Dec. 19: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha will arm its volunteers with batons so they can “break legs” if needed.

“You should not harm anyone but if someone attacks you, break their legs,” Morcha president Bimal Gurung said in Darjeeling today.

The party will organise a physical training camp for the army of volunteers christened Gorkhaland Personnel. The camp, from January 7, will be held at Goke village, 35km from Darjeeling.

Taking a cue from their leader, around 4,000 members of the Morcha youth wing today brought out a rally carrying batons with small Morcha flags on top.

Former soldiers in the Morcha ranks will train the youths at Goke. “We will train a batch of 400 for two months. This will be an ongoing process for there are 10,000 of them,” said Ramesh Allay, president of the Bhutpurba Sainik Morcha.

Hotels in distress

Hoteliers in Lava, Loleygaon, Rishap and Kalimpong said their business in the year’s last fortnight had shrunk by almost 90 per cent because of the Gorkhaland agitation.

Hit severely during spring and autumn, the industry was hoping to cover some ground this season until the threat of another round of strikes. “We had almost cent per cent bookings, but almost all have been cancelled,” said Rajeeb Sahee, president of the Janmukti Hotel Association, Rishap.

The Morcha had initially threatened a 72-hour bandh from December 23. Then it put off the strike till December 26, adding to the hotels’ woes. “We had started receiving bookings from December 26. Those, too, are being scrapped now,” said Sahee.