Threat posters on Gorkhaland in Darjeeling

DARJEELING: Posters threatening political leaders for exploiting the sensitive Gorkhaland issue for political gain surfaced in Chowk Bazar of Darjeeling town on Saturday. Written in Nepali, the posters were attributed to an outfit named Krantikari Mukti Sena.

"If any party and their leaders indulge in a drama over the Gorkhaland demand, they will have to pay with their lives. We are ready not only to take bullets but spray them if required."

The poster mentions both the ruling Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and opposition parties like the All India Gorkha League (AIGL), Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist (CPRM) and the erstwhile Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF).

The Sena in their other poster states that they are working for the Gorkhaland demand and they recognize only the Gorkha community and the demand for a separate state for which they were ready to shed blood.

The outfit, whose indentity could not be ascertained, further blamed the GNLF for compromising on the Gorkhaland demand by accepting the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC). "Let the present parties and leaders not repeat the same mistakes. Political parties must work for the welfare of the people and the region without personal motives," reads the poster.

Commenting on the posters, AIGL general secretary Pratap Khati said, "It is the work of frustrated youths who have been encouraged by the lack of grit of the district administration here. There is no law and order in the Hills and miscreants have taken the opportunity to post such posters in the town".

Khati said that AIGL was the only one true to the demand of Gorkhaland. "Our party president sacrificed his life for a separate state. We have not compromised on the demand of the people unlike those who have settled for DGHC, GTA and Sixth Schedule," he said.

He also cautioned the district administration to take proactive measures to ensure that outfits or individuals indulging in such malicious activity be identified. Recently, in April posters by an unknown outfit named the Bharatiya Gorkha Janhit Morcha had also put up posters in Ghoom which is only 8 km from Darjeeling town, Sukhia near the Indo-Nepal border and Teesta Valley with the demand for Gorkhaland state. The posters had asked political parties of the Hills not to play with people's emotions using the separate statehood issue.

The GJM leaders refused to give much importance to the posters.

"We have nothing to fear or feel bad about as our party is true to the demand of the Gorkhaland state. We have accepted the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) for development of the Hills but not given up on the separate state demand.

It (posters) is a tactic to threaten us," said Roshan Giri, the GJM general secretary. Darjeeling SP Kunal Agarwal said, "We have come to know about the posters but have not identified the outfit.. We are investigating the matter. 

Source: TOI