains today announced their decision to participate in the Airtel Hyderabad National Marathon in tribute to those who died during past statehood agitations.

Roshni Rai, the leader of the group, said, “We will run wearing T-shirts bearing the legend: ‘We are Gorkhas and proud to be Indian.’ We have also decided to pay tribute to those who have died in the Gorkhaland movement since 80s. We will be running on the streets of the future capital of Telengana and will prove that the Gorkhas are not only brave but intelligent too.”

Roshni is confident that her group will perform much better this year compared to the Mumbai marathon last year as her coach Daniel Vahl has provided training and tips to her team. She nurses an ambitious aim to represent the Gorkha community in the Olympic and create history.

The Airtel Hyderabad Marathon, one of the biggest sporting events in the country, will be held on August 25. The race will start from Necklace Road in Tank Bund, Secunderabad and end at Balayogi Stadium in Gachibowli, Hyderabad.

The group under the project ‘Run with Roshni’ is highlighting the identity crisis of the Gorkhas in the nation. 

The participants will include Roshni Rai from Pedong, Runesh Tamang from Kalimpong and Amar Subba from Gangtok for the full marathon comprising 42.19km. 

Meanwhile, the half marathon of 21.09km will see the participation of Samiksha Rai, Menuka Rai, Premika Rai, Dilip Subba, Binod Tamang, Ramesh Tamang, Vikram Thapa, Kamal Thapa, Ranjit Rai, Sanjay Chhetri and Nitesh Gahatraj.

(Source & Courtesy: http://echoofindia.com/siliguri-gorkha-youths-ready-hyderabad-marathon-36181)

BIRESWAR BANERJEE, TT,  Siliguri, Aug. 21: A team of 15 runners from the hills and Sikkim will participate in the Hyderabad Marathon on August 25 in a campaign for Gorkha identity. 

According to the team that reached here today from the hills, they would wear T-shirts with the slogan: “We are Gorkhas and Proud to be Indians. Jai Gorkhaland.” 

“We will participate in the marathon in Hyderabad. Participants from different parts of the country will be there and we feel it is an ideal platform for us to drive home our point that we Gorkhas are not citizens of Nepal but are Indians,” said Premika Rai from Kalimpong before leaving for Hyderabad. 

Runesh Tamang from Kalimpong and Amar Subba from West Sikkim will take part in the marathon while the others will participate in a half marathon, which is part of the same event. Tamang and Subba have participated in other marathons earlier which is why, they will run in the marathon. 

For others, this is the first event of such a huge scale and they would run in the half- marathon. The organisers are expecting around 6, 500 participants at the event. 

Amar Subba said: “Everywhere we Gorkhas go in our country we are being identified as Nepalese and addressed in a similar manner. The key reason for such participation is to tell people about us and to clear their preconceived notions of considering us as foreigners,” he said. 

The participants today assembled at the Kanchenjungha Stadium here before leaving for Hyderabad. Out of 15, 11 are from Kalimpong sub-division and one each from Kurseong and Sikkim and two from Darjeeling. 

The team includes four women participants. Except Amar Subba, all the participants are aged between 19-34 years. 

Subba is named in the Limca Book of World Records for a solo marathon across a stretch of 450km from Sikkim to Singalila National Park in Darjeeling hills which he covered in seven days in January 2011. 

The 43-year-old is a known runner in north Bengal and Sikkim. He is also participating in the event to attract youths to adventure sports.

(Source & Courtesy: 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130822/jsp/siliguri/story_17255921.jsp#.UhVq6tIweSo)