The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) on Tuesday added zing to its movement by invoking the tubelight and effecting a symbolic break up with the Bengal Government by burning copies of GTA accord signed in 2011 when Mamata Banerjee came to power in the State.
Even as the ongoing Darjeeling bandh entered its 13th day on Tuesday the GJM intensified its stir by shedding blood through self-inflicted injuries. While thousands of supporters marched to Chowk Bazaar bare-torsoed youth infused “romanticism” in the movement by getting tubelights to be broken on their backs while hundreds of admirers encircled them raising slogans in their praise and for a separate Gorkhaland State.
All this while the police and paramilitary forces deployed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee under three senior and trusted IPS officers to area-dominate the disturbed zone were completely marginalised helplessly watching the unfolding tamasha from a distance.
Scores of GJM supporters marched on the streets with their backs bleeding profusely from the wounds created by broken tube lights even as some of them “achieve” bigger such feat in future “should the Government not consider our demand. And mind you Government does not mean the State but the Central Government.”
Prakash Gurung one of the Morcha leaders said many workers were ready to sacrifice their lives by fasting or self-immolation. “Breaking tubelight is a small thing, many are waiting to give up their lives at one signal from the higher leadership,” one of the leaders said.
Morcha spokesperson Benoy Tamang said “burning of the GTA accord copies implies that we are formally ending our relationship with the State Government. Now we are out of the Accord and free to decide our own course of action.”
All the 43 members of the GTA led by Morcha chief Bimal Gurung had resigned from the autonomous Board last week. Holding forth that the “GTA chapter is closed” Gurung said his party would neither take part in the elections nor would it allow the polls to be conducted.
like Government properties including vehicles were burnt during the night copies of GTA accord were burnt by the day at Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Mirik, Pintail Village in Siliguri and all other places sources said.
The Centre, State and the GJM had signed the GTA Accord in November 2011 according to which three hill sub-divisions, including Darjeeling, Kurseong and Mirik, parts of Siliguri sub-division and the whole of Kalimpong district came under the autonomous body.
However, soon differences arose, when Gurung complained that Banerjee was dilly-dallying about transfer of departments to the GTA.
“We wanted all the 50-plus departments to be transferred to us but the Government wanted to continue with its hegemonistic style and did not comply with the conditions mentioned in the agreement. We were not only starved of cash but also humiliated and threatened with court cases from time to time. Hence we have finally decided to come out of the mess and go for the final struggle,” Gurung said.
Tuesday’s stepped up stir came a day after GJM supporters tried to torch the house of Rajen Bhetiwal the chairman of the Khas community welfare board a statutory body set up by the Chief Minister. Some vehicles parked inside the premises were damaged in the incident.