Morcha delays blockades by 2 hours

TT, Darjeeling, Jan. 21: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to set up road blockades from 12 noon, instead of 10am, from tomorrow for the benefit of shoppers from far-flung areas in the hills.

Barring a blockade at Panchnoi on the outskirts of Siliguri, no other Morcha road barricades were set up in the Terai and the Dooars or on NH31 and NH31A, the lifeline to Sikkim. Some blockades were, however, set up in and around Kalimpong town.

In Darjeeling town, normal life was affected for two hours from 10am on a day when government offices were allowed to reopen. According to its prescheduled programme, Morcha supporters brought out a procession from Gorkha Dukha Niwarak Sammelan Hall grounds around 10am. It later converged at Chowk Bazar where a public meeting was held. Morcha activists blocked the roads in the hills for two hours from 10am.

Asked about the Terai and the Dooars, Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said as of now the blockades were being raised wherever processions were being brought out. “At the moment, the movement is confined to the hills and to NH55,” he said.

“From tomorrow the blockades will be held from noon to 2pm,” Giri said. Sources in the party said the decision was taken to ensure that people coming to shop from far-flung areas do not get stuck in the middle of their journey.

“We realised that many people coming from outside Darjeeling were getting stuck. If the blockades are organised between noon and 2pm, people can still carry on with their shopping and leave when it is lifted at 2pm,” said, a Morcha leader.

Reacting to Sikkim chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling’s recent statement expressing sympathy for Gorkhaland, Giri said: “If Chamling wants to help us, he should tell O.P. Bhandari (a resident of Gangtok) to withdraw the case from the Supreme Court. Also, Chamling should pass a resolution in favour of Gorkhaland in the Assembly as promised earlier.”

Bhandari had filed a case against political parties in Bengal for closing down NH31A during strikes.

Amar Lama, a central committee leader of the Morcha, also dared Subash Ghisingh’s sympathisers to come out in the open instead of plastering posters in support of the Sixth Schedule clandestinely. “For 20 years, Ghisingh ensured that the demand for Gorkhaland was never raised in the hills. Even now, when the issue is being discussed at the national level, they are trying to scuttle the movement by talking about the Sixth Schedule status. We dare these people to come out in the open. The public knows that Ghisingh is parroting the state government’s stand,” said Lama.

Puran Thami, a youth leader of the Morcha, also warned “the anti-Gorkhaland forces” from coming to the hills on January 23. “They are free to come but they should be very careful while climbing the hills with anti-statehood slogans,” said Thami. He was referring to the Bangal O Bangla Bhasha Banchao Committee, an anti-Gorkhaland outfit based in the plains, that has announced that its members would march to Darjeeling on January 23 to protest the statehood agitation of the Morcha.