In our more than three years in India, we have taken many
opportunities to travel up into the mountains both to escape from the heat as
well as to unwind from the stress of life.
Well, our favorite place for retreat has been shut down for more than
forty days, with no apparent end in sight.
I’m not very well educated about what all is going on in
the mountains and why, since we live several hours away and the unrest does not
directly affect us. But, I did want to
share this with you as a point of concern as well as a petition for prayer...prayer for peace and the
well-being of the innocent.
The gist of the matter is that the leaders in the various
hill stations want to make their own state called Gorkhaland rather than being a part of our state, West Bengal. They have been petitioning for this for many decades and have even called strikes like the current one, in years past. The previous significant strike took place about
four years ago and lasted about thirty days.
A strike means that all the hill stations are closed down… 1) no tourism,
which is the main industry…2) no shops are allowed to be open, which means food
and water are scarce…3) all schools are closed, which includes many boarding
schools and colleges…4) no transportation of food, goods or people up and down
the mountains, which means that people are stuck in a difficult and dangerous
situation…5) mass demonstrations, both peaceful and violent…and ultimately it
means that countless innocent lives suffer.
Over the last month and a half, more than 9 people have
been killed in fires and other acts of violence in the mountains. Protestors have set fire to train stations,
police shacks, buses, and other government structures and vehicles. If shop owners try to open their businesses during the strike, this could mean, at the least that their shops would be destroyed and at worst they could lose their lives. We have been told that some farmers are
daring to open their food stands between the hours of 1 am and 5 am in an effort to get food to the locals.
Like I said, we do not feel that we ourselves are in
harms-way. But in the event that we did,
we would not hesitate to vacate the area.
We simply bring this to your attention so that you can join us in crying
out in prayer for a peaceful resolution and also for the safety and protection
of the innocent.
