GJMM rules out talks with state

SNS, Darjeeling, 11 August 2013: Even as life remained paralysed in the Darjeeling Hills on the ninth day of the indefinite strike today, the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) ruled out talks with the West Bengal government, saying it would hold deliberations only with the Centre over the statehood demand. 

“We will talk only to the Central government regarding our legitimate demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland. The West Bengal government has no bussiness in this matter,” GJMM president Bimal Gurung told reporters here. 

Mr Gurung also rubbished allegations that a secret pact had been made between the GJMM and the Central government on granting a Union Territory status to the hills. 

“These are all baseless speculations. We don't want any Union Territory status. We want Gorkhaland. Our delegation is already in touch with the Central government regarding the demand,” he said. 

Mr Gurung announced a one-day relaxation of the shutdown on 15 August on the occasion of Independence Day. 

He took a dig at Mamata Banerjee's 72-hour deadline to call off the strike, saying, “She has given a deadline of 72 hours. But after that period the people of the hills will sit back in their homes as part of a Janata curfew for an indefinite period.” 

Kalimpong GJMM core committee member Shekhar Sharma, who was absconding, was arrested last night in connection with some old cases following a tip-off. In addition to this, four GJMM youth leaders were detained and subsequently arrested today by the police and the CRPF from Kurseong to take the total number of arrests to 172. 

The four — Sumit Deep, Suman Lama, Abhishek Gurung, Lawang Gurung — were arrested from Guridhura after they were alleged to have set fire to government property, picketed on highways and threatened people, police said. 

On the ninth day of the strike, many people ran out of their stock of provisions and were seen trudging long distances to reach Darjeeling for fresh stock.