A senior West Bengal minister on Saturday lambasted Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung for calling an indefinite shutdown in the hills, and said he will be "doomed by his actions".
"He will be doomed by his actions. Gorkhaland issue is the last weapon for them. He has been cornered. So he is coming back to Gorkhaland," state Consumer Affairs Minister Sadhan Pande told the media here to requests for comments on the indefinite shutdown called by the dominant party in north Bengal hills.
Biefing mediapersons after a GJM central committee meeting, its General Secretary Roshan Giri announced that the indefinite shutdown would begin in the hills from Monday to press for a separate Gorkhaland state.
Pande said: "Roshan Giri's wife works in my office. How will this (strike) work out? They have to come to get their paycheque ... Will I have to transfer them?"
Asked if the violence was a reaction to the Bengal government's announcement of a special audit into the GJM-run Gorkha Territorial Administration accounts, he said: "Audit happens for every department.. what is unique in that? They will have to act rationally. They are acting like this as they are scared that they are losing ground in north Bengal."
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He also slammed Gurung's audacity in "encouraging" violence in Darjeeling just a few yards away from the venue where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was holding the Cabinet meeting on Thursday.
"Has it happened anywhere else in India? They have every right to agitate but not like this," he added.
--IANS
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