Bandh in Hills near total

SNS, 4 October 2019, Darjeeling: The 12 hour bandh called by different trade unions, demanding 20 percent puja bonus for tea garden workers, was near total in all the areas under Darjeeling, Kurseong, Mink and Kalimpong today. Shops and other business establishments downed shutters, while no vehicles were seen plying in the Hills. On the other hand, the trade unions have decided to continue with their relay hunger strike.

The unions have been holding different programmes to mount pressure on the garden managements to pay the bonus at the rate of 20 percent. The protests followed the failure of the five rounds of bipartite negotiations in Darjeeling, and the bandh followed the failure of tripartite talks held in Kolkata on 30 September.

"We thank all the people for supporting the 12-hour strike and we have decided to continue with our relay hunger strike that is being held here centrally in Darjeeling tomorrow also. We however, appeal to our units in the tea gardens to lift the two-day relay hunger strike from tomorrow," CPIM trade union leader Saman Pathak said.

"We are also suspending our other programmes from tomorrow, but the programme of stopping dispatch of manufactured tea will remain. We will intensify our agitation by launching other programmes after the Pujas," he added.

Mr Pathak also welcomed the fast-unto-death to be launched by Morcha leader Binoy Tamang from Sunday.

Meanwhile, there were no reports of any untoward incident during the bandh that started at 4 am today.

Morcha activist and supporters were seen picketing different strategic points in the Hills, including Kurseong, even though the bandh was

called jointly with other unions of other parties also.

In Kurseong, the picketers stopped a few motorcycles and vehicles at different points, while some were forced to go back to where they had come from, sources said.

"To avoid any untoward incident, a large number of police personnel had been deployed at different places in the Hills, including Kurseong." police sources, meanwhile, said.

Also, tea workers in different tea estates organised rallies in Kurseong town and shouted slogans against the garden managements. Tea workers were also seen demonstrating and demanding 2O percent bonus at different places, including the Kurseong Motor Stand and their respective gardens.

"This bandh was a complete success as all the people, including the business community and vehicle drivers supported us, while other institutions and establishments also completely remained shut." the president of the Morcha trade union, Karuna Gurung, said.

"We would like to thank all the concerned and we hope for similar cooperation from all in the coming days too." she added.

Mrs Gurung further said that workers staged relay hunger strike in their gardens against their "exploitation" and in demand for 20 percent bonus.

Wihout mentioning the BJP and the Bimal Gurung faction of the Morcha, Morcha trade union (Binoy Tamang camp) leader, Pranam Chettri, said "people who had won the last elections should hit the streets and take concrete and practical steps in support of the workers, instead of sending support through the social media." Addressing a gathering in Kurseong, MLA from Kurseong Dr Rohit Sharma said that it was unfortunate that workers were still facing problems even as the tea plantations were established in the 18th century.

"The owners of tea estates should stop suppressing workers, otherwise, one day, they would have to run away from here." he said.

Hill TMC leader Aarif Khan said their party had supported the bandh and that he himself went out picketing in support of the bandh.

"The demand for 20 percent bonus is very justified. The owners should honour their workers by paying them the 20 percent bonus." he said.

Rajya Sabha MP Shamnta Chettri said she is a member of the tea board as well."Being an MP and board member, I want to request all the concerned to provide 20 percent bonus to the workers," she said.

According to her. "Dusshera" or Dashain as it is called locally here is the main festival in the Hills, and that the tea workers must get their due rights ahead of this festival.

The president of the Kurseong Byabasayee Sangathan, Feroj Akhtar, thanked all business institutions for showing solidarity with the tea workers. "The economy of Kurseong is dependent mainly on two things--educational institutions and tea estates. Hence, the business community will benefit if the tea workers are happy with their bonus. As such, in the coming days too, we should continue supporting them," he said.

The Darjeeling district CPI-M had supported the strike today "We completely support the strike called by the trade unions demanding bonus at the rate of 20 percent. We are surprised that the state government remained silent on this issue, as it should put pressure on the management to accept the demand," said the CPI-M district party secretary, Jibesh Sarkar.