Cornered, GJM leaders look for breather

Deep Gazmer,TNN, Jun 9, 2015, DARJEELING: Caught on the back foot in All India Gorkha League leader Madan Tamang's murder case, Bimal Gurung's party chose not to take the bandh route in the Hills as it might antagonize the people there during the tourist season.

Instead, 10 of the 23 accused GJM leaders, including Bimal Gurung and Roshan Giri, filed anticipatory bail application at Calcutta high court on Monday after the city sessions court on Saturday asked CBI to execute the arrest of those named in the chargesheet within twenty days.

Darjeeling limped back to normalcy a day after Sunday's unannounced bandh apparently because Gurung's legal advisers told the GJM party president that the bandh might go against them in the high court during the moving of the anticipatory bail petition.

Morcha leaders are also shaky over their dwindling support base in Darjeeling as the opposition GNLF has demanded that the Mamata Banerjee government dissolve the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) as many of the GJM members are GTA functionaries.

Darjeeling residents went about their business as usual but with some amount of uneasiness. Paramilitary and police forces did the rounds of the town in the morning and evening to help calm nerves of local people.

Throughout the day, GJM activists from different areas of the Hills made their way to Malidhura, 8 km from town, to meet party chief Bimal Gurung and pledge their support. Gurung and most of the senior leaders of the party have been named in the CBI chargesheet.

Media persons were not allowed to attend the meeting between the GJM leaders and supporters. Sources, however, said that Gurung had asked the assembled people to maintain peace. "We have conducted pujas and have full faith that we will be able to get over the present tide. I appeal to all of you to maintain peace and discipline," the GJM chief is said to have told the huge crowd that had gathered at Malidhura, which is one and a half kilometres from Gurung's house situated at Patleybas, since morning.

The source said for the next 10-15 days, party workers from different areas of the Hills would continue to come and meet Gurung in Darjeeling, to extend moral support.

GJM has organized a seven-day "Chandi Puja" at Jumuni in Darjeeling from May 30. The CBI on the other hand had filed its final chargesheet a day earlier in the Kolkata city and session's court, seeking arrest warrants against the GJM leaders. The city and session's court on Saturday directed the CBI to execute the arrest within twenty days.

GJM assistant secretary Jyoti Kumar Rai and the party's legal cell member Tilak Chandra Roka was in Kolkata to apply for an anticipatory bail for the accused in the high court today.

Amit Javalgi, the Darjeeling superintendent of police, said on Monday that things were back on track and adequate forces were available to maintain law and order. "Yesterday, the traders had shut shops out of panic. But today, things are normal and we intend to keep it this way. In fact, the GJM has understood that it is a matter of the court. This is the reason why we did not have any kind of trouble in the last couple of days," he said.

Hoteliers and tour operators are keeping their fingers crossed with the uncertainty still looming over the Hills. "We have not received any cancellations, yet. Yes, some tourists did leave on Sunday in panic. However, we feel the district administration should make some kind of announcement through the public address system or posters to assure tourists that things are normal," said Pradeep Lama, general secretary of Darjeeling Association of Travel Agents (DATA).