Protest lock on traffic, threat of more


Siliguri, Dec. 27: Members of the Gorkha Janmukti Vidyarthi Morcha today set up blockades at Panchnoi, Sevoke, Teesta Bridge and Rangpo, bringing traffic to a grinding halt on three national highways that connect Siliguri to the hills, Sikkim and the Northeast.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s youth front has threatened to set up more blockades in the Dooars, to increase the timing from three to four hours and obstruct trains moving to and from the Northeast from tomorrow.

Trains passing through Sevoke between 12 noon and 4pm — Jha Jha-Guwahati Express and Capital Express (Danapur-Kamakshya) — are likely to be affected if the protesters take to the tracks.

The blockade started at 12 noon at all four points. Except for Panchnoi, where the block development officer of Matigara Samarjit Chakrabarty tried to persuade the students to lift the blockade, there was no intervention from the administration. Even at Panchnoi on NH55, a kilometre from Darjeeling More in Siliguri, a large police force whiled away the time for three hours.

“It is not desirable to raise blockades on national highways. We are holding talks with the Morcha leadership and we are trying to persuade them to withdraw their agitation programme. We will not resort to any pressure tactics as that could make the situation worse,” said Surendra Gupta, the district magistrate of Darjeeling.

Diptendu Saha, who had wanted to visit Darjeeling with his friends for a few hours, had to return from Darjeeling More. “We are going back to Calcutta this evening so we cannot afford to wait for the withdrawal,” he said.

Vidyarthi Morcha general secretary Keshav Raj Pokhrel said the blockades were meant to send messages to the Centre and the state.

“We want the demand for Gorkhaland to reach the state and the central governments. From tomorrow, we will organise more blockades in the Dooars and increase the blockade time. It will be from 12 noon to 4pm. During these hours, we will also obstruct trains that move to and from the Northeast,” he said a day after chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti warning the Morcha that steps would be taken to enforce law.

“No national highway can be blocked like this. It will mean violation of a Supreme Court ruling that calls for maintenance of normal services on a highway. We will have to take steps to enforce the law,” he had said in Calcutta yesterday.

At Sevoke, 25km from here, around 800 students squatted on NH31. The number of protesters was more at Sevoke since it marks the entry to Siliguri from Dooars, Kalimpong and Sikkim. Here, the vehicles queued up to 3km on either side of the blockade.

The other two blockades were put up at Teesta Bridge and Rangpo, 35km and 60km from Siliguri. Both the spots are on NH31A, Sikkim’s only road connection with the rest of the country. The blockades were lifted at 3pm at all the places.

source: telegraph