Army out in Darjeeling after GJM, police clash

Kolkata, The Army has been called in after thousands of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) supporters held violent protests outside the Raj Bhavan in the hill town where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a Cabinet meeting today.
Kolkata-based Ministry of Defence PRO Wing Commander SS Birdi said two columns of the Army based in Darjeeling moved out from their barracks for deployment in the troubled areas following requests made by the state government. “Each column has about 80 men,” Birdi said.
This is the first time the Army has been called in to tackle a law and order situation in Darjeeling since Mamata took over as CM in 2011. Earlier, angry GJM protesters set fire to several police vehicles, a government bus and attacked the police with stones and bottles. The police retaliated by resorting to cane charge and firing tear gas shells.
A number of GJM?supporters and policemen were injured in the clashes.
The GJM had vowed to organise an agitation against state government’s move to make Bengali compulsory in schools in the state.
The Chief Minister, however, clarified at a meeting in Mirik near Darjeeling on Monday that Bengali would be an optional subject in the hills. Following today’s meeting, Banerjee once again reiterated “Bengali would not be made a compulsory subject”.
However, an unrelenting Bimal Gurung, leader of the GJM, which is spearheading the movement for a separate Gorkhaland state carved out of West Bengal, has given call for dawn-to-dusk bandh tomorrow at Darjeeling on the language issue.
The fresh unrest is set to hit tourism, with tourists already starting to leave the hill town. The North Bengal State Transport Corporation, an outfit of the West Bengal transport department, has announced special service to help tourists reach Kolkata from Siligurim located on the foothills of Darjeeling.