April 10: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has called an indefinite shutdown of government offices in the Darjeeling hills from Monday but tourists are unlikely to be inconvenienced.

Banks and private establishments, including hotels,will be allowed to function. Municipalities have also been spared.

All government offices, both central and state, will remain shut.

The Morcha, spearheading the revival of the Gorkhaland demand for the last six months, is planning to bring its campaign to Calcutta.

“We will handpick 10,001 people from across the hills and on May 7, we will start a march on foot to Writers’ Buildings. We want to tell the chief minister and the rest of Bengal about the injustice meted out to ex-servicemen who have spent their lives guarding the country,” Gurung told a crowd of over 1,000 in Darjeeling’s Chowrastha.

A bandh is already in place in the hills till 6 on Friday morning. It had been called in protest against a police lathicharge on ex-servicemen at a rally for Gorkhaland in Siliguri yesterday.

Bimal Gurung, the Morcha president, accused district magistrate Rajesh Pandey and police chief Rahul Srivastav of working “at the behest of Asok Bhattacharya”, the CPM legislator from Siliguri.

“Had the district magistrate given permission to hold a peaceful rally in Siliguri yesterday, our ex-servicemen would not have been beaten up and there would have been no violence,” Gurung said.

The Morcha has asked its women’s wing to stop the DM from entering the hills while it poured its ire on Bhattacharya by burning his effigies at the Chowrastha rally.

The MLA had invited Morcha leaders’ wrath months ago when he allegedly called them outsiders.

The Morcha also observed a token hungerstrike till 6 this evening outside the DM’s office in Darjeeling.

All educational institutions, business establishments, government offices, tea gardens and cinchona plantations remained closed through the day. Vehicles stayed off the roads.

Traffic came to a standstill at Rangpo, a town on the Bengal-Sikkim border. No vehicles, except those carrying army personnel, patients and mail, were allowed to pass through National Highway 31A, which connects Gangtok to Bengal.

Sikkim police had informed tour operators about the strike and some visitors were escorted out of Sikkim and the hills before the strike began at 6am.

In the Siliguri subdivision, however, the bandh was limited to a few pockets. Morcha supporters demonstrated on the outskirts of Siliguri town.

Additional police personnel were deployed in various parts of Darjeeling district.

In the morning, Morcha supporters marched to Subash Ghisingh’s house in Darjeeling, shouting slogans against the GNLF leader.

Gurung warned that the Morcha would have to rethink its peaceful strategy if the government does not change its attitude. He demanded an inquiry into the Siliguri lathicharge.

Gurung urged people to be prepared for a “stronger agitation” and students to sacrifice a year if need be.