Gorkhas to resume indefinite strike today

Looking no progress being made in meeting their demand of separate Gorkhaland state, the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) has decided to resume indefinite shutdown in the Darjeeling Hills from Monday evening.

The indefinite strike will commence in three Hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong, while the Siliguri, Dooars and Terai will be kept at a distance from the purview of the shutdown.

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But, the GJM will begin here a relay hunger strike for an indefinite period.

“The administration has failed to take any action against the perpetrators. Our central committee has decided to go ahead with an indefinite strike from Monday to press for statehood," party general-secretary Roshan Giri said. The shutdown will come into force from 6 pm on Monday.

We are mere activists demanding for our just right of separate state. We do not want to hamper the education of our students, so all schools and colleges will be exempted from the bandh. Besides, tea gardens and cinchona plantations will function normally and will be kept outside the purview of the bandh, Giri added.

But the strike will be struck in true nature and so all transportation would be closed. Not a single vehicle would be allowed to pass through the national highway, NH 31A, which is Sikkim's lifeline to put pressure on the Centre.

As was expected the shutdown will be resumed from Monday evening after providing a relaxation in the bandh from Wednesday, which was to be resumed on Saturday, but the GJM had decided to give more time to government to act on its ultimatum to put the leaders of anti-Gorkhaland organisations under bar, comprising state and urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya.

“The CPI-M government is shielding the persons who actually incited violence. Since it is unable to take appropriate measures, we are going ahead with an indefinite strike,” Giri said.

At first it was Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the Chief Minister of Bengal, who had shown his strict dislike against the GJM's demand of separate Gorkhaland, and later on Saturday the GJM suffered another blow by Pranab Mukherjee, the External Affairs Minister who ruled out any possibility of splitting Bengal for the second time to create a separate Gorkhaland. This was another reason for the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha to resume indefinite strike.

The West Bengal government had rejected demand of a separate Gorkhaland, but invited the GJM for talks on June 18, which the GJM rebuffed. Instead the GJM demanded for a tripartite meeting attended by West Bengal government, Centre and the GJM itself. The Centre on Saturday nodded for participating in the meeting, but rejected to accept any pre-condition of GJM regarding separate Gorkhaland.

The GJM has been organising protests over the past few months in the Darjeeling Hills demanding for a separate Gorkhaland state. The GJM had commenced an indefinite strike in the Darjeeling Hills on June 9 but withdrew it for 60 hours from Wednesday so that tourists could leave for their homes. The fresh strike could further affect the food and goods supplying to the state.