GNLF snaps ties with TMC, joins hands with stir spearhead GJM

Darjeeling (WB), June 14

The political crisis in the Darjeeling hills took a new turn on Wednesday with the GNLF breaking its alliance with the TMC and joining hands with agitation spearhead GJM, saying the party has been fighting Gorkhaland since its inception.

Emboldened by the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) aligning with his party, Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung threatened to intensify the movement for a separate Gorkhaland even as the indefinite shutdown in the government and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) offices entered its third day.

The GNLF, formed by the late firebrand leader Subhash Ghisingh, had led a violent movement for Gorkhaland in the eighties, following which the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) was formed.

Gurung broke away from the GNLF and formed the GJM in 2007 and subsequently emerged as the dominant force in the hills.

“The GNLF, since its inception in the eighties under the leadership Subhash Ghisingh, has been fighting for Gorkhaland. Our ultimate goal is to achieve a separate state of Gorkhaland,” Neraaj Zimba, spokesperson of the GNLF, told PTI.

He said the alliance with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was never a political or ideological one, but an electoral tie-up.

The TMC is trying to deflect attention from the real demand of Gorkhaland through “doles and charity”, Zimba said.

No untoward incident was reported from Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Mirik during the day and despite the bandh call, the state government offices remained open.

Vehicles plied as the police remained on high alert and patrolled the streets.

Banks and most ATMs were closed, but shops and markets were open.

Most of the tourists have left the hills and hotels were empty. Hotel owners told the tourists, who still remained, that they could stay, but at their own risk.

GJM workers gathered in front of the food and supply office in Kurseong but left following police intervention.

The GJM, along with other hill parties, took out rallies in several areas of the hills demanding Gorkhaland.

Police pickets and barricades were placed in front of the government and the GTA offices, in which the GJM is enforcing an indefinite shutdown which entered its third day today, and at various entry exit points of the hills.

The Rapid Action Force (RAF) and a sizeable number of women police personnel were also deployed.

The Centre had yesterday despatched 600 paramilitary personnel to assist the West Bengal government restore normalcy in the violence-hit area. — PTI