AGSU-sponsored strike affects life in Darjeeling,Kurseong

Darjeeling, May 16 (UNI) Life was disrupted in Darjeeling and Kurseong districts today due to a 12-hour strike called by the All Gorkha Students' Union(AGSU).

The Bandh was peaceful so far, official sources said.

Three sub-divisions-Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong had been included in the strike zone.

However, the sources stated that though the strike failed to evoke any response in Kalimpong, it was total in the other two sub-divisions. .

All shops and business establishment, schools, colleges and other educational institutions in Darjeeling and Kurseong were closed and the streets wore a deserted look.

However, the strike did not have its impact in the tea gardens and Sinchona plantations in Darjeeling, the sources added.

The AGSU had called the strike demanding setting up of a central technical university and conferring the tribal status to all the Gorkha communities.

Another demand by the AGSU was the formation of an a political union to fill up all the vacant posts of professors in the colleges of Darjeeling.

Meanwhile, the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) has decided to oppose the strike.

GNLF's Darjeeling Committee President Deepak Gurung said '' We are against the Bandh because this was the tourist season.

Consequently, the tourists, who had come to visit the Queen of Hills, were affected.This would give a bad name to this tourist destination,'' Mr Gurung added.

''The main source of income of this region was the tourism industry and the strike would adversely affect the local people,'' he observed.

UNI