Sikkim: City wears deserted look following 12-hour bandh call by Joint Action Council over ‘Foreigner’ tag by SC

Large parts of the state of Sikkim wore a deserted look as the effect of 12-hour bandh call by the Joint Action Council over ‘foreigner’ row in a verdict by the Supreme Court came into force on February 8.

A 12 hours bandh called by the Joint Action Council kicked off on February 8, from 6 am to 6 pm. No untoward incident is being reported until the implementation of the bandh. JAC Vice President Passang Sherpa informed that the bandh is successful so far and has remained peaceful. 

The decision for the bandh call was made by the Joint Action Committee on February 7 after a series of meetings. 
It needs mention here, the members of the JAC and the President of Sikkim BJP recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and received assurance from the minister following that there was a dilemma whether to organize the Bandh or not but after a series of discussions JAC had decided to call for the bandh as all the preparation were made for the same. 
As per the JAC "the bandh is not against anyone, not against either of State and Central government just a solidarity bandh. Pradhan also appealed that volunteers and participants are requested not to indulge in any anti-social activity and to observe the bandh peacefully”.

Additionally, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has filed a review petition in Supreme Court. In a tweet, the Home Ministry says that GoI reiterated its position about the sanctity of Article 371F of the Constitution that safeguards the Sikkimese identity, which should not be diluted.

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