Tourists raise a toast at a bar-cum-restaurant in Kalimpong after the five-day bandh. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha

Darjeeling, Nov. 28: The people’s response to the GNLF’s indefinite bandh call has prompted senior citizens here to give a more permanent shape to their movement.

People like Father Kinley Tshering, the rector of St Joseph’s School (North Point), and lawyer B.K. Pradhan, who were among the 7,000-odd people who marched through Darjeeling on a bandh day to call for peace, met at the Gymkhana Club today.

They mulled a forum to protest against shutdowns, which are frequent and often long in the hills.

The warring GNLF and the breakaway Gorkha Janmukti Morcha took it to bizarre heights over the last weekend.

The Morcha called a 96-hour bandh on Thursday before calling it off the same evening. A 108-hour Kalimpong bandh called by the GNLF ended on Monday, but the general strike called by the party across the hills was indefinite.

The people’s resentment was the main reason why the bandh was called off today, though the GNLF said the arrest of several members of the rival party over an attack on its leader led to the decision.

Tourism and the many reputable schools dotting the hills, key elements in the local economy, were hit hard.

Suresh Periwal of the Indian Association of Tour Operators said hotel owners must have lost around Rs 50 lakh in the past few days.

School heads fear that parents of prospective students might be scared away.

Father Kinley, who presided over the meeting, blamed the people’s attitude for the crisis. “I’ve stayed in many cities. People there fight for their rights. We, in Darjeeling, take things lying down.”

S.B. Zimba, a retired bureaucrat, who was chosen president of the new body, said “this isolated awareness” must spread to every nook and corner of the hills.

There were words of caution, too. “We had formed a similar platform to protest against the lack of water supply. But supporters of a political party beat up those who attended the rally. The authorities did not respond to our complaints,” said Kiran Tamang.

The platform is expected to act as a pressure group to redress social and civic problems.

Darjeeling returned to normality today. Almost all shops opened on a cold, grey morning. There were long queues in front of banks.