GJM ranks split wide open over bandh call
GORKHALAND STIR One faction defies another’s call to suspend the shutdown
The 78-daylong shutdown of Darjeeling to press for a separate Gorkhaland state was enforced more vigorously on Friday with one faction of the Gorka Janamukti Morcha (GJM) defying calls by another to suspend the bandh for 12 days.
A day after a GJM faction led by Binay Tamang announced the suspension of the bandh, a more hardline faction owing allegiance to GJM supremo Bimal Gurung hit the streets in large numbers and ensured that the bandh in the hills of north Bengal was total, stoking speculation that the hill party was headed for a split.
According to an agency report, Gurung on Friday also removed party convener Binay Tamang from his post. Gurung has already convened a central committee meeting and there is talk that Tamang and his supporter Anit Thapa could be expelled. A war of words has also escalated between the two groups, with Gurung accusing Tamang of trying to “derail the Gorkhaland movement in collusion with the government”.
Curiously, on Friday evening, GJM assistant secretary Jyoti Kumar Rai told HT: “We are ready for talks with the state government on September 12. But the administration should create the atmosphere for the dialogue.” Rai said the decision was taken at the central committee meeting.
Gurung, currently on the run from the police, said the bandh will see no let up, promising that even “cats and dogs will not be able to move”. Tamang also seemed to be girding up for a long fight, saying, “I am not thinking of floating a new outfit”.
“Tamang matters little. Bimal Gurung has the last word on how the agitation will be continued and whether the indefinite shutdown will be lifted,” said GJM general secretary Roshan Giri.
With tempers running high, the police threw a security cordon around Tamang’s house.
“To expel me, Bimal Gurung and Roshan Giri will need the concurrence of the majority. They are acting in an undemocratic manner. If necessary, I shall take legal measures,” Tam-
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ang told a TV channel. Meanwhile, effigies of Tamang and his supporter Thapa were burnt in different areas of the hills.
Differences between the two factions have widened in recent weeks over negotiations with the West Bengal government. CM Mamata Banerjee in the last week of August said she had received a letter from Tamang requesting talks, but Gurung said he wanted discussions only on Gorkhaland.
Tamang’s faction held talks with Banerjee on August 29, but Gurung insisted they should walk out if Gorkhaland was not on the agenda. Banerjee has steadfastly opposed the bifurcation of her state.
“We are ready for talks with the state government on September 12. But the administration should create the atmosphere for the dialogue,” assistant secretary of GJM, Jyoti Kumar Rai, told HT. The decision was taken at the central committee meeting on Friday.
The BJP, seeking to make inroads into West Bengal, criticized Banerjee for her inability to end the agitation. “Instead of pushing forward a constructive dialogue, the CM tried to engineer a split in GJM, and pushed the situation to a more critical point in the hills,” remarked BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha.