Gorkhaland
'Govt won't spare': Mamata Banerjee warns of action against those calling Darjeeling strike
Kolkata/IBNS: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has disapproved of the 12-hour bandh (strike) called in Darjeeling on Feb 23 by the pro-Gorkhaland parties, warning the strike supporters of strict action on behalf of the government.
The bandh was called after the state assembly passed a motion against the demands for a separate statehood for north Bengal.
Speaking at an event, Banerjee on Tuesday said, "Bandh politics is over in Bengal. We don't allow it anymore here. If there is no bandh, Bengal will be open for jobs, industry, tourism, development, roads, transport, education."
"If someone thinks of flaunting power by calling a bandh, the government won't support it."
Apart from clearing her stance over bandh, Banerjee slammed the hill movement demanding for a separate state carving the north of Bengal from its entirety.
The Chief Minister said, "Board examinations will start from the 23rd. Everyone has the right to protest but let me give a clear instruction that no one will be spared for taking law and administration in their own hands in the name of the movement for partition of Bengal."
"We won't allow partition of Bengal...," she added.
Former ruling Trinamool Congress member Binoy Tamang went on a hunger strike on Tuesday in protest against the motion passed in assembly.
The bandh, which is supported by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, Hamro Party and Binoy Tamang, is not supported by the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF).
The issue of fresh partition of Bengal often flares up in the state politics in the backdrop of opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s MP John Barla frequent demand for a separate state for north Bengal.
In the 1980s, GNLF's then head Subhash Ghising had spearheaded a violent movement in demand for a separate statehood.
Ghising was the chairman of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council from 1988 to 2008.
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