People shut out bandhs

Siliguri, Oct. 21: The bandhs called by Amra Bangalee and the Shiv Sena today failed to impact life in Siliguri and its adjoining areas, unlike the earlier shutdowns that had been called to protest against the activities of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

Shops, offices and banks were open and so were educational institutions. Transport, too, was normal. The Citu, which had called an indefinite wheel jam from tomorrow, has reduced it to 72 hours and limited it to light vehicles. The CPM labour wing has also announced that it will set up pickets at Salugara and Darjeeling More to prevent vehicles from entering or leaving the plains or the hills.

“It was nice to see that most shops and private establishments were open, quite unusual compared to the earlier bandhs, when almost all remained closed,” said Biswajit Das, the general secretary of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, North Bengal. “A day’s closure means a loss of Rs 6 crore. But we were disappointed with owners of few shops, which were closed. We will persuade them not to respond to strikes, such as this, in the future.”

The young generation has been most vocal in questioning the justification of strikes.

“Most people here are against any division of the state and this has been conveyed to the Morcha and its supporters, through protests, memorandums, rallies and even bandhs,” said Anasooya Ghosh, a research scholar at North Bengal University. “But I don’t think that certain demands can be met by calling sporadic strikes.”

Amra Bangalee and the Shiv Sena have both demanded that steps should be taken against Morcha supporters responsible for defacing government signboards. They also want the Morcha to withdraw its “GL number plate diktat” and the statehood movement as a whole.

Ramasish Kumar, a 22-year-old university student, said development and economic activities in the hills have already suffered considerably because of the recent spate of agitation. “It would be wrong if we, the people of Siliguri, also, retaliate and bank on the same strategy, knowing well that it would only have a negative impact on our lives,” he said.

For Soma Paul, a 32-year-old housewife from Champasari, bandhs had never been rational forms of protests. “Especially in this case, when everybody is aware of the state of affairs in the hills and knows that the situation can’t change overnight.”

Residents at Gossainpur, on way to Bagdogra, burnt effigies of Morcha president Bimal Gurung and general secretary Roshan Giri. Amra Bangalee had set up blockades at three-four places in town in the morning but were dispersed by police.