Supporters of Bimal Gurung’s rival Benoy Tamang staged Sunday’s protests.
Calcutta:
Three days after the missing Darjeeling leader Bimal Gurung, who led a violent unrest for a separate state, Gorkhaland, resurfaced in Calcutta, his rivals currently in control of the hill station staged protest demonstrations on Sunday and warned that if his return meant a return to violence. , people wouldn’t let him go into the hills.
Sunday’s protest in Darjeeling was apparently in reaction to supporters of the Gorkha Jamukti Morcha Bimal Gurung (GJM-BG) faction who flew their party flags in the hill town yesterday for the first time since entering the underground in 2017. at Chowk Bazaar, a bustling market place in the center of town.
Leaders of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s youth front, loyal to Gurung’s rival Benoy Tamang (GJM-BT), who organized Sunday’s protests, removed the flags of the Bimal Gurung party.
“We want peace in the hills. If the few remaining cadres of Gurung in Darjeeling create problems, then the administration and the people will not let him enter the hills,” said Alok Kantamani Thulung, chairman of the subdivision of Darjeeling, GJM-BT.
He claimed abusive posters were put up in Kalimpong with threats of violence. “We want to give Bimal Gurung control over his cadres – the few who are still there. We don’t want the hills to be disturbed,” he added.
The protest at Chowk Bazaar started at 11 a.m. with hundreds shouting slogans for peace in the hills and a handful also raising slogans against Bimal Gurung.
“He’s not going back to the hills with Gorkhaland like he promised. He’s only coming here for his own protection. He’s used to creating problems. We don’t want him here,” several speakers said. at the gathering in Chowk Bazaar. .
Within three days of his dramatic return to public space and his press meeting where he said he would work with the Trinamool Congress to see Mamta Banerjee become Chief Minister of West Bengal for the third time in 2021 , Bimal Gurung has maintained a low profile apparently locked in an upscale hotel.
Bimal Gurung has several serious criminal cases against him, including the charge of being involved in the murder of a police officer and charges of sedition under the UAPA. The West Bengal administration even issued a lookout in 2017 but there is no sign of imminent arrest.
When Gurung surfaced on Thursday, the Trinamool Congress tweeted that they welcomed Mr. Gurung’s commitment to peace and the decision to withdraw support from the NDA and rest confidence in Mamta Banerjee’s leadership.
But after this tweet, there was no further communication in the public domain from Gurung or the Trinamool Congress.
We welcome Bimal Gurung’s commitment to peace and the decision to withdraw support for the NDA while relying on @MamataOfficialthe leadership of. The BJP’s attempts to use the Gorkhaland issue for petty politics and their untrustworthy nature are now fully exposed to the people of Bengal. (1/2)
– All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) October 21, 2020
BJP and left-wing opposition congressional parties have raised questions about the so-called deal between GJM-BG and Mamata Banerjee. Mamata Banerjee has accepted Gorkhaland’s training, his political opponents have asked.
At his press meeting on Thursday, Mr Gurung said he was committed to the idea of a separate state from Gorkhaland. He said he was leaving the NDA because it did not keep its promise of a separate state “Mamta Banerjee has always kept her promises, that’s why I support her for the 2021 elections”, a- he declared.
