Present situation in Darjeeling is under control, peace restored: Mamata Banerjee

Banerjee, who stayed back in the hills on Thursday to ensure the safety of several tourists, monitored the situation closely and also provided help to several injured people, particularly to the women police whose dresses were burnt in the protest.

The GJM was protesting against a number of issues, one of which is to do away with the introduction of Bengali as a subject in schools.

Police had to resort to lathi-charge to disperse Gorkha Janmukti Morcha protesters in Darjeeling when they allegedly set three police vehicles to fire.

Condemning the incident, Banerjee said that she could not understand  why the GJM resorted to such an activity, particularly during the time when tourists go to hills.

"I have no language to condemn it. This time people from Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and many other states have come. All hotels are booked. Tourism is the source of income for the hills, so I really can't understand the reason behind their actions. Resorting to such an activity is nothing but a political bankruptcy," she said.

Banerjee said that she believes that the political loss of GJM to the Trinamool Congress is the sole reason for such a violent outrage, overruling the issue of imposition of Bengali in schools.

The ruling party of the state, TMC, won the Mirik municipality and also got few seats in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong in a recent election.

The TMC is the first party from the flat lands to make an entry to the political power in the hills of WB after a span of 30 years.

Several tourists were stranded in the hills since Thursday, as Darjeeling was under a bandh for 12 hours called out by the GJM.

According to reports, most of the shops and markets are closed, no private cars are plying and  very few state-run buses are being noticed in Darjeeling, though the CM claimed almost 100 percent attendance in the state run offices.

The Chief Minister said that the state government has provided bus service to the tourists free of cost so that they could return to the flat lands and also requested Indian Railways and several airlines to give additional services, considering the present situation.

Speaking about the politics behind the incident, Banerjee said: "Politics should be done in a correct sense and not because someone has lost ground in the hills."

She even blamed the previous Left Front government for the unrest in the hills. When asked to make a comment on CPI(M) leader Biman Bose's blame on the TMC government for the present situation, the CM said: "The CPI(M) (the Left Front government) compromised for 34 years in the hills. They are teaching how to protest with stones. They were the first to throw stones during a protest in Kolkata (rally to Nabanna that was held in last month). I have also done protest and rallies for a long period of time (but not done like this). Biman da (Bose) is a senior politician so I expect him to speak accordingly."

Banerjee even said that the present state government has compromised a lot for the sake of the hills but she feels there should be a limit.

After coming to power, the TMC government made a Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), a separate administration for Darjeeling and Kalimpong hills which has administrative, executive and financial powers with them.

Banerjee went to Darjeeling to hold a cabinet meeting for the first time since 1972, following which the protest has erupted on Thursday afternoon.

Image: Official Facebook page of AITC.