Kolkata, Dec 26 (IANS) Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) activists Saturday started a relay hunger strike at four places in Darjeeling district in West Bengal in an apparent attempt to keep up the pressure for creation of a separate Gorkhaland state.
“This relay hunger strike will continue till our demand for Gorkhaland is met,” GJM general secretary Roshan Giri told IANS over phone.

The GJM, which is spearheading the agitation for Gorkhaland to be carved out of the entire Darjeeling and parts of Jalpaiguri districts in northern West Bengal, has also given a call for a shutdown of all government offices in the hills from Dec 28. Banks, LIC and post offices have been exempted.

The outfit earlier gave a call to its supporters not to pay taxes and utility bills to the government, causing losses to the government exchequer running into crores.

He said 12 activists of various wings of his party were participating in the hunger strike in Darjeeling sub-division, and seven each in Kalimpong and Kurseong and the plains of Siliguri. Each group will be on hunger strike for 24 hours.

Giri claimed the hunger strike will not inconvenience the tourists.

“This is a relay hunger strike. This will not impact our tourists,” Giri said.

“The government should take some positive steps on our Gorkhaland demand soon.”

There was no consensus on Gorkhaland in the Dec 21 tripartite meeting among the central and state governments and the GJM, though all sides agreed to continue the discussions to find a solution to the vexed issue.

The GJM organised indefinite shutdowns twice in the hills last year and once in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls this year, severely hitting tea, timber and tourism - the bread and butter of the region.

The central government had in 2005 offered the Sixth Schedule status to the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF)-led Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) for ensuring greater autonomy to the governing body.

However, the GJM, the dominant party in the Darjeeling sub-division now, has opposed special status for the DGHC.

The stir seems to have got a fillip after the central government recently announced that it was ready to concede the demand for a Telangana state to be formed out of parts of Andhra Pradesh.