It has been 21 days that the hills of West Bengal are witnessing violence and protest, with the firm demand for a separate state for the Gorkhas. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has been holding strike and demonstrating violence by ordering shut down in the hills.
As per the recent reports about the protest, the police has seized a consignment which contained, around 300 army like uniforms, army shoes, sleeping bags and masks. Though the consignment which was from Delhi was booked on the name of a businesswoman from Siliguri, the police are allegedly assuming that GJM Chief Bimal Gurung has ordered for this consignment. Bimal has denied the allegation, refusing to agree the ordering of any such consignment.
According to the reports of the investigation carried out after the consignment was seized, it is believed that Bimal is secretly training and raising a group of 200 youths under the Gorkha Liberation Personnel (GLP), to fight against the security forced, who are trying to suppress the protest on the orders of the Banerjee-government.
In the past records also GJM had trained a private army of thousands of young men and women, who were trained by ex-army officers in 2007-08. Initially the private army was called the Gorkha Land Police, but later it was renamed to Gorkha Land Personnel (GLP). These youngsters were trained to deal arms and other weapons by the officers.
In a statement, chief of the party’s Mahila Morcha and Bimal’s wife Asha Gurung said that, the protest is for a separate state of Gorkhaland and people from all areas are joining the movement. She threatened that though the thousands of cadres trained in 2007-08, were not living in camps, but just at one order of Bimal all of them will be on their feet to fight for their land.