Some of the more notable proto-statehood movements arose as self-governance moments against the monarchy (as in Tehri) or as part of the wider Indian Freedom Struggle against the British Raj.
Some of the first demands of statehood in pre-Independent India arose from alleged administrative neglect as part of the larger United Province, due to the impaired accessibility of the region.
The activists, part of the agitation for the separate state of Uttarakhand, were going to Delhi to stage a dharna, a sit-in protest at Raj Ghat on Gandhi Jayanti.
[3] The protest was at its peak in Nainital too, but due to its leadership being in the hands of intellectuals, the police could not do anything, but they took out their anger on Pratap Singh, who worked in Hotel Pacific.
Activists started fast unto death on 7 November 1994, at Sriyantra Tapu situated near Srinagar, against these repressive actions and for the demand for the formation of a new state Uttarakhand.
The chairman of the ex-serviceman group (Virendra Prasad Kukshal) heard about the incident he began fast unto death for 7 days, and due to this Government agencies started the search and recovered the bodies.
Joshi, a minister of the Communist Party, demanded from the Indian government the establishment of a separate state based on geographical and cultural differences.
This plea brought forth a discussion on statehood while also taking into account the Karachi session (1931), wherein Jawahar Lal Nehru had also given his consent to a state separation.
In 1994, Badoni began a fast unto death in Pauri to demand a separate Uttarakhand state and was subsequently put in Muzaffarnagar jail.