An American takes photographs of the Morcha rally in Siliguri on Wednesday. Three media studies students from the US, who are currently in India on an exchange programme with Hyderabad University, had come to Darjeeling on a holiday. When they heard about the rally, they decided to come down to the plains and take a look. They will incorporate the photographs of the meeting in a 50-page photo essay on various aspects of India. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Siliguri, May 7: A sense of achievement was clearly written on the face of Nirmaya Gurung of Tindharia who has been in many Gorkha Janmukti Morcha rallies in the recent past.

“Every time we came down, they would turn us away for no rhyme or reason,” the 38-year-old Morcha supporter said, munching a cucumber at Indira Gandhi Maidan. “I felt bad when the administration did not even allow a non-violent mode of protest to be held in Siliguri.”

The district administration’s repeated rejection of the Morcha’s appeal for permission to hold public meetings in Siliguri was fresh in the minds of the supporters, who were determined to make a success of today’s rally.

Jayantika Sharma of Kurseong usually avoids public rallies and meetings. “But this time it was in Siliguri, where we were not allowed to enter for so long and I had to come to drive home the point that we are not going to take things lying down,” she said.

The Morcha had decided that at least one family member should come from every house in the hills. Sharma left behind her three-year-old son in the care of her husband, a government servant, who had taken a casual leave today.

“Me and my neighbours cooked food at home before leaving and ate it on our way down,” said Sharma, a homemaker in her 20s. Others had brought with them “chirua” (flattened rice) and other kinds of dry food.

There was a row of about 50 stalls in one corner of the ground that sold water, soft drinks, samosas, wafers and rice, lending quite a festive air to the meet. “We have been cooking since 5am,” Binay Biswakarma, a Morcha supporter from Siliguri, said. Binay sold vegetarian meals at Rs 20 per plate and non-vegetarian ones (with chicken) for Rs 40.

Harinarayan Yadav, a coconut-seller, said he had never seen such a crowd. “I had brought 500 green coconuts with me, which I sold before the meeting even started,” he said. And at Rs 15 each, his green-coconuts were overpriced as well.