DM reaches office in state car - Rival rally in the time of shutdown

The district collectorate remained open for the first time today during a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha strike, the state government testing waters as the hill party kept its cadres off the roads to avoid confrontation and delink itself from the violence it has come to be associated with after Madan Tamang’s murder.

Also, despite the bandh, around 250 ABGL supporters brought out a peace march in town from Clubside motor stand where its leader Madan Tamang was hacked to death exactly a month ago.

However, the Morcha threatened to intensify its agitation by starting an indefinite hunger strike from June 27 to press for demands like judicial inquiry into the lathicharge on its supporters in Kurseong on Wednesday.

At 11am, Darjeeling district magistrate Surendra Gupta along with two additional district magistrates, the subdivisional officer and about eight deputy magistrates entered the office.

In every bandh that the Morcha had called in the past, it had put up pickets in front of the district magistrate's office to prevent the entry of officials. The party has made an exception this time and has not come out onto the streets to enforce the bandh.

While Gupta came in his official vehicle, the others arrived in government jeeps that had “on law and order duty” stickers pasted on the windscreens.

“As government officials, we are duty bound to attend office,” said Gupta, refusing to take any further questions. During the earlier shutdown called by the Morcha, the district magistrate always functioned from his residence, which also has an office. Most of the government officials discharged their duties from the DM’s bungalow in the past.

Sources said this time the state government had instructed the officials to attend work during the shutdown to send a message to the Morcha.

The government has been stepping up heat on Bimal Gurung’s outfit since Tamang’s murder and the anti-Morcha backlash that it triggered.

The state had not only implicated the Morcha in the killing, but had also started asserting the writ of administration in the hills taking advantage of the people erupting in anger over Tamang’s murder.

As a first step, three companies of the CRPF were deployed in Darjeeling town for the first time since the Morcha was formed in 2007. This was followed by DGHC administrator B.L. Meena filing FIRs against Gorkhaland personnel — a Morcha squad of lathi-wielding volunteers —occupying government properties for the past two years.

The Morcha has countered this by mounting pressure on the government by calling an indefinite strike in the hills. But it has been careful in avoiding confrontation and distancing itself from all violence by ensuring that its cadres do not come onto the streets to enforce the bandh, especially with the CRPF patrolling the roads.

“The government is hatching a conspiracy to derail the statehood movement. We have called a strike to protest the police excesses on our party supporters at Kurseong. We demand a judicial inquiry into the lathicharge on a peaceful demonstration. If the state fails to act, seven members each will sit on an indefinite hunger strike at Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong from June 27,” said Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the Morcha at a media conference.

Lashing out at Meena, Giri said: “He is inefficient and is issuing statements as if he is a political leader. We don’t want an administrator who works from Siliguri despite having his headquarters in Darjeeling. The government must not give him any further extensions after his tenure ends on June 30.”

Asked about the district magistrate’s decision to function from his office during the shutdown, Giri said: “We have not stopped anyone from working.”

Binay Tamang, an assistant secretary of the Morcha, said the Gorkhaland Personnel would not vacate the government buildings. “The Kalimpong police station yesterday sent a notice to the camp at Chest Clinic (a DGHC owned community hall) but the GLP will not vacate the property and we have already written to the administration conveying our message.”

In the meantime, an ABGL seven-member team will leave for Calcutta tomorrow to meet chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. “The team would discuss the prevailing situation in the hills,” said ABGL leader Mohan Sharma.

Telegraph