Chandigarh, September 2: Uttarakhand Journalist Association, Chandigarh, today paid rich tributes to the martyrs on the anniversary of Mussoorie firing incident. On September 2, protestors laid down their lives during the movement for the creation of a separate Uttarakhand state in 1994.
Association members said that still lot needs to be done in Uttarakhand as migration from hills and unemployment is still a major problem in state. Members said that Uttarakhand government and residents should ensure that sacrifice of the martyrs not gone in vain.
Six persons namely late Balbir Singh Negi (22), Belmati Chauhan (48), Dhanpat Singh, Hansa Dhanai (45), Madan Mohan Mamgain, Rai Singh Bangari (54), were killed during the indiscriminate police firing which also led to death of Deputy Superintendent of Police Umakant Tripathi, 21 years back on 1994.
These events changed the course of the movement as the agitation turned into a mass movement forcing the successive governments and political parties to agree for a separate hill state and the statehood dream was fulfilled on November 9, 2000.