Morcha supporters after they were detained on the Siliguri court compound, where they had gone to start a hunger strike. A Telegraph picture

Feb. 21: Eleven college students today joined the fast-unto-death programme of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in Darjeeling even as the condition of 22 protesters, who have been on hunger strike since February 17, deteriorated.

The Morcha was also forced to include Sarmila Shah (32) and Sarjo Lama (27) in the hunger strike after they threatened to commit suicide if refused. The number of fasting protesters in Darjeeling is now 35.

R.B. Rai, the general secretary of the CPRM, was among the hundreds who visited the protesters today and offered them khadas (traditional silk scarves).

The CPRM leader came down heavily on the district administration’s refusal to allow Morcha supporters to go on fast in front of the subdivisional office in Siliguri.

“The Morcha wanted to organise a hunger strike to demand the removal of Subash Ghisingh and to reject the Sixth Schedule status. The government, however, used the anti-Bengal and anti-Bengali slogan to scuttle democratic voices, which we vehemently protest,” said Rai.

The Legal Rights Awareness Forum — a body formed by lawyers in Darjeeling — spoke on similar lines.

“Staging a hunger strike is a democratic way of voicing a protest. The government has acted in an undemocratic manner,” said the secretary of the forum, Poonam Sharma, referring to the incident in Siliguri.

Traffic on NH31A at Rambhi, 25km from Kalimpong, was disrupted for more than six hours from 10am when police tried to stop Morcha supporters from going to Siliguri to join the hunger strike. The highway had been originally kept out of the purview of the indefinite bandh, which entered its second day in the hills.

The blockade was lifted around 4.30, when Kalimpong subdivisional officer P.T. Sherpa allowed them to proceed till Kalijhora under police escort.

“This is a gentleman’s agreement and you all must return from Kalijhora (15km from Rambhi on way to Siliguri),” Sherpa told the Morcha supporters.

Among those stranded were army personnel and tourists. Only vehicles carrying sick persons and dead bodies were allowed to pass.