Gorkha protestors torch Darjeeling police station - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Activists of the Vidhyarthi Morcha, a student wing of the regional Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJMM) have torched a police station in Kurseong in the Darjeeling Hills. Protestors set fire TO the Kurseong Police Station and police vehicles parked outside, following the arrest of fellow activists earlier in the day. The house of Shanti Chettri, a member of the state legislative assembly representing Kurseong, was also set alight while she was visiting her ill husband in hospital. "I don't know why they have done and why they targeted me. I never protested and they call themselves 'Gandhians'. They claim they are democratic. Is this a Gandhian movement? They are creating so many problems. I have been in hospital for the last 20 days. What is the state government doing? The police are doing nothing, they can't even arrest a person," said Chettri. The 24-hour strike was called in several parts of the Darjeeling hills after police prevented the GJM activists from taking out a mass rally to press their demand for a separate Gorkhaland state. The activists have threatened to continue their agitation until the central government concedes to their demand for a political dialogue on the Gorkhaland issue. Gorkhas have been demanding a separate state, to be carved out of West Bengal, to protect their culture and heritage. The Gorkha population in West Bengal is estimated to be around a million.