GJMM blocks NH-31

Siliguri, April 11: Spearheading the renewed movement for a separate state of Gorkhaland, the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha is gradually spreading the agitation to the Dooars, which is part of the party’s proposed territory for the demanded state.  As a tactical move to strengthen the claim for the Dooars, the GJMM has asked its followers in the area to carry out agitations in the Darjeeling Hills. Complying with the party resolution, the GJMM activists today blocked the National Highway 31 at Madarihat and Damdim, between 8 am and 1 pm.

The blockade was called to oppose the alleged atrocities on an All Gorkha Ex-Servicemen Morcha (AGESM) rally in Siliguri on Wednesday. The AGESM is an affiliated body of the GJMM.  This is, however, not the first occasion when the Morcha has organised political agitation in the Dooars region. Its followers in the area had in observed a token hunger strike in support of the statehood call demanding inclusion of Dooars in its territory in February.  As a matter of priority, the GJMM central leadership is eyeing to woo the tea planters, who are an overwhelming majority in the Dooars. The Hill party is trying its best to convince the black tribes in tea plantations that their interests and socio-cultural identity would be safeguarded if the region was included in the proposed Gorkhaland state.

“Siliguri and the Dooars are an integral part of the territory demanded by us for Gorkhaland. To win over the confidence of the tea planters in the Dooars, we are seeking the support of the community’s political outfits based in Jharkhand,” the GJMM general secretary, Mr Roshan Giri said.  Mr Giri, along with another GJMM central committee member was in Ranchi recently and took part in a public gathering organised by the All Jharkhand Students’ Union Party (AJSU) Party. “On behalf of the Hill people I have appealed to the people of Jharkhand to support the demand for Gorkhaland. We have also invited the AJSU-Party to come to the Dooars and share the platform with us to garner the support of the tea planters’ community,” the GJMM general secretary said. [The Statesman]