Bandh gets an apolitical highway ride
Stay-away plea flies against SC order


May 12: An “apolitical” outfit supporting the Gorkhaland cause has appealed to people to stay away from the national highway to Sikkim on May 15 and 16, the two days on which the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has called a bandh.

The “appeal” is expected to hit Sikkim-bound traffic despite a Supreme Court directive to the Bengal government and the Centre to keep NH31A, the lifeline of the Himalayan state, free of blockades.

However, keeping in mind the apex court order, the Morcha had announced that it would not picket on the highway during its two-day bandh.

But the National Highway Protection and Welfare Association, which claimed it was apolitical but supported the Morcha cause, today said it would “appeal” to all concerned to refrain from plying vehicles on the road during the strike.

The apex court order had come on a petition filed by a Sikkim resident. Frequent strikes called in Bengal by those supporting and opposing the Gorkhaland agitation had been affecting traffic on the busy highway.

This time too, despite the court directive, owners and drivers of vehicles, especially those ferrying tourists, are reluctant to ply on NH31A during the bandh. Moreover, the three companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) that arrived on February 23 in compliance with the apex court order to keep the highway free of blockades left the region on May 4.

“On February 18, four vehicles on way to Siliguri were vandalised by an unidentified group during a general strike called by the Gorkha Janmukti Vidyarthi Morcha. After the incident, all vehicles bound for Siliguri returned to Sikkim,” said a Gangtok-based tour operator.

The general secretary of the Travel Agents’ Association of Sikkim, Lukendra Rasailly, said there was already a shortage of vehicles in the Himalayan state. “There could be more shortage as vehicle owners will not take the risk of plying them on the strike days,” Rasailly said. He added that the Darjeeling strike had caused overcrowding in Sikkim with tourists cancelling their bookings and moving to the Himalayan state.

The secretary of the Siliguri Taxi Owners’ Association, Kamal Khawas, however, was non-committal about the “appeal”. “About 200 vehicles run between Siliguri and different destinations in Sikkim. Let us see what happens when the strike begins,” he said.

Despite the Morcha keeping NH31A out of its protests after the court intervention, there were instances in the past when stones were thrown at vehicles plying the highway. Under the circumstances, it is unlikely that anyone will drive their vehicles on NH31A, especially with an apolitical organisation backing the shutdown call.

“We are an apolitical organisation consisting of educated youths living along the stretch between Mungpong and Rangpo. We fully support the Morcha’s statehood agitation. We, therefore, appeal to all concerned not to ply their vehicles along NH31A during the strike,” said Ajay Diyali, the general secretary of the association.

Diyali, however, said they would not picket on the highway. “It’s only an appeal. We are confident that everyone supporting the statehood demand will heed our request,” he said. On February 26, then chief secretary of Bengal Asok Mohan Chakrabarti had assured his Sikkim counterpart T.T. Dorji that the highway would be kept open at all times.

K.L. Tamta, the inspector-general of police, north Bengal, while confirming that the CRPF had left, said: “With the agitation being renewed and given the state of affairs, we have asked for four companies of the CRPF to be deployed in the hills and the highway.”

The police chief, however, ruled out the use of force to clear blockades on the highway during the Morcha strike. “In case any blockade on NH31A is reported, we will approach the agitators and remind them of the Supreme Court verdict and tell them that it should not be violated under any circumstances,” he said. “There is no question of applying force to clear the road.”

source the telegraph