KOLKATA: The declaration of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief coordinator Binay Tamang to temporarily lift the indefinite strike in Darjeeling hills from Friday boomeranged with GJM removing him from his post and mooting to expel him from the party.
The GJM leader had declared that the strike will be lifted from Friday 6 am till September 12, when the second round of talks with the state government was slated to take place in Siliguri. However, Friday morning began with Bimal Gurung loyalists taking out protest rallies in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Gorubathan towns where they termed Tamang as ‘traitor of Gorkhaland’ and burnt him in effigy.
Police protection was beefed up around Tamang’s residence in Darjeeling, where he is literally living under house arrest, after his house was ransacked by Bimal Gurung loyalists on Thursday night.
“The GJM central committee will call a meeting to take a resolution on expelling Binay Tamang and Anit Thapa from the party. We had entrusted him with the position of chief coordinator but he took the decision of lifting the strike without taking anyone in confidence. This is a people’s movement and he has failed us,” said GJM general secretary Roshan Giri.
In a video message, party supremo Bimal Gurung asserted that he is still the president of the party and alleged that some leaders were shaking hands with the Bengal government with a motive to derail the statehood movement. “These two people (Thapa and Tamang) have attempted to malign our struggle. I was kept in the dark and they didn’t consult me. These people worked with the police and administration to add fuel to the fire and they are attempting to make sure that Gurung remains underground for a long time. I am sure God will punish them,” he said.
Meanwhile, CID arrested nine GJM leaders from the West Bengal-Sikkim inter-state border in Kalimpong district on Friday in connection with the blasts that rocked the two districts and killed and injured several people.