Gurung's Darj office opens after 3 years- Anit Thapa condemns political violence

The Gurung camp has said that a process was on to open more such offices and houses of leaders that had been sealed.

REZA PRADHAN, SNS, DARJEELING,11 NOVEMBER 2020 :  Supporters of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (Bimal Gutting faction) has reopened the Party's Patleybas office near Darjeeling town, three years after the same was sealed by the district administration following the Gorkhaland agitation in 2017.

The Gurung camp has said that a process was on to open more such offices and houses of leaders that had been sealed.

Patleybas is also the residence of Bimal Gurung and was the epicentre of the party. It was sealed by the police in August 2017 after they raided it and removed "incriminating materials" from there.

When contacted, Morcha (Gurung camp) central committee leader Tilak Chandra Roka said, "The office was reopened following a government order and it has started functioning." He, however, did not elaborate on the government order.

Commenting on their Singamari party office, one of their main offices here, and the house of Mr Gurung at Patleybas, he said, "These properties will be de-attached automatically after the legal bail process for Mr Gurung is over."

According to another leader of the Morcha camp, Norman Rai, the office was reopened after they got the keys to the locks from the administration. "Talks are also going on to open the party office at Sinagmari and our president's house at Patleybas," he said.

The police department, meanwhile, did not comment on the development.

On the otherhand, a leader of the other camp of the Morcha, AnitThapa, today said his camp condemned any form of political violence.

Mr Thapa of the Binoy Tmang faction of the Morcha was referring to an incident where their member Chetan Thapa (Chettri) was allegedly attacked by members of the Gurung faction at Barnesberg, around 15 km from Darjeeling town, yesterday. Acting on an FIR filed by the camp, police have also arrested two persons in connection with the incident.

"Yesterday's incident does not auger well for the Hills, which is turning into a battlefield. We condemn this. We have the capability to retaliate, but we do not believe in such things. We have managed to maintain peace for the last three years, which should not be disturbed," Mr Thapa said today.

The FIR filed by Chetan Thapa said that a meeting of the Gurung camp was being held at Barnesberg where their supporters from Tukvar 2nd division, Mt Hermon area, Singamari, Soam tea garden, and some leaders from Bijanbari were in attendance. It added that the incident took place around 4 pm after the Gurung camp meeting was over. According to the FIR, one leader in the meeting said that supporters of the Tamang camp should be killed and that his supporters brandished pistols, khukuris (sharp weapon) and other sharp weapons and shouted slogans of 'Bimal Gurung zindabad.'

"In 2017, I broke away from a party which supported violence because I believed in non-violence. I would like to appeal to the people of there to stand against such acts of Bimal Gurung's party for disrupting peace in the Hills," Morcha leader BinayTamang said.

Chetan Thapa who has sustained a stab injury on his back is in a hospital in Siliguri.

Tamang faction supporters also gheraoed the Sadar police station today, demanding immediate arrest of those involved in the incident.

The Gurung faction, however, rubbished the allegations and said their party had nothing to do with the incident. " From the information we have, the incident in Barnesbeg was a personal one. However, we are being blamed with the intention to tarnish our party image. We too want peace in the Hills," said the Gurung faction's Tilak Chandra Roka.

Police said investigations have been started and that they are searching for the others, without wanting to comment on the political colour of those arrested.