Protest over burial ground

RAJEEV RAVIDAS, TT, 24 Nov 2019, Gangtok: Members of the Muslim community at Namchi in South Sikkim held a protest on Saturday against an alleged attempt by the administration to convert their burial ground into a truck stand.

The protesters, mostly small traders, took out a rally in the town and downed the shutters of their shops.

A delegation of the community later met South Sikkim district collector Ragul K. and demanded that their burial ground be left as it had been since they started using the place from the time Sikkim was a separate kingdom before its merger with India in 1975.

"Our representatives met the DC. It was agreed that there would be another meeting on November 28 with the district collector, four or five members of the Muslim com- munity, and representatives of the forest department and police," a member of the delegation told reporters.

Ragul confirmed that a delegation had met him and he had called them for another round of talks next week. But he refused to spell out what their grievance was.

"It is a general grievance that they had, and we are trying to solve that matter," he told The Telegraph over the phone from Namchi.

The community members said they would take recourse to every available legitimate means to secure the burial ground near an abattoir at 12 Mile on the Namchi-Jorethang Road.

"If the matter is settled amicably there (at the next meeting with the DC), then it is fine. If that does not happen, the Muslim community will approach the court," a member told the media..