Posters in Mirik hint at Gorkha agitation taking a militant turn
HILL UNREST Threaten to plant bombs at houses of leaders who would stand in their way
With the common people of Darjeeling hills crushed under a blanket shutdown that entered it 86th day on Friday, the sudden appearance of posters in Mirik has triggered questions on whether the agitation for Gorkhaland is about to take a militant turn.
The posters in the name of Gorkhaland Liberation Army (GLA), a hitherto unknown entity, have stated they are ready to go to any extent for the sake of a separate state. They appeared in Mirik on Wednesday morning .
“We will not spare traitors, be it GNLF, JAP, TMC or GJM. We will bomb the house of any politician who attempts to compromise on Gorkhaland,” the posters, which were written by hand in Nepalese, read. The GLA also took responsibility for the IED explosions that rocked Darjeeling hills over the past month.
A few days ago, a crude bomb was found in the balcony of the house of a TMC councillor of Mirik municipality.
Recently, a civic police volunteer was killed in an IED blast at Kalimpong. Before the attack on the police station, a powerful bomb exploded at Darjeeling motor stand.
On Wednesday night, a crude bomb exploded at PWD’s tourist shed in Mirik.
The explosions raised questions and many wondered who could have triggered an explosion in the hills at midnight when the roads were completely empty.
Ironically, Mirik happens to be the town where Trinamool Congress posted a historic victory in the civic polls, defeating Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) in May. The TMC victory was the first by any party from the plains in the past few decades.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has publicly alleged that the agitators had links with insurgent groups of the North East and even groups in foreign countries.
Though government properties worth crores have been set on fire and vandalised since June 8, and 10 people have lost their lives — most of them fell to bullets of the security forces — overall the movement has been democratic so far. During the first phase of unrest between 1986 and 1988, about 1,200 lives were lost. Some splinter groups of GNLF took to arms.
“We are verifying if the poster is the handiwork of new outfit, or of those who are already making mischief in the hills,” said Siddhinath Gupta, additional director general of police.
After the Darjeeling and Kalimpong blasts police booked Bimal Gurung and a few GJM leaders under UA(P)A and they went underground.