By Saugar Sengupta
The Trinamool Congress Government on Thursday called out Army to save Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Cabinet colleagues, and restore order in Darjeeling after thousands of agitating Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) supporters went berserk in their bid to break the police cordon and enter the Raj Bhavan where the CM was holding a Cabinet meeting for the first time in 45 years. Earlier in the day, the GJM clashed with inadequate security forces, torching at least 15 vehicles and injuring many men in khaki while opposing “imposition” of Bengali language in schools in Hills. On how many people had been injured, the district administration could not give accurate answer. Superintendent of Police D Yadav said “many policemen have been injured as the protesters threw bottles and stones from all sides from hill tops and elsewhere.” Also, he was not sure on how many GJM supporters were injured in the lathi-charge ordered to disperse the crowd. The CM who was literally spending tense hours with her Cabinet of 30 Ministers, including those accused in the Narada, Sharada and other scams inside the Raj Bhavan promptly rejected the agitation as an issue less one fanned by GJM chief Bimal Gurung to gain back relevance ahead of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration elections.
Also, the GJM called an indefinite bandh in the Hills causing great inconvenience to the thousands of tourists who were currently vacationing in Darjeeling and neighbouring hill stations. Following the clashes that included bottle and stone pelting, bursting of bombs, firing of tear gas shells and gas guns, right at the Mall which is not even 200 metres from where the Chief Minister and her team were holed up, the tourists many of who were foreigners ran helter-skelter, sources said. By the sundown loads of public vehicles and even trucks were seen ferrying tourists back to Siliguri in lieu of astronomical amounts. In the face of it the GJM had been protesting against the “forced imposition of Bengali language in the Hills” whereas the Chief Minister claimed Bengali would be introduced as the fourth subject only and would be optional in nature. “They have no issue. They are making a violent movement to gain back relevance in the Hills because they know that they will lose in the GTA elections and will also have to face the special audit which will expose their five years of corrupt rule,” State Education Minister Partho Chatterjee said. The situation was such that it seemed for a while that the Chief Minister and her Cabinet was in a genuine security crisis. “The terrain is so steep and tricky that it is not possible for police that were ferried up from plains to control the situation,” said a CRP officer, adding the Government decision to call in the Army was a prudent act otherwise “VVIPs would be in danger.” The army had been called out for the first time since Banerjee came to power in 2011 said sources, adding that the last time the Army had to be called out was in 2010 when there was a riot in Deganga in North 24 Parganas. The armed forces were called out following discussions between Chief Minister, Chief Secretary and the Home Secretary, sources said.