Bimal Gurung addresses the crowd at Chowrastha in Darjeeling on Thursday. Picture by Suman Tamang

April 10: A 24-hour bandh called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morch did not affect life in Siliguri to any great extent though traffic was disrupted on national highways to the Dooars and Sikkim.

The Morcha, which was protesting against police action on an ex-servicemen’s rally in Siliguri yesterday, had set up road blockades on NH31 and NH31A.

In Siliguri and the neighbouring plains, banks, offices, markets, schools and colleges remained open and attendance was normal.

“The fact that there was no response (to the bandh) in Siliguri, where shops are closed even when smaller, lesser-known parties call strikes, proves that people want peace and unity,” said Asok Bhattacharya, the urban development minister and CPM MLA from Siliguri.

The Morcha’s central committee in the Dooars will organise similar “chakka jams” from Nagrakata in the Dooars to the Sankosh river on the Assam border tomorrow to continue with today’s protest and demand the inclusion of the region in a new state of Gorkhaland.

“The series of blockades will take place on stretches of NH31C,” said Madhukar Thapa, one of the central committee members.

In Siliguri, the situation turned tense in the morning when about 100 Morcha supporters from the Sukna and Darjeeling More units sat on a hunger strike near the spot where the lathicharge on ex-servicemen took place yesterday. CPM supporters affiliated to the Champasari local committee, soon reached the spot and started shouted slogans against them. A force from the Pradhannagar police station persuaded the Morcha protesters to withdraw.

A similar incident took place outside the BDO’s office in Matigara, where Morcha supporters were joined by those from the Kamtapur Progressive Party (KPP). Soon a CPM procession came along, shouting anti-Morcha slogans. Around 200 Morcha and KPP supporters were arrested for disturbing the peace outside government offices. They were released in the evening.

In the Dooars, Morcha supporters sat on a hunger strike at Chalsa, Nagrakata Chowk, Binaguri Bazar, Madarihat and Kalchini.

Around 130 supporters had joined the day-long fast.