Rafters on a swollen Teesta at Triveni near Kalimpong. File picture

Cooch Behar, June 23: Armed with a petition signed by a thousand school children of Cooch Behar district, Roop-Katha, a theatre group here, is reaching Darjeeling tomorrow to urge the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha not to divide Bengal.

“We do not know what the political issues are, but no one should be stopped from visiting beautiful Darjeeling. We and other children enjoy a lot when we visit the hills with our parents,” wrote Sammilita, a Class VIII student of Suniti Academy, here.

A petition addressed to Morcha president Bimal Gurung, general secretary Roshan Giri and publicity secretary Binay Tamang read: “Uncle, amra Darjeeling berate jete chai,” (we want to visit Darjeeling.)

A nine-member team, led by the Roop-Katha director, Uttiya De, is scheduled to meet the Morcha leaders.

“We want to send a message that the people in the hills and the plains are not divided. We are all Indians,” De said. It was unfortunate that incidents in the hills and the subsequent troubles in Siliguri on June 8 and have created a divide between the two communities in the region. “That is why we need to carry the message of peace.”

De said even after 60 years of Independence, the country was divided and this was not good for India. “We do not want our children to grow up with divisive attitudes which are being reflected by the events in the Darjeeling hills.”

Roop-Katha had contacted the Morcha leaders to apprise them about their visit tomorrow. “Gurung has asked us to come and meet him and said there is no barrier for cultural unity. We shall see how does he respond to our appeal,” De said.

Arjun Chakrabarty, who teaches thespian skills to children, said Roop-Katha had also taken children’s troupes to perform plays in the hills.

“We have been noticing that Darjeeling has been cut off from the rest of the state which has affected the children we work with. That is why we felt the need to do something to reassure them,” Chakrabarty said.