Darjeeling: A 96-hour shutdown took hold in the Darjeeling hills of West Bengal from Monday to press for the demand for a separate Gorkhaland state.
The bandh, called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, crippled life completely in the hill district as the tourists left the famous hill station and the protesters said they would not spare anything from the strike this time.
GJM leader Bimal Gurung said the present agitation is their final battle for Gorkhaland.
"This is our final battle but our movement would be democratic and peaceful," Bimal Gurung said.
Agitation for a separate Gorkhaland may hit tourism in Darjeeling
There are protests and demonstrations in the Himalayan foothills of Siliguri, too, where people are opposed to the division of West Bengal.
The GJM activists began their fresh agitation on December 11 with a fast-unto-death protest at various places.
"If the Telangana demand can be met why not our 102-year-old demand be met? We are fighting this time to realize a Gorkhaland," GJM president Bimal Gurung said.
The Gorkhas, who are ethnic Nepalis, have got a fresh impetus to renew its statehood demand after the centre agreed to concede a separate Telangana state.
Inspired by Telangana cause, Gorkhaland presses for statehood
They began their agitation on Friday with the indefinite fast-unto-death by 105 Gorkha Janmukti Manch (GJM) activists and a 96-hour-shutdown from Monday.
The Gorkhaland movement that began in the 1980s had ended with a truce between hill leader Subhash Ghising and New Delhi after he accepted limited autonomy in 1988 with a new Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC).
But in recent years the movement was reignited by the Gorkhas with new leaders who raised fresh demand for a state.
GJM leader Bimal Gurung said the present agitation is their final battle for Gorkhaland.
"This is our final battle but our movement would be democratic and peaceful," Bimal Gurung said.
Agitation for a separate Gorkhaland may hit tourism in Darjeeling
There are protests and demonstrations in the Himalayan foothills of Siliguri, too, where people are opposed to the division of West Bengal.
The GJM activists began their fresh agitation on December 11 with a fast-unto-death protest at various places.
"If the Telangana demand can be met why not our 102-year-old demand be met? We are fighting this time to realize a Gorkhaland," GJM president Bimal Gurung said.
The Gorkhas, who are ethnic Nepalis, have got a fresh impetus to renew its statehood demand after the centre agreed to concede a separate Telangana state.
Inspired by Telangana cause, Gorkhaland presses for statehood
They began their agitation on Friday with the indefinite fast-unto-death by 105 Gorkha Janmukti Manch (GJM) activists and a 96-hour-shutdown from Monday.
The Gorkhaland movement that began in the 1980s had ended with a truce between hill leader Subhash Ghising and New Delhi after he accepted limited autonomy in 1988 with a new Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC).
But in recent years the movement was reignited by the Gorkhas with new leaders who raised fresh demand for a state.
