West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The ripples of a resolution against any division of West Bengal in the State Assembly were felt in Darjeeling on Tuesday as pro-Gorkhaland parties called for a 12-hour bandh in the hills on February 23. However, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that government would take action against anyone trying to impose a bandh, reiterating that she was not in favour of splitting the State.
On Monday, the West Bengal Assembly had passed a resolution against attempts to divide the State. On Tuesday morning, nine sabhasads (members) of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) sat on a hunger strike in Darjeeling. Pro-Gorkhaland parties such as the Hamro Party and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) have called for the bandh to be held from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on February 23.
GTA sabhasad Binay Tamang, a prominent leader in the hills, said that the bandh was meant to protest against the resolution tabled and passed in the State Assembly. Mr. Tamang, who recently quit the Trinamool Congress, appealed to the people of the Darjeeling hills to participate in the bandh if they want a separate State of Gorkhaland, adding that essential services would be kept outside the ambit of the strike call. The GTA sabhasads of the Hamro Party, led by their leader Ajay Edwards, also participated in the hunger strike.
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‘No bandh allowed’
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while participating in an event in north Bengal on Tuesday, said that there would be no bandh in the State. She pointed out that the Class X Board examination of the West Bengal Board is beginning from February 23 and the urged that students should not face any problem.
“The politics of bandh has been done away with in West Bengal. I have heard that in the hills some people have again become active and called bandh. They call bandhs every five year for their politics. I do not support any bandh,” Ms. Banerjee said at the event. She directed the State administration to take stern action against those who would try to impose a bandh. However, the CM added that people do have the right to demonstrate peacefully.
Ms. Banerjee reiterated that she would not allow any division of the State. “On the international mother language day, I am reiterating there will not be any division of West Bengal,” she said.
Reviving Gorkhaland campaigns
The resolution opposing attempts to divide West Bengal was tabled in the Assembly on Monday by Trinamool Congress MLA Satyajit Barman and passed with a voice vote. The MLA from Darjeeling Neeraj Zimba and the Kurseong MLA Bishnu Prasad Sharma opposed the resolution and spoke in favour of a separate State of Gorkhaland, which has been a long-standing demand of the people of the Darjeeling hills, the Terai and Dooars. State-government Ministers Firhad Hakim and Sovandeb Chattopadhyay also spoke in favour of the motion.
Bandhs in support of the demand for a separate State have also been organised in the past. However, after the violent 100-day shutdown in the Darjeeling hills from June to September 2017, the region had hardly witnessed any strikes. The GTA, a regional autonomous body which governs the Darjeeling hills, was set up as part of a tripartite agreement between Centre, State and the GJM in 2011. GTA elections were held in June 2022 and the Anit Thapa-led Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha won a majority in the elections.
Mr. Thapa is considered close to the ruling Trinamool Congress. Over the past few months, there have been fresh political realignment in the hills with the coming together of GJM president Bimal Gurung, Hamro Party chief Ajay Edwards and Binay Tamang. All three leaders are trying to start campaigns on the issue of Gorkhaland.
On Tuesday, BJP legislators held a protest in the West Bengal Assembly against the remark of Sovandeb Chattopadhyay while participating in the debate on the resolution in the State Assembly. The Minister had referred to an “influx” of people from Neal in Darjeeling, which was opposed by the Kurseong MLA. BJP Chief Whip Manoj Tigga and other BJP MLAs demanded that the Minister should withdraw his comments and offer apology.