Police say the lathicharge started when protesters threw stones at them
Four days from now, Mamata Banerjee will sit for a second round of talks with political parties from Darjeeling to try and end the deadlock over the indefinite shutdown in the hills that is now 86 days old. But a series of incidents have raised question marks about the entire exercise.
On Friday, police charged batons on what appeared to be a peaceful protest at Chowk Bazar in Darjeeling town by supporters of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) who were backing the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland.
Darjeeling's GJM MLA Amar Rai said, "I was at the rally and shocked when police attacked women sitting on the road to protest. Such rallies have been held every day for the last two months. Why this lathicharge without provocation today of all days, just before the September 12 talks?"
Police claimed the protesters hurled stones and bricks at them.
The lathicharge came on a day when GJM chief Bimal Gurung, who is in hiding, sent a team to Delhi that met home minister Rajnath Singh. BJP's Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia was present.
"Mamata Banerjee has already said at the meeting of 29th August that the issue of statehood is beyond the purview of the state government," a press statement by the GJM central committee said, "So the GJM urges the home minister to begin the process of tripartite talks on the issue."
The statement said GJM would meet Ms Banerjee for the 12 September meet to be held at Siliguri.
But there lies perhaps the biggest problem of all. Benoy Tamang, founder member of GJM and member of the central committee, had represented the party at the last bipartite talks in Kolkata on 29th August. But, after the meet, when he declared the indefinite bandh would be temporarily lifted from 1 to 12 September, the GJM supremo Bimal Gurung expelled him from the party.
Mr Gurung said he would send a different team for the September 12 talks instead. But do his words carry any weight with the government when its police has charged Mr Gurung under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act or UAPA and launched a manhunt for him? The state police even crossed over to neighbouring Sikkim to try and nab him. But he gave them the slip.
Meanwhile, Mr Tamag's call to lift the bandh has had very limited impact.
In the last few days, police have conducted raids, arrested Morcha supporters and even claimed they unearthed "factories" run allegedly by GJM activists that made IEDs or improvised explosive devices and crude guns.
Since June 8, when the latest round of trouble erupted, 81 activists are believed to have been arrested and seven killed. Two security forces have also died in clashes.