GNLF plans teacher, ex-armymen units

Darjeeling, May 8: The GNLF has decided to form associations of teachers and ex-servicemen after the announcement of the Assembly election results in yet another attempt to challenge the supremacy of the predominant Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in the hills.

The move by Subash Ghisingh’s party is considered to be significant as till date, the anti-Morcha parties, including the ABGL and the CPRM, have not been able to form frontal organisations in the hills. 

“We have already done the ground work and an association of teachers, both at primary and secondary levels, and that of ex-servicemen will be formed soon after the Assembly elections results are announced on May 13,” said a GNLF source.  

The source said the teachers’ association would form committees in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong. “As far as the ex-servicemen are concerned, around 60 of them have informally come together to form the association. Their association will largely draw up its members from the Barbotay area of Darjeeling (where the party has a support base) initially,” said source.

After lying low for more than three years, the GNLF has started consolidating its base by bringing back its supporters to various villages. The party has also appointed village chiefs, who are in turn forming village committees and village protection cells.

Ghisingh’s decision to appoint village chiefs and to form village committees is in tune with his demand that the Sixth Schedule status be granted to the hills as such chieftains are known to operate in the north-eastern states, where many areas are under the purview of the Sixth Schedule.

The decision of the GNLF to form the association of teachers and ex-servicemen, after reviving its labour union in 30-odd gardens, is an indication that the political situation in the hills is likely to remain volatile for some months after the announcement of the results.

“There is no doubt that the GNLF is trying to make a strong comeback and the Morcha, too, is unlikely to sit back quietly. In the given situation, there are apprehensions of skirmishes between the rival outfits in the coming months,” said an observer.

In fact, a section of the casual workers of the DGHC, who were earlier members of the Janmukti Asthai Karmachari Sangathan, had severed ties with the Morcha-affiliated union to form the DGHC Karmachari Sangathan.

Soon after this development, the Morcha has gone on an overdrive with a flurry of activities. The Gorkha Primary Teachers’ Organisation, which is affiliated to the Morcha, has announced a series of agitations this month to press for the fulfilment of its demands, including the appointment of 4,000 primary teachers across the hills.

D.P.Singh, the Darjeeling police superintendent, indicated that his department was keeping a close eye on the developments. “Six companies of paramilitary forces will be reaching the hills in the run up to the counting,” he said.