Violence returns to bandh-hit Darjeeling

After alleged 'miscreants' burnt the house of the chairman of the Khas Development Board of the GTA

After a brief lull last week, violence returned to Darjeeling after alleged “miscreants” burnt the house of the chairman of the Khas Development Board of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) followed by the symbolic burning of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s (GJM) copy of the GTA agreement. The party’s leaders said the burning of the agreement symbolises their ardent stand to settle for “nothing less than full-fledged statehood”.

On Tuesday afternoon, GJM leaders, backed by hundreds of agitators, gathered at the centralised Chowk Bazar area in Darjeeling and burnt copies of the GTA accord, which the Centre and the West Bengal government signed with representatives of the Gorkha community, guaranteeing limited autonomy in the region.

A GJM leader, who recently resigned from the GTA, alleged that while executive powers were given to the GTA, the semi-autonomous body had remained dependent on the state government for funds which allegedly were “insufficient and didn’t came on time”. 

“Besides, the Bill which resulted in the creation of the GTA highlights the socio-economic and linguistic development of the hills but is silent over the Gorkha ethnicity”, a senior GJM leader said.

On June 20, at an all-Gorkha party meeting, the major political parties resolved to unite under a single committee to push for the Gorkhaland demand and decided to pull out of the GTA to firm its stance. Following the meeting, peace seemed to have returned to the hills as no major untoward incident took place in the area, which has been facing a total shutdown for the past 13 days.

However, on Monday, alleged GJM supporters burnt the house of a GTA Board chairman in Kalimpong, near Darjeeling.  The GJM has rejected its involvement in the incident and blamed “miscreants” behind the incident.

“Is there any proof that the GJM was behind it?” a GJM leader questioned.

Following the death of three GJM supporters and an IRB officer suffering a near fatal attack, security forces in the area have questioned GJM’s role behind the attacks. The police, in a recent move, had issued arrest warrants against GJM supremo Bimal Gurung and his wife, Asha Gurung,  for allegedly causing the death of three people by their actions.

On June 19, the GJM was also suspected to be behind the torching of a truck with the driver inside on Sevoke Road, which connects the hills with the plains. The driver, however, escaped with 70 per cent burns and is being treated.