Proud to be a Sikkimese: Sikkim Travel, Culture & Local Heritage

People rushed to stock up on supplies and trucks snaked up the hills to carry essentials Monday in readiness for the indefinite shutdown in the Darjeeling Hills called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), agitating for separate statehood. People rushed to stock up on supplies and trucks snaked up the hills to carry essentials Monday in readiness for the indefinite shutdown in the Darjeeling Hills called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), agitating for separate statehood. As long queues formed outside shops in the area, the GJM, which Sunday renewed the call for an indefinite shutdown beginning 6 p.m. Monday in the three hill sub-divisions of Darjeeling district - Darjeeling, Kurseong, and Kalimpong - also stepped up calls for the resignation of state Urban Development Minister Ashok Bhattacharya. The GJM, which has kept the plain land areas of Darjeeling districts outside the purview of the shutdown but announced a relay hunger strike at various spots in Siliguri, Terai, and the D...

source: HIMALAYANDARPAN

Tension grips Darjeeling and Siliguri as clashes continue between GJMM supporters and anti-Gorkhaland SILIGURI/DARJEELING, June 12: Army is on standby and Section 144 clamped in Siliguri in West Bengal as three organizations called a total bandh opposing the demand for creation of a separate Gorkhaland state. Earlier, Police lathicharged and tear-gassed on protesters who went on a rampage stopping traffic, throwing stones and burning tyres. Some tourists were also injured in the clashes. In the wake of fresh tension arising out of clashes between supporters of Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha’s (GJMM) and anti-Gorkhaland factions in Siliguri and parts of Darjeeling, the West Bengal Government today called in the Army in Siliguri and adjacent ...

The Army has been put on alert in Siliguri and neighbouring areas after violent clashes broke out between Gorkhas and non-Gorkhas during a 48-hour bandh called by the Amra Bangali with support from Jana Chetana, an outfit formed to oppose the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) demand for inclusion of Siliguri and areas of the Dooars in a separate state of Gorkhaland. SSB border guards were later despatched in many parts of Siliguri town and on its outskirts. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who was asked by Left Front partner CPI to “hold talks without pre-conditions” with the GJM, called an all-party meeting, which is slated to be held on June 17 to discuss the Darjeeling crisis caused by the demand to form a separate state altogether. Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who described the Siliguri incidents as “a matter of great anxiety”, has urged people to do nothing that will instigate any sort of violence. In Delhi, the Union Home Ministry said it had moved nearly 1,00...

Tourist exodus continue GANGTOK, June 11: Sikkim was totally cut off from the rest of the country for two days following the indefinite bandh called by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) in the neighbouring Darjeeling Hills. The second day of indefinite bandh was marked with more confusion amongst the stranded vacationers who waited haplessly at the Sikkim Nationalized Transport (SNT) and Deorali Motor Stand here for vehicles to safely ferry them to Siliguri. According to sources, SNT buses were allowed to ply towards Siliguri only after a telephonic conversation between the leaders of GJMM and the officials from the State Government. However, there was some respite for the tourists as well as locals as the GJMM today relaxed the ...