PTI
Darjeeling/New Delhi, June 18: A public library, two panchayat offices and a police vehicle were set ablaze at Kalimpong Sunday, though Darjeeling, the hub of the GJM-led agitation for a separate Gorkhaland, remained incident-free.
Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) activists took out a protest march carrying the bodies of two party supporters who, they alleged, were killed in police firing Saturday. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the second time in two days and appealed to the protesters not to resort to violence and come forward for a dialogue to resolve any issue.
The police said that a library, two panchayat offices and a police vehicle were set on fire in Kalimpong in the afternoon as the indefinite shutdown call given by the GJM to press for a separate state had entered its fourth day.
The GJM, however, denied its involvement in the incidents and alleged that these were a “handiwork” of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to “malign” it. The party has claimed that three of its activists were killed Saturday.
The protesters, carrying black flags and the Tricolour, assembled at Chowkbazar. They shouted slogans in support of Gorkhaland and demanded that the police and security personnel be “removed immediately” from Darjeeling.
Carrying bodies of the two supporters in a hearse with GJM flags and posters terming them as “martyrs of Gorkhaland”, thousands of locals, including GJM activists, shouted slogans like “police, go back”.
Despite the GJM’s claim, ADG (law and order) Anuj Sharma had Saturday denied the allegation of police firing.
He had, however, said that one person had died yesterday, but did not specify the cause of his death. Thirty-five security personnel, including an India Reserve Battalion officer, were injured during widespread clashes between GJM activists and the police Saturday.
There was a massive deployment of police and para-military personnel, but they didn’t stop the GJM from taking out the march with the bodies.
Internet services have been blocked in Darjeeling since 9 am. According to police sources, the step was taken to stop the GJM activists from using social media to spread “messages and provocative posts”.
The GJM gave a call for a 12-hour bandh, but if failed to evoke much response.
HM appeals for peace
New Delhi:As Darjeeling remained on the boil over a separate statehood agitation, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Sunday appealed to protesters not to resort to violence and, instead, hold dialogue to resolve any issue. He said resorting to violence would never help them in finding a solution and asked the people living there to remain calm and peaceful. “All concerned parties and stakeholders should resolve their differences and misunderstandings through dialogue in amicable environment,” Singh said. In a democracy like India resorting to violence would never help in finding a solution, he said, emphasising that “every issue can be resolved through mutual dialogue”.
