Gorkhaland agitation suspended for two days

The Gorkhaland agitation in the Darjeeling Hills has been suspended for 48 hours beginning today after a thunderstorm swept through the region last night uprooting trees and snapping electric wires and telephone cables. Trees were uprooted at many places in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong, civil defence sources said. Two persons were injured in the thunderstorm at Lewis Jhupri.

Gorkha Janmukti Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said, "The agitation is being suspended for two days because of the damage caused by the storm and will be resumed on August 22 or 23. However, in Kalimpong, the agitation will continue during the day.”

In a post on social networking site Facebook, GJM President Bimal Gurung said last night's thunderstorm has caused significant damage in many places of the Hills, with roads getting blocked by uprooted trees. Echoing Giri, Gurung said the GJM was 'assessing the damage' and it would take two days for restoration of normalcy. Stating that a rally would be organised on August 22, he claimed that 'Ghar Bitra Janta' (people remaining indoors) agitation, which concluded yesterday, was "a huge success" and the next would be 'Janta Sadak Ma' (people on the roads) agitations for four days.

Shops, markets, government offices, banks and post offices, however, remained closed today. At the district magistrate's office, no employee was present, and visiting reporters found schools and colleges closed except the Ramakrishna Primary Teachers College where final examinations of the one-year course are being held.

Meanwhile, Darjeeling Tea Planters' Association Advisor Sandeep Mukhopadhay said tea planters in the Hills have decided to approach the Gorkhaland Joint Action Committee as tea stocks have started piling up. The GJAC has forbidden transportation of tea and timber from the hills. Mukhopadhay said that as tea garden owners are unable to transport stocks, they should not be blamed if they decide to shut down and move away. He said tea transportation should be allowed in the interest of workers. Tea gardens were open today, but there was no work at the cinchona plantations.

On the security front, the CPRF and IRB have been deployed on National Highway 31A, the lifeline of Sikkim. Sources said as a precautionary measure, a CRPF company has also been deployed at Sonada as it is considered to be a sensitive area. They added a GJM labour wing leader named Kharga Vikram has been arrested from Kalimpong taking the total number of arrests during the present agitation to 600.(EOI)