A mock funeral of Subash Ghisingh being performed by Morcha supporters in Darjeeling on Thursday. Picture by Suman Tamang

Darjeeling, Feb. 29: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is out to mock the beleaguered GNLF chief Subash Ghisingh in more ways than one after the Bengal government asked the caretaker administrator of the hill council to step down from his post within 10 days.

The Morcha supporters have started collecting rice and dal from residents here to perform the last rites of Ghisingh at Chowrastha tomorrow. They had yesterday brought out a funeral procession of Ghisingh here and hence decided to perform his last rites tomorrow.

“We are expecting about 10,000 people to attend the ceremony at Chowrastha. We will set up six kitchens to serve people khitchdi and aludum,” said Dinesh Gurung, the president of the Morcha’s town committee.

The programme will start at 2pm and will be symbolic of the way history repeats itself, for the hill had witnessed a similar event during the Gorkhaland agitation in the eighties which saw Ghisingh assume control of the DGHC.

At the peak of the agitation, some “miscreants” had dug up a grave for D.P. Rai, who was the undisputed ABGL leader in the hills till his death in early eighties. Rai, had been in control of the hills for over two decades and the ABGL’s sway had ended after his death.

“Our volunteers are collecting rice and dal from all the 32 wards and we want to invite all the hill people to sound the death knell for Subash Ghisingh,” said Gurung.

In fact, the ceremony will be conducted according to the social norms prevalent in the hills. During such ceremonies, people who go and eat at the house of the bereaved family also make monetary contributions. This practice is termed sharaw in local parlance.

“We will ask people to contribute only Re 1. The amount has been fixed so that people coming from every strata of the society can take part in the ceremony,” added Gurung.