Gangtok, July 01: Security has been tightened and prohibitory orders were imposed in Geyzing, the west district headquarters of Sikkim, in view of tension between different communities over the installation of a statue of Nepali poet Bhanu Bhakta at Geyzing Bazar. The Geyzing Deputy Commissioner, Ravindra Talang, told a news agency over phone that adequate security forces had been deployed in the town to tackle the situation arising out of the tension between the dominant Nepali community and the indigenous Bhutia-Lepcha community over the issue. The tension has come up over the issue of ownership of the land. While the Nepalese claimed it was a government land, the Pemayangtse Monastery Authorities said it was theirs.


He, however, said that the Gorkha Apex Committee, which had earlier announced that the statue of the 19th century Nepali poet would be installed at Geyzing Bazar today, has now decided to hold a rally and a meeting at the Zilla Bhawan instead of going ahead with their earlier plan, following a government order to maintain status quo over the issue.

"But, we are not taking any chances as considerable tension has built up over the last fortnight between different communities in the area over the statue installation programme," the DC said.
In an apparent bid to diffuse tension, the state government on Saturday virtually snatched the initiative from the GAC announcing to erect the statue of the poet on its own.
Bureau Report