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The Uttarakhand Solidarity Network (USN), is at once an electronic network of individuals, a working committee, and a group of web sites dedicated to political, economic, environmental, cultural and social justice issues in the Uttarakhand state of India.
Uttarakhand, formerly known as Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devabhumi" due to numerous Hindu temples and pilgrimage centres found throughout the state. Uttarakhand is known for the natural environment of the Himalayas, the Bhabhar and the Terai. On 9 November 2000, Uttarakhand became the 27th state of the Republic of India, being carved from the Himalayan districts of Uttar Pradesh. It borders Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north; the Sudurpashchim Pradesh of Nepal to the east; the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh to the south and Himachal Pradesh to the west and north-west. The state is divided into two divisions, Garhwal and Kumaon, with a total of 13 districts. The capital of Uttarakhand is Dehradun, the largest city of the state, which is a railhead. The High Court of the state is located in Nainital.
India is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
The USN traces its foundation to an address on 26 March 1995 by Indian actor Victor Banerjee to the Public Forum on Minority Rights in Toronto, Canada. His speech, entitled, "Uttarakhand: A People Denied" led the People's Front/East Indian Defence Committee to pass a resolution in support of the demand for a separate Uttarakhand state within India. A pamphlet and a petition to this effect was published and circulated.
Victor Banerjee is an Indian actor who appears in English, Hindi, Bengali and Assamese language films. He has worked for directors including Roman Polanski, James Ivory, Sir David Lean, Jerry London, Ronald Neame, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Shyam Benegal, Montazur Rahman Akbar and Ram Gopal Varma.
This act of solidarity with the Uttarakhand separate state movement led to the establishment of the Uttarakhand Support Committee (USC), the only organization outside of India that would lend direct support to the Uttarakhand statehood movement until it achieved its principal goal with the formation of Uttarakhand in 2000.
Uttarakhand movement is termed to the events of statehood activism within the state Uttar Pradesh which ultimately resulted in a separate state Uttarakhand of the Republic of India. Uttarakhand became a separate state off Uttar Pradesh at 9 November 2000. It is notable that the formation of Uttarakhand was achieved with a very long struggle and heavy sacrifices. The first demand of Uttarakhand arose in 1897 and there had gradually been rising demand for a separate state several times. In 1994, the demand for statehood eventually took the form of mass movement that resulted in the forming of the country's 27th state by 2000.
In 1997, the USC was reestablished in Boston, Massachusetts after a period of inactivity. The first web site covering the Uttarakhand region was launched and its new members began raising the Uttarakhand separate state issue in various South Asian human rights fora. The following three years would witness a number of other firsts, including the 1998 launch of the Prayaga electronic newsletter and the 1999 foundation of the Uttarakhand Solidarity Network e-group. These efforts would be replicated by other individuals and groups in subsequent years. The committee would also play an active role in Uttarakhandi expatriate associations in Canada and the USA, organizing the first seminar of the Uttaranchal Association of North America Convention in 2001.
With the formation of Uttarakhand in 2000, the USC began increasingly focusing on maintaining and building its web presence and taking the name of its e-group. However, the USN itself would be officially relaunched in 2004 to support ongoing social movements in the region including struggles over land, water, and forest rights and outstanding demands of the separate state movement such as relocation of the capital to Gairsain.
Gairsain[ɡɛːrˈsɛːɳ] is a town and Nagar Panchayat in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. Gairsain is situated at the eastern edge of vast Dudhatoli range, almost at the centre of Uttarakhand, India, at a distance of approximately 250 kilometres from Dehradun. It is easily accessible from both Garhwal and Kumaon, and in a way, acts as the bridge between the two regions. It is being considered as the future capital of Uttarakhand.
