Bimal Gurung takes stir out of Bengal, sparks fresh crisis

DARJEELING/NAMCHI: The Hills on Friday seemed to be plunging deeper into chaos and uncertainty, with the conflict spilling over to Sikkim and a 48-year-old woman dying in Darjeeling during a nighttime protest march.

Officials also said they had found telltale signs of the involvement of Maoists from across the

International Border

, which might open another front in the violence.

Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) president Bimal Gurung took the statehood issue beyond Bengal’s borders into neighbouring Sikkim, where he called the party’s central committee meeting at a private resort — reportedly owned by a senior Sikkim politician’s kin — 3km from Namchi. This, in turn, prompted the Bengal government to shoot off a strong letter to Sikkim, asking it to desist from giving shelter to absconding GJM leaders.

Sikkim Police lodged a complaint against their Bengal counterparts for intruding into Sikkim and firing, causing the death of Dawa Bhutia, a trusted chauffeur of former

Gorkhaland Territorial Administration

sabhasad and Gurung’s relative, Dawa Lepcha. The state cops denied the allegation.

The letter followed a day of high drama, with a Bengal CID team posing as tourists and reaching Namchi to round up nine GJM central committee members who were on their way to attend the meeting.

Gurung himself, who was present at the resort, managed to escape, which prompted the CID to issue a look-out notice against him, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri and party senior Prakash Gurung. This, officials said, would preempt any attempt to sneak across the international border.

The drama, which started at the resort, continued to the Namchi police station. Sikkim officers wanted their Bengal counterparts to produce transit remands for the 14 people arrested, including the nine GJM central committee members, before allowing them back to Bengal. By the end of the day, two of the 14 were still inside the Namchi police station lock-up.

The mysterious appearance of Dawa Bhutia’s body at Sadam, near Namchi, added to the tension. Lepcha alleged Bhutia was killed in police firing and said he would file a complaint with the Namchi police against Kalimpong cops.

The duel between Gurung and Tamang on social media added fuel to the fire, besides throwing into complete uncertainty the September 12 talks. Soon after GJM general secretary Giri told the media that Tamang had been stripped of his party post and the GJM central committee would adopt a resolution to expel him, Tamang responded by saying: “I announced the decision to lift the strike after talking to Gurung and Giri. They would have taken the credit of lifting the strike had it been a success.” The former party chief coordinator also announced he would file a defamation case against Gurung once he got the expulsion letter.

The GJM’s internal squabbles also made things difficult for other Hills parties like the CPRM, GNLF, and JAP.

CPRM

spokesperson Govind Chhetri went with Gurung and said there was no point going for the second round of talks with the state on September 12. JAP president Harka Bahadur Chhetri said the Darjeeling situation was such that his party could not think of the dialogue “just now”. GNLF leader Mahendra Chhetri was the only one to say his party would be going for the September talks with the Bengal government.