Darjeeling tense after Gorkha leader’s murder

The Darjeeling Hills in West Bengal, already boiling due to the Gorkhaland agitation, plunged into further turmoil on Friday after All India Gorkha League (AIGL) chief Madan Tamang was stabbed to death while he was addressing a public meeting in Darjeeling town.

The killing in full public view and broad daylight further exposed the deep divide between different Gorkha organisations fighting for creation of a separate Gorkhaland state out of West Bengal.
Tamang, 50, an ethnic Gorkha leader, had recently fallen out with the Bimal Gurung-led Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM). Bengal urban development minister and CPI(M) leader Asok Bhattacharya accused GJM of carrying out the attack.

GJM second-in-command Roshan Giri, however, refuted the allegation. “GJM is a democratic force, it believes in democracy and non-violence. These are baseless allegations. We may have ideological differences but that does not mean we will resort to violence,” he said over phone from Darjeeling.

The killing opens up the possibility of clashes between two groups of ethnic Gorkhas fighting for Gorkhaland. While one group is pursuing the extremist agenda and wants to settle for nothing less than a separate state, the other is okay with greater autonomy and an interim set-up for the Darjeeling hills.

Tamang, one of the original proponents of the Gorkhaland movement with Subhash Ghising of Gorkha National Liberation Front, was a hardliner and would not settle for anything less than a separate state. His organisation, AIGL, was till some time ago allied with GJM, the main ethnic Gorkha group spearheading the Gorkhaland movement.

The alliance was, however, breached when GJM softened its stand and agreed to an interim set-up for the Darjeeling hills, which means greater autonomy through a separate hill council. Ever since the fallout, Tamang was breathing fire at GJM and the two groups were baying for each other’s blood.

In fact, immediately before Tamang’s assassination, there was a major clash between AIGL and GJM followers in Darjeeling. Police had to fire five rounds to disperse the violent mobs. Inspector general of police (north Bengal) Kundan Lal Tamta said Tamang was attacked by a group of people with khukris (daggers) and swords while he was addressing a public meeting near Planter’s Club at around 9.30 am.

“He was first stabbed and later shot. Tamang had changed the venue of the meeting at the last moment due to opposition from GJM,” he said. Tamta said Tamang was rushed to a local hospital, where he was declared dead.

Following the assassination, tension gripped the Darjeeling hills, with offices, shops and other establishments remaining closed. Security reinforcements were rushed to the tourist town.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee ordered a high-level inquiry. After a meeting with the CM, Ashoke Bhattacharya, said Tamang’s killers would not be spared.