Darjeeling: Scare amid festivity on GJM chief Bimal Gurung's turf

TNN | Oct 19, 2017, Darjeeling: The five-day Tihar festival in the Hills got a political colour at Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung's native place Tukvar. Many people here prayed for Gurung's safety, wishing his return on a day when a Darjeeling court passed proclamation orders against Bimal Gurung and five others including Roshan Giri and Asha Gurung. According to lawyers, this arms the police with powers to attach their properties.

Gurung, meanwhile, in an audio message, said he would be back in the Hills and leading the statehood demand.

While this was the dominant mood in Gurung's place, people elsewhere in the Hills feared fresh trouble if Gurung makes a comeback. Instead, they wished for a democratic transition to Gorkhaland as acting GTA chairman Binay Tamang promised to them. Yet, the torching of houses of pro-Gurung activists near Patlebas didn't go down well with the Hills people.

Scrutiny of the social media by government agencies has escalated the fear among the youths. So much so, that pro-Gorkhaland Darjeeling Chronicle has appealed to its readers on Facebook to mind their language before posting comments on a news item. "For instance, writing 'we are brave Gorkhas' is okay; but writing 'we are brave Gorkhas, and we will show you what we are made of' could be interpreted as a threat to someone," it writes in an appeal to the readers.

Playing on the Gorkha swabhiman, Bimal Gurung said, "I will definitely return to Darjeeling and lead the movement. The Bengal government does not want me to return and is levelling baseless allegations and hounding me and party activists." A Binay Tamang loyalist said, "The comeback threat by the UAPA accused and the following police raids on the house of Gurung loyalists or supporters have further complicated the situation."

In all his audio messages Gurung has appealed to his supporters to have patience and conduct the movement in a democratic manner. The police, however, recovered sophisticated weapons - AK-47 and gelatin sticks - from the encounter site near the Bengal-Sikkim border few days ago where Gurung had been hiding with his trusted men. The GJM president has flatly denied the police charge. "It is baseless, and forms a part of the state's grand conspiracy to eliminate me. In fact, it is the police who are looting and torching homes of supporters. They (police) want to keep me away to do dirty politics in the Hills," Gurung said.

With the Gorkhaland demand failing to find a taker among governments, acting GTA chairman Binay Tamang has planned to assuage the Hills people with development work. The Mamata Banerjee government has released Rs 134 crore for the GTA in addition to the Rs 500 crore. The CM has instructed GTA to expedite reconstruction work and take up all-round development of the Hills.