Sushmita Subba and her familyare finally back home

DICHEN ONGMU

The family had been denied entry into the State earlier in June owing to Covid entry restrictions amid lockdown and lack of documentary proof to establish their permanent address. They had been staying in the house of one Pirey Rai as guests on the West Bengal side of Rangpo border waiting for the nod for entry.
Despite several appeals and applications to the authority, Sushmitaand her family were not allowed to enter Sikkim due to lack of essential documents like COI and voter card.
With support of Limboo Tamang Voluntary Committee (LTVC), Sushmita then made a plea to the High Court of Sikkim through a letter requesting that she and her family is allowed entry to Sikkim.
Sushmita, 20 years old,could not ascertain on what grounds her family was allowed entryfinally but her happiness was evident as she reached home on Wednesday.
“I am extremely delighted to be back at home after such a long struggle. Never had I imagined that someone needs to make several appeals only to come back home. It was indeed a painful journey for us but also a lesson. My aim for now is to solely work on maintaining my documents as I have realised its importance,” Sushmita told SIKKIM EXPRESS.
She further recalled how her appeals and applications went unheeded making her and her stranded family go through mental trauma at some point of time.
“The way the concerned officials were ignoring my pleas troubled me but I did not lose hope and kept trying for me and my family,” she added.
Sushmita expressed her gratitude to Chief Minister P.S. Golay for acting upon her plea made through media. She further thanked theChief Justice, High Court of Sikkim, for accepting her plea. She also thanked Pirey Rai, LTVC, Limboo associations, individuals and public who supported her throughout.
Talking about her present scenario at home, “The condition of our home is bad at present. We don’t have essentials to feed ourselves. Nevertheless we will cope with this situation too abiding by the Covid protocol,” she expressed.
Sushmita and her family are undergoing home quarantine as per State Covid protocol followed by sample tests later.
Earlier in March, Sushmita and her family had gone to Nepal for personal reasons and when they returned in June, they weren’t allowed to enter Sikkim due to documents issue as per the State protocol then.