Thousands march for reopening of Stillwell Road

Ledo, Sep 15 (UNI) The forgotten Stillwell road may spring back to life in land-locked North East as thousands today marched in the remote Ledo area demanding its reopening.

The march was led by the All Asom Students Union (AASU). The marchers demanded that the road, which links India with China through the mountainous Myanmar, be reopened.

''It is lying unutilised for the past six decades. This can be the window to the east for the North Eastern region and change the economy of the whole area,'' said AASU advisor Dr Samujjal kr Bhattacharrya, leading the huge procession.

''But there is no sign of reopening of the road mainly due to insurgency. Successive Chief Ministers and Union Ministers from the region have been seeking Presidential intervention, but the Commerce and External Affairs Ministry is unmoved. That only shows how much they are bothered about the region,'' said Dr Bahttacarrya.

The AASU argues that if India and Pakistan could have bus and train services why could the existing Stillwell road not be ropened. However, the ground reality says that between India and China lies 252 km of unadministered territory which is the headquarters of a dozen guerrilla groups operating in India and Myanmar as well as Kachin.

Technically from Ledo in Asom, the Stillwell road stretches to Kunming, the capital of Yunan province in China. It was functional till 1952 as it was built during the World War, it but later Beijing-Delhi relations soured which led to its clousurs.

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