GJM hits out at state and Centre

Jayanta Gupta & Deep Gazmer, TNN, Jun 19, 2017,DARJEELING: GJM on Sunday took on the ruling Trinamool in the state and the BJP at the Centre in the same breath as it battled charges of a "deep rooted conspiracy" levelled against it by chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

GJM president Bimal Gurung, in an interview to a private TV channel from a secret hideout, rubbished the charges of threatening a bigger movement in the days to come. "This is laughable. Allegations of links with terror outfits are being made just to discredit our movement. The West Bengal government says it will talk to us if we withdraw our movement. I say that we don't want to speak to the West Bengal government under the circumstances. Let them first withdraw forces and then we will decide and that, too, if the Centre also participates," said Darjeeling MLA Amar Singh Rai.

Women stood on an incline across the petrol pump on Chowkbazar, chanting "We are not terrorists", even as journalists followed the huge procession of protesters escorting Bimal Shashankar's body .

Rai also said that he wasn't satisfied with the Centre's role. "Despite what the PM said about granting of tribal status to 11 communities and Gokhaland being a part of the NDA's election manifesto, no concrete steps have been taken by the Centre. Darjeeling MP S S Ahluwalia should have been here in our time of crisis. We feel like a pawn in a game of chess between the Centre and the state. The situation here isn't going to improve unless the Centre intervenes but as of now, there seems to be no interest," he said.

On Sunday , GJM called a 12-hour strike in the Terai and the Dooars. The Uttar Banga Adivasi Vikas Parishad issued a statement, appealing for peace and stability in Darjeeling and adjacent districts and conveying condolences for the dead.

(Source & Cortesy: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/gjm-hits-out-at-state-and-centre/articleshow/59211219.cms)