By IANS,
Siliguri (West Bengal) : Days after the Darjeeling Hills in West Bengal were stuck by violence and crippling shutdowns to press for separate statehood, another party – Kamtapur Progressive Party (KPP) – has called for an economic blockade Saturday demanding a separate state.
The party, demanding a separate Kamtapur state in the north, has called upon its supporters not to pay taxes or repay government loans.
In a statement, party chief Atul Roy announced that its activists would start a rail and road blockade in the region from July 28 and participate in hunger strikes before the block development offices of north Bengal.
The party has also called for constitutional status for Kamtapuri dialect, the statement said.
The demands come on the heels of disturbances in the state’s northernmost part – the Darjeeling Hills, with the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) spearheading an intensive movement for the creation of a Gorkhaland state.
The GJM paralysed the hills by calling indefinite shutdowns that continued till Sunday.
The KPP, which has been active in North Bengal, was earlier known as the Kamtapur People’s Party, but got its new name after Roy broke away from the parent party.