New Delhi: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has asked all tourists to leave Darjeeling before an indefinite strike shuts down all roads and businesses in the hills.
The move comes despite repeated assurance from GJM that their statehood demand would in no way disturb the tourism industry in the hills. The expulsion forced more than 40,000 tourists, including women and children, out on the streets on Monday amid pouring rain in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong.
Earlier, the GJM called a 24-hour shutdown on Monday to protest an alleged attack on its members by CPI-M supporters and members of other political outfits at Naxalbari when they took out a peaceful rally there.
“The shutdown has been peaceful so far. But we came to know that GJM leaders have now called an indefinite shutdown in the hills. We have made adequate police arrangements and have opened public assistance booths across Darjeeling district,” West Bengal Inspector General (North Bengal) RJS Nawla told IANS.
Nawla said the public assistance booths would facilitate tourists who may face trouble during the shutdown.
“Tourists can seek any help from the police at assistance booths in case they face any problem,” he said.
The GJM, led by its president Bimal Gurung, has been spearheading a movement in the hills for a separate state and also opposing the Sixth Schedule status for Darjeeling district.
The Central Government in 2005 conferred the Sixth Schedule status on the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF)-led Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) that ensures greater autonomy to the governing body.
But Gurung’s group, which is opposed to the GNLF, is demanding full statehood for the hill region.
The DGHC was formed in 1988 through an agreement between the Central and state governments and the GNLF after the hills witnessed violence for about two years.
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