Hills under people’s curfew Pressure tells on Morcha

Students of Darjeeling’s St Joseph’s School being welcomed by family members at Kolkata
station in Chitpur on Sunday evening. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya  

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, Aug. 11: A high court order calling the Darjeeling strike illegal, followed by an ultimatum from the state government, has prompted a strategy rethink by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha agitating for statehood.

First, it announced that a janata curfew would be in force on August 13-14, on the expiry of Mamata Banerjee’s deadline to call off the indefinite strike that entered its ninth day today. It also said the agitation would remain suspended on Independence Day, without indicating what would happen beyond it.

Morcha assistant secretary Raju Pradhan said: “We respect Calcutta High Court’s directive, which has been received by the party today.”

The Morcha said it would desist from enforcing the janata curfew by blocking roads or holding dharnas. The decision is an effort to avoid incurring court sanction, which the government is determined to implement, as spelt out by the chief minister yesterday.

The August 7 directive, calling the strike illegal and unconstitutional, asked the state to take steps against “bandh supporters”.

If a janata curfew successfully takes hold on August 13-14, the strike will in effect continue as before as people would stay indoors without the Morcha being liable for it. The name “janata curfew” is also an attempt by Morcha leader Bimal Gurung to suggest that it’s a popular decision and not an imposition by his party on the people.

Mamata, who called herself “rough and tough” yesterday, can crack down on the Morcha for keeping Darjeeling strikebound but if the people refuse to rejoin normal life, there is little the government can do.

The second part of what appears a change of tack is the calling of an all-party meeting tomorrow in an effort to broad-base the statehood movement. “We want to seek all parties’ opinions before deciding the next step,” a Morcha source said.

“We have decided to call an all-party meeting at Gymkhana Club at 11am tomorrow. We will invite all the political parties,” Pradhan said. “At 2pm, all the elected members (of autonomous hill council GTA) and the central committee will meet.”

Pradhan named the hills unit of Trinamul as well as the CPM and the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League, Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists, Gorkha National Liberation Front, the Hill Congress and an apolitical forum, the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh.

Sources in the Gorkha League and the Revolutionary Marxists, which want nothing short of statehood and were against the formation of the GTA, said their leaders would attend tomorrow’s meeting.

The CPM and Trinamul said they had not received invites. Gautam Deb, minister and Darjeeling Trinamul president, said it would have been “audacious” of the Morcha to invite the ruling party and it wouldn’t have attended the meeting anyway.

The day’s announcements came amid signs that Gurung was feeling the pressure following the court order and Mamata’s threat of stern action.

What would also be weighing on Morcha leaders’ minds is the dismal outcome of a party team’s attempts to meet senior Congress leaders in Delhi. The Roshan Giri-led team, which returned to Siliguri from Delhi today, said it had failed to get an appointment with Rahul Gandhi.

A political observer said that despite this setback and the forced rethink on the strike, Gurung couldn’t afford to back down. “The moment he starts negotiating, the party will lose support.”

The Morcha received a letter from the state home secretary today directing the GTA Sabha to elect a new chief executive, a post vacated by Gurung, within three days.

Kurseong police today arrested GTA Sabha member and Morcha leader Pranay Thapa in an old case.

Governor M.K. Narayanan said the efforts to divide Bengal were “unfortunate”.

“I am equally disturbed…. I think Darjeeling is an important part of Bengal. It is unfortunate that there is a move to divide the state. I am hoping that we can work it out,” he said.

“From the ocean to the snows… that is Bengal. You can’t cut off a portion of it and say that it is Bengal.”