Morcha members queue up in front of Darjeeling Sadar police station to court arrest on Wednesday. (Suman Tamang)

Jaigaon, Feb. 16: The Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad has called an indefinite bandh in the Dooars from tomorrow, the day supporters of Bimal Gurung will march from Sankosh to Kumani.

With the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha vowing to carry on with the march, the Jalpaiguri district administration has put all police stations in the Dooars on full alert.

The Terai-Dooars regional committee of the Parishad met at Banarhat today to discuss the Morcha’s plan to carry on with the march tomorrow in a bid to stake a claim to the Dooars and the Terai in the proposed state of Gorkhaland.

“We have decided to declare a bandh in the Dooars from tomorrow. All institutions and establishments, even tea gardens, will be under the purview of the bandh for an indefinite period. The Morcha’s plan to hold the padayatra is nothing but a ploy to create trouble in the otherwise peaceful region. We cannot allow that to happen,” said John Barla, the president of the Terai-Dooars regional committee.

Barla said garden workers would take to the streets to prevent the Morcha from carrying out the march. “We had made several written appeals to the administration not to grant permission to the march. We are hopeful that the administration will prevent them from vitiating the peace in the area. Otherwise, we will take to the streets,” said Tezkumar Toppo, a president of the Parishad who chaired the meeting.

The Parishad had written to the district administration yesterday that it would call a bandh from February 17 to 27 to protest the Morcha march.

The vice-president of the Morcha central committee, Kalyan Dewan, termed the bandh call a gambit by the CPM and the government to prevent his party from carrying out their “peaceful and democratic movement”.

Gurung has been camping at Kumani since January 19 after being prevented from entering the Dooars. Following the police firing at Sibchu on February 8, he announced that Morcha supporters in the Dooars would start marching from several places towards Kumani on February 17. The marches would culminate with a rally at Kumani on February 27.

“The CPM has been depriving and exploiting the people of the Dooars, regardless of their community. We are fighting for the democratic rights of the people of the region, be it Adivasis, Nepalis, Bengalis or Biharis. We hope that our march, that will take place as announced, will be supported by one and all,” said Dewan.

The Morcha also asked the administration not to fall prey to the CPM-led government’s machinations. “I appeal to police and the administration not to look through the glasses the CPM is wearing and judge the situation without any bias. Please allow our democratic movement to take place and not be provoked by politics,” said Dewan.

Jalpaiguri police chief Anand Kumar said all police stations in the Dooars had been put on maximum alert. “The Morcha has not approached us for permission to take out marches and Section 144 is still in force. We are keeping a close watch on the situation,” said Kumar.