Darjeeling: The Darjeeling Hills braced for a fresh confrontation between the Mamata Banerjee government and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) which has called an indefinite shutdown for a separate Gorkhaland and against the alleged imposition of Bengali language in schools.
On Sunday, GJM president Bimal Gurung asked tourists to leave the Hills because of the possibility of "untoward" incidents.
The Trinamool Congress government has ordered all its employees and those of the institutions receiving grants-in-aid from it to attend office on all days till the agitation continues, warning that absence from duty will be considered a break in service.
"All state government offices in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts will remain open and all employees should report for duty on each day till such bandh is not withdrawn," a government notification said. "Any absence will be considered as a break in service and no salary will be admissible unless covered by reasonable grounds," it said.
The indefinite shutdown comes three days after the GJM called a 12-hour bandh in the hills.
The picturesque north Bengal town, known the world over for its tea industry, witnessed large-scale violence last week.
GJM supporters and workers had clashed with the police and set ablaze several government vehicles during widespread protests over introduction of Bengali language in schools in the hills.
The Army had to be called out to stage flag marches in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong to restore peace.
The sensitive language issue provided the spark which reignited the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland.
Blaming Banerjee for the renewal of the Gorkhaland demand by his party, Gurung said, "We will stick to our demand for a separate state and continue with the agitation for achieving it. Mamata Banerjee has forced us to renew the statehood demand, we will achieve it."
Darjeeling Hills had seen a violent movement for a separate Gorkhaland in the mid-1980s under Subhash Ghisingh. The movement ended with the establishment of a semi-autonomous administrative body in 1988 called Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council headed by Ghisingh.
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