Darjeeling stir: MHA on wait and watch mode, not to intervene

The Centre is closely monitoring developments in Darjeeling in West Bengal where the situation remained tense due to the indefinite bandh called by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) demanding separate statehood.
As of now, there is no need to intervene, official sources said today.
They said there is interaction with the state government authorities on the day-to-day basis to know the latest situation.
The bandh has crippled the normal life in Darjeeling which is frequented by a large number of tourists from across the country and also from abroad.
The state government has already sent its report to the home ministry, in which, it had suggested forthcoming elections to Hill Council and involvement of militants from the northeast among the reasons responsible for the unrest in Darjeeling.

The agitators, who are mainly from the GJM, are demanding a separate state of Gorkhaland.

The report suggests that elections to Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), that includes Darjeeling and other neighbouring areas, could be a reason behind the ongoing violence.
Bimal Gurung headed GJM dominates the GTA. In 2012, the GJM secured all the 45 seats--22 in Darjeeling sub-division, 10 in Kurseong and 13 in Kalimpong--under the GTA.
As many as 24 cases have been registered by police. A total of 49 security force personnel have been injured in the violence, the sources said.
A total of 11 companies--about 1,375 personnel--are stationed in the region. Of them, one is an all-woman company.

Darjeeling hills had seen a violent movement for a separate Gorkhaland in the mid 1980s under Subhash Ghisingh.
The movement ended with the establishment of a semi- autonomous administrative body in 1988 called Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), which was headed by Ghisingh.
As Ghisingh's influence waned over time, the GJM launched another movement for a separate state of Gorkhaland. In 2011, the GJM signed an agreement with the state and central governments and another semi-autonomous administrative unit GTA was born replacing the DGHC.