By IANS,
Kolkata : Patriarch of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) and former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu expressed concern Friday over the fast unto death programme of Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) supporters at Darjeeling.
“It’s already the second day of their fast. If steps are not taken immediately, the political scenario of West Bengal will become too dangerous to handle,” Basu told reporters at the CPI-M headquarters at Alimuddin Street here.
“I am worried for the tourists. They have nothing to do with hill-politics, yet they have to suffer unnecessarily,” he said.
Terming the GJM move as “undemocratic”, Basu said Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is looking into the situation.
The fast unto death programme of the morcha supporters entered its second day Friday. It was started May 1 to protest the state government’s refusing permission to GJM to hold any political programmes in Siliguri.
GJM, led by its president Bimal Gurung, has been spear-heading the movement in the hills to demand a separate state and also opposing the sixth schedule status for Darjeeling.
The central government in 2005 announced sixth schedule status to the Gorkha National Liberation Front-led Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council that ensures greater autonomy to the governing body.