Siliguri, Nov 13 (IANS) Hundreds of Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) activists Thursday foiled the West Bengal government's attempt to remove pro-Gorkhaland wall graffiti in Darjeeling, the police said.
'A large contingent of police went to Pradhan Nagar area of Darjeeling district to deface the GJM signs on the railings. But they had to retract following the protests by the GJM supporters,' said D.T Lepcha, West Bengal deputy inspector general of police (Darjeeling Range).
The police said that Darjeeling district deputy magistrate S. Pradhan, accompanied by the police force, tried to wipe out the signs from the walls. The GJM activists, however, warned them to stop.
'We will not allow them to wipe out the signs,' said Madhusudan Thapa, unit secretary of GJM's Terai and Dooars region.
Later, the deputy magistrate left the place without completing the removal task.
The GJM, led by its president Bimal Gurung, has been spearheading a movement in the hills demanding a separate state and also opposing the Sixth Schedule status for Darjeeling.
The central government in 2005 announced the Sixth Schedule status to the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF)-led Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), thereby ensuring greater autonomy to the governing body.
Meanwhile, the Gorkha Janmukti Vidyarthi Morcha, the students' arm of GJM, also called a 48-hour students' strike demanding to fix the date for the second round of tripartite meeting with the central government, the state government and the GJM.
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