Charlotte, an advertising professional from Paris, was shocked to learn about the indefinite strike when she reached Darjeeling on Sunday evening: “Everything was closed. All restaurants and shops were closed and only a few pharmacy shops were open. I did not have too many problems as my hotel served food. But many other westerners had to survive on instant noodles from the pharmacy shops.”
“It was only when we were coming back to Kolkata that we had problems. We kept shuttling between the police station and the district magistrate’s office; as no one knew how we were suppose to leave. Thankfully, buses and jeeps were organised and we had to sign our names and had to pay Rs 180, instead of the usual Rs 80 for bus seats. I got a place to stay in Siliguri. I heard many other tourists, who had returned the day before, had to spend the night in the streets,” Charlotte said.
Ironically, the GJM provided tourists like Charlotte with tea and biscuits for the journey back to the plains. She, however, did say it was a scary experience, as the whole while they felt like hostages there.
Many of her fellow countrymen were, however, not as lucky as her. Baptiste and Alexandre finally managed to reach Kolkata last evening after walking for nearly 25 km. On reaching Darjeeling two days ago from Sikkim, they were caught unawares by the bandh.
“We saw a lot of tourists there, especially at night, with many searching for food and restaurants. But everything was closed. When we decided to come back to NJP we realised there was no transport. We decided to walk downhill and try and hitch a ride,” Baptiste said. They were picked up by an Army jeep, which gave them a lift for merely a km, before finally hitching a ride on a jeep on its way to Kurseong to pick up Gorkhaland supporters. There, they were given another lift to Siliguri by yet more supporters.
“We were told western tourists would need police permits but thankfully we were on foot and by-passed these formalities. But it was difficult, as we were carrying heavy rucksacks and were walking from eight in the morning. We heard that many tourists were being charged Rs 7,000 for a trip down,” Alexandre said.
Others like Jake Eason from UK, who was travelling from Guwahati to Siliguri by bus, had to face problems on the road. Having paid Rs 600 for an AC bus, he had to later board an ordinary bus, after the bus stopped midway and the tourists were asked to get off.
“The road was inaccessible thanks to a huge hole in the centre. Later, we were asked to board a bus, which they said, was coming back to Kolkata. Upon reaching Beliadanga, we were told it would go no further and then had to take yet another bus to Kolkata. I was in Darjeeling during the last bandh in February but things were not so bad as this. There were regular breaks through out the day and we could roam around. But this time I heard it was a total clampdown,” Eason, a hotel manager back in UK, said.
Similar stories were heard at guesthouses and lodges on Sudder Street. Many tourists, who arrived from Darjeeling on Wednesday morning, left immediately for other places. And for the few who stayed back in the city, it hasn’t yet deterred them from going back later.
Left Front slams govt for Hill crisis
The Left Front on Thursday criticised the state government for poor handling of the Hill crisis and advised it to move cautiously on the issue. They also slammed the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha for demanding a separate Gokhaland and called for peace in the Hills through dialogue.
Senior RSP leader Manoj Bhattacharjee said: “The situation in Darjeeling and its surrounding areas is serious. The crisis is fallout of a number of issues, as various castes, ethnic groups and tribals in the area are facing identity crisis. It should be addressed with empathy and not through extreme measures.” The state government should talk with the Centre and people of Darjeeling and surrounding areas to find an amicable solution to the problem, he added. CPI state committee leader Manjukumar Majumder said: “We are against the bandh in Darjeeling, which attempts to create a rift between the people of West Bengal along the lines of Nepali and non-Nepali.” Referring to a bandh called in the plains to stop food from reaching Darjeeling, he asked the state government to take strong action against such incidents. The veteran leader said that the issue would be discussed in the upcoming secretariat meeting. Both the CPI and the RSP leaders welcomed the move by the state government to bring in the army to control the situation, but said that the issue should be settled through dialogue.
—ENS