Govt braces for law and order issue

The tussle between the West Bengal government and the Gorkha Janmulti Morcha (GJM) is set to get murkier in the coming days with major law and order problems apprehended in the hills of Darjeeling.

The situation worsened in the hills since Sunday after police arrested five GJM activists for allegedly spreading violence on June 8. In a counter-action, GJM leadership asked tourists to immediately leave to avoid inconvenience due to the indefinite strike called in the hills.

GJM president Bimal Gurung told HT they were left with option but to intensify the stir in demand of a separate Gorkhaland in view of the arrest of GJM activists. “In the coming days, police might arrest many more activists, which will aggravate trouble in the hills. In such a situation we have advised tourists to leave at the earliest to avoid inconvenience,” Gurung said.

Earlier, GJM has kept hospitality and tourism sectors as well as educational institutions out of the purview of the indefinite strike.

But the administration is determined to foil the bandh. GJM had been protesting against the state government’s decision to make Bengali a compulsory subject from Class 1 to Class 10 in all schools in the state. However, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that Gurung and other GJM leaders are indulging in violence just to hide their corruption in the GTA,