Traders getting ?no-VAT? slogans painted on their shaven heads in Malda on the first day of the three-day anti-VAT strike. Picture by Surajit Roy

March 30: ?No to VAT, but yes to tourism.? This message written on a small placard and displayed outside Glenary?s, the famous confectioners of Darjeeling, reflected most clearly the general sentiment of the hills to the three-day statewide strike, starting today, called to oppose the introduction of value added tax in West Bengal.

Protesting with a difference, the trading community of Darjeeling today responded to the strike, partially, but brought out a rally to declare that the strike would last only one day in the Hills.

Brijmohan Garg, president, Darjeeling Chambers of Commerce, said the popular sentiment against strikes in Darjeeling had influenced their decision to cut down the three-day affair to one.

?We brought out a rally in town, starting from Chowrastha, this morning to send out the message that we are against VAT. However, taking into consideration that the tourist season has started, we did not want to cause any inconvenience to the people. All emergency services were allowed to operate and even the banks were open,? said Garg.

The one-day strike in Darjeeling was near total but it did not completely cover the hospitality industry.

In Kalimpong, most shops remained open with black flags planted atop roofs as a mark of protest. In this hill subdivision, however, the traders will down their shutters on the remaining two days.

In other parts of north Bengal, however, the strike was, more or less, successful.

In the trading hub of Siliguri, the bandh closed down the main markets though medicine shops, which were kept out of the purview of the strike, and a handful of eating joints operated as usual; though with less footfall. Milk and water supply remained unaffected.

In neighbouring Jalpaiguri, the markets at Dinbazar, DBC road, town station, kept shut with only a few vegetable and fish shops doing business.

In Cooch Behar town, vegetable and fish markets remained open, but these will down their shutters tomorrow.

There were some stray incidents of violence down in Malda where a mob beat up a group of men who tried to force the closure of a vegetable market in the Rathbari area.

While some traders burnt effigies of the central and state finance ministers, a set of shopowners turned to an unusual form of protest by tonsuring and then getting ?no-Vat? slogans painted on their shaven heads.

Lauding the trading community for making a success of the strike, the secretary of the Federation of Chambers and Commerce and Industry in North Bengal, Biswajit Das, said: ?While we are happy with the success of the strike, we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to the public.?