Separatist protests halt Darjeeling tea production in India
NEW DELHI. July 14. KAZINFORM Production of the world-famous Darjeeling tea in northeast India has been brought to a standstill by a strike led by an ethnic Nepali separatist group, national media said, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.
The strike, organized by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, began on Monday. Activists are demanding their own federal "Gorkhaland" state and the removal of senior police officers guilty of "oppressing" the Nepali-speaking Gorkha community living in the Darjeeling hills in the West Bengal state.
The government has dismissed the demands as 'illogical,' the Hindu daily said.
The director of a local tea council told RIA Novosti that the strike could have a negative impact on the quality of tea production, Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru for full version.