Forces march to hills as GJM calls strike

The government,on its part,said it will not go for any showdown with the agitators as long as they protested peacefully. However,blockades will not be allowed,state home secretary Basudeb Banerjee said.

Though GJM leaders had said in the morning that they were withdrawing the call of indefinite strike,the outfit’s chief Bimal Gurung later said there will be no “break” in the strike except on August 15.

“We had announced an indefinite strike earlier also. But after members of the Muslim community appealed to us to relax the bandh during Eid,we decided to cut it to 96 hours.”

He,however,changed his mind as soon as the news of central forces being rushed to Darjeeling reached him.

“There will no relaxation now. We will now take a hard stand against the government.”

A senior district administration official said there were indications from the government that it will fight the strike and ensure that government offices remained open.

Gurung added he “wanted people to suffer as I would also suffer”. “Until the people would suffer to a great extent,the eyes of the government would not open,” he added.

Meanwhile,a delegation of six senior GJM leaders led by GJM general secretary Roshan Giri would head to Delhi Friday.

Giri said,“We will meet all political parties there. We would talk to the ministers of the central government. But we would not compromise on separate statehood.”