By IANS
Kolkata : Tension continued to prevail in West Bengal’s northern hill district Darjeeling Sunday as an indefinite shutdown called by Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) to protest over the attack on its leader by rival party supporters entered its second day.
“The situation is tense in the hills and section 144 is still being imposed there. There’s a total shutdown, which impacted life in Darjeeling, Kerseong and Kalimgpong subdivisions Sunday,” West Bengal Inspector General R.J.S Nawla told IANS on telephone.
Violence rocked Darjeeling Friday after GNLF leader and former Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) councillor K.B. Gurung was attacked by its rival party workers of the Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha (GJMM).
After the incident, GJMM party workers led by Bimal Gurung went on a rampage destroying houses of GNLF workers. The sporadic clashes between the rival factions left 11 people injured in the hills.
“Both the political parties are trying to gain advantage from this incident,” Nawla said.
“The response to the shutdown call is quite good, as no one wants to get into any trouble. To control the situation, police and the rapid action force (RAF) have been deployed. No incident of clash has been reported so far,” he said.
“Three people have been arrested on charges of attack on the GNLF leader K.B. Gurung,” Nawla added.
The GNLF, led by Subash Ghisingh, is the main political party in the hills, while, Bimal Gurung, the president of the GJMM, was expelled from GNLF for “anti-party” activities.
The Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha was opposing the grant of Sixth Schedule status by the Centre to the Darjeeling hills region. They also had called a 12-hour shutdown Nov 22 in support of their demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland in the region.
The GNLF had opposed the shutdown call.
Ghisingh’s GNLF party along with the centre and state governments had signed a memorandum of understanding in 2005 and announced the Gorkha hills a Sixth Schedule area, which gives a greater autonomy to the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC).
Under the Sixth Schedule, the district council gets more powers similar to those enjoyed by the Autonomous District Councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.