Protests against the Bengal government’s decision to grant up to 5 decimals of land to tea garden residents rocked Mirik in Darjeeling hills on Sunday.

The newly formed Chia Shramik Surakasha Samiti (CSSS), which is working on various issues related to the tea gardens, organised a rally in the hill town some 35km from Darjeeling. It was attended by Opposition leaders as well.

Pratap Khati, leader of the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL) and one of the prime movers of this samiti, urged people to organise another massive rally in Darjeeling soon.

“People must organise another massive rally in Darjeeling to protest against the decision to grant 5 decimal of land. Anit Thapa (chief of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) must pass a resolution in the GTA Sabha seeking a modification to the notification,” said Khati.

On August 1, the state government issued a notification to distribute land with a 5-decimal cap to tea garden workers and other residents in estates of north Bengal.

But the decision has evoked protests from various quarters. The management of tea gardens is against the distribution of land rights to the workers.

But Opposition parties and several workers are also opposing this scheme because of the 5-decimal cap, saying many tea garden workers or garden settlers have more than 5 decimals in their possession and they should get rights to the entire land. Many leaders are alleging that the state government might distribute land to private players after recovering land in excess of 5 decimals from settlers.

Some opposed the use of the word “landless” in the notification and argued that the hill residents had been in possession of land for generations but only lacked documents.

Ajoy Edwards, the president of Hamro Party, was also at the rally which converted into a public meeting. “Our party’s elected representatives from the Darjeeling municipality to GTA Sabha are with you,” he said.

GTA chief Anit Thapa, also the president of the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), has already taken two steps back on this issue after witnessing the protests.

A few days back Thapa “requested” the district administration not to visit the tea gardens for any land survey but instead keep forms at the land reforms offices so that only those people who were willing to accept 5 decimals could fill up the forms.

On Saturday, during the third foundation day celebrations of his party in Kalimpong, Thapa said he would work to get documents for the entire land that the tea garden people possess and added that he would "take up this issue with the chief minister".

The massive crowd at Mirik on Sunday, however, suggests that Thapa was not able to pour oil over troubled waters.

The 5-decimal cap apart, some speakers at the Mirik protest also raised the Gorkhaland statehood issue. Some speakers also hit out at the tea union leaders, accusing them of working for the interest of the tea management and not the workers.