Harassment finger at Darjeeling civic body for targeting business establishments

Ajoy Edwards-led Hamro party and other apolitcal associations from Kalimpong had requested shopkeepers across Darjeeling hills to roll down their shutters for an hour from 12 to 1pm to pay homage to the martyrs on Saturday

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, 29.07.24 : The Darjeeling Municipality has been accused of targeting business establishments that downed shutters for an hour during the Gorkhaland Martyrs’ Day celebration here on Saturday.

Ajoy Edwards-led Hamro party and other apolitcal associations from Kalimpong had requested shopkeepers across Darjeeling hills to roll down their shutters for an hour from 12 to 1pm to pay homage to the martyrs on Saturday.

The Anit Thapa-led Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) had, however, said it was not a befitting way of paying homage to the martyrs.

Every year, Gorkhaland Martyrs’ Day is celebrated by all hill-based political and apolitical parties on July 27. On this day in 1986, 13 people were killed during a police firing in Kalimpong during the Subash Ghisingh-led statehood agitation.

While most of the shops did not shut down in Darjeeling town, the majority of shops along the famous Nehru Road leading to Chowrasta had downed their shutters for an hour.

“I have been told that owners of many century-old shops along Nehru Road are being bullied. I am told that the municipality chairman himself came out to picket and ask shopkeepers to open their shops. Documents of some shops have also been taken away,” said Edwards.

Edwards, who is also an elected GTA Sabha member, said he had written a letter to chief minister Mamata Banerjee apprising her about the incident.

“If the municipality continues to harass the shopkeepers, we will stand by them. If things are not solved by tomorrow, we will even gherao the municipality for bullying the business people,” said Edwards.

Bimal Jhawar, a businessman from Darjeeling and a member of the Hamro Party, said the trade licences of establishments that downed the shutter had been confiscated and wondered if only shops along that stretch were targeted after they had shut for an hour.

“The municipality has confiscated documents and asked other business people to visit the municipality on Monday,” Jhawar said, adding that many “businessmen, including me” were moving out of Darjeeling because of such harassment.

“We are being told that the trade licence of four shops had expired but this does not mean that they should be directed to close the shops. Documents of around 12 shops were also taken away. Moreover, what is the harm if they shut their shutters to pay homage to the martyrs?” said Jhawar.

The shopkeepers along Nehru Road refused to talk to this newspaper.

Dipendra Thakuri, chairman of Darjeeling Municipality, said the incident had nothing to do with politics. “A drive to check the documents in that area was long overdue. We just checked the documents and found that the trade licence of three-four shops had expired, so we took their documents,” said Thakuri.

On the allegations that the documents of other shopkeepers were also confiscated and that they were asked to come to the municipality on Monday, Thakuri said: “The documents of other shops (apart from those whose licence has expired) were returned in the evening. The shopkeepers have been called for a different reason. They have built some structures atop the drains and we need to discuss this issue.”

Jhawar said while the civic body checked documents of other shops they did not visit Glenary’s, the popular restaurant owned by the Edwards family. “Even Glenary’s had shut their shutters but they did not check their documents,” Jhawar said.

Signboard uprooted

Bikramadi Rai, founder of Gorkha Sewa Sena (GSS), on Sunday uploaded a picture of himself uprooting a government signboard at Sitiong.

The decision of the Darjeeling and Kalimpong administrations to put up signboards stating “this land belongs to the Government of West Bengal” had triggered a storm in Darjeeling hills with most political parties opposing the move.