A “public curfew” amounted to bandh, the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday ruled directing pro-Gorkhaland outfit Gorkha Janmukti Morcha to explain through an affidavit as to why it would not be made to compensate for infringing on the Hill people’s fundamental rights.
A two-day public curfew was called by GJM chief Bimal Gurung after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the Hill parties to “withdraw the indefinite bandh or face strong action.” Hearing a public interest litigation, a Division bench of Chief Justice Arun Kumar Mishra and Justice Joymalya Bagchi indicted the GJM for defying an earlier court order ruling bandhs illegal. The court said “a public curfew is a kind of illegal bandh and no one can give such a call” asking the respondents to explain through an affidavit as to why it should not be penalised for violating the court orders as well as fundamental rights of the people.
Curiously the court order came amid a total “curfew” —when no soul ventured out —for the second consecutive day on Wednesday despite State Government’s elaborate arrangements to distribute eatables from 11 outlets.Darjeeling had already been in the midst of an indefinite bandh for the past 12 days called by the GJM to press for a separate Gorkhaland State soon after the Centre decided to create Telangana slicing Andhra Pradesh. The court order came in tandem with the refusal of Governor MK Narayanan to mediate in the issue. “I cannot mediate in the issue as I am the Governor” he said hoping both sides would try and find out an early solution to the impasse. He said things could “add to confusion if I go into it.”
Reacting to the court order senior GJM leader Roshan Giri said the party would respond appropriately after going through order while Darjeeling MlA Harka Bahadur Chhetri wondered “how can a bandh call be equated with a people’s curfew where the people are themselves choosing to remain indoors. There was no forced shutdown, there was no picketing or even a single procession in its favour.” He also said “the court had been misled by the facts placed before it by the State Government.”Curiously notwithstanding the Government’s claim in the court that the people had been forced to remain indoors and were suffering on account of food shortage only a handful of people turned up in the 11 outlets from where ration was being distributed by the food and civil supplies department.