Storm forces Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha to postpone agitation

Caesar Mandal, TNN, Aug 21, 2013, DARJEELING: A nightlong storm and heavy rainfall forced Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJM) to postpone their street agitation till Thursday. 

The Morcha tried to mobilize supporters for a rally in Kalimpong but failed to gather enough marchers. Then came the announcement of the break in the street protests. 

Significantly, however, the Morcha announced that they will "lead the movement" that was earlier called by the newly formed Gorkhaland Joint Action Committee (GJAC). "The movement under the new committee is creating confusion among the people. So the people should know that GJM is leading the movement," said Morcha assistant secretary Raju Pradhan, who is also the GJAC coordinator. 

Sources said this is a Morcha bid to show its strength. The Morcha is concerned that GTF, an apolitical Gorkha organization and GJAC member, is planning to go Delhi to separately lobby for Gorkhaland. 

The Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League - which pulled out of the GJAC and dealt a blow to the Morcha - is a part of GTF. By showing its strength, the Morcha is trying to put pressure on other allies to accept its supremacy in Hills politics, said a politician, who attended the all party meeting on August 16. 

GJAC chairman Enos Das Pradhan said that any party in the forum can independently make a move for the success of the GJAC programme. The adverse weather forced the GJM to postpone their agitation. 

A storm had lashed Darjeeling for five hours on Monday night, uprooting over 20 trees and damaging more than 100 houses. Trees blocked key roads and damaged a portion of the Raj Bhawan. Three persons were critically injured in Darjeeling town in a house collapse. 

Locals started the rescue and clean-up in the morning and were joined by the disaster management team of Darjeeling municipality. In rural areas, government workers joined the rescue effort on a nod from the Morcha. 

Darjeeling subdivision is the worst affected, say sources. "Rescue and relief are the need of the hour and GJM activists will be busy with this till August 21," said GJM secretary Roshan Giri. 

The state government, however, continued with its crackdown and arrested Kharga Bikram Subba, president of GJM's government employees union and a hardliner. 

As many as 23 GLP cadres were held overnight, taking the number of arrests to 651. Darjeeling SP Kunal Agarwal said the crackdown will continue. Other officers said that senior GJM leaders may be picked up any time, which is why they are avoiding staying home at night.