Normality cry spreads - Mirik follows Panighata in defying strike

A shop open in Mirik on Tuesday. Picture by Passang Yolmo

TT, Calcutta, Sept. 5: Shops opened today in Mirik, the hill tourist town emulating the Terai hamlet of Panighata that yesterday publicly defied the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's 83-day-old strike.

"The shutters began lifting from 9am, with some of the shopkeepers taking longer before they felt secure enough," a resident said. "More than the transaction of business, it was a vote for normality."

Roadside vegetable kiosks opened too. "Since it was the first day, there was understandably some nervousness, and the shops closed around 3pm," the resident said, requesting anonymity.

A strong police presence since the morning, and bands of young men who moved around the town encouraging traders to open their businesses, helped calm the jitters.

The defiance will pose a challenge to Morcha hardliners, who believe the strike should end only after "talks on Gorkhaland" start - an unlikely possibility even at the September 12 meeting with the state government, sources said.

Many in Mirik admitted their relief in private. "The public has supported a complete shutdown for nearly three months, but everything has a limit," a resident said.

Yesterday, when Panighata took the lead in defying the strike, the success of a Trinamul peace rally in Mirik had suggested the anti-strike mood was spreading. Today, shops remained open in Panighata, 35km from Mirik.

"No one is publicly speaking against the strike, but people's actions are speaking louder," an observer said.

L.B. Rai, Trinamul chairman of the Mirik municipality, said: "The people of Mirik have shown they want peace."

Anit Thapa, a Morcha leader expelled for advocating an end to the strike, today descended on Kurseong's streets with about 100 supporters but the number of marchers quickly grew above 1,000.

Fellow Morcha exile Binay Tamang said he would organise a silent candlelight march for peace in Darjeeling town from 5pm tomorrow and hold a public meeting after September 8. He claimed that a few shops had opened in Ghoom too.