Hills strike enters 5th day

Headlines: 7 August 2013: 2.30 pm

* Indefinite strike called by  Gorkha Janmukti Morcha enters 5th day that started from 3rd August. No untoward incident since last night.

* Around 145 GJM supporters arrested by Darjeeling Police which includes 16 GLPs.

*  Bimal Gurung likely to visit Delhi but request for appointment with Rahul Gandhi and others is not yet granted.

*  State home secretary Basudeb Banerjee returned from Darjeeling this afternoon. He met the administrative officials like GTA principal Secretary, DM, SP and others in Lal Kothi the GTA Secretariat. After visiting SP Office he had to walk on foot to DM's Office in Darjeeling. On the way he had to pass through GJM supporters shouting anti state slogans and demanding Gorkhaland.

* Replying to the PIL filed by advocate Rama Prasad Sarkar against GJM, Kolkata High Court directed the state administration that strike is not illegal but to force someone to observe strike is illegal. It also directed the state government to maintain continuous supply of essential and emergency services like water, electricity, medical assistance, press and keep school, colleges, offices and institutions along with the transport open. Court also directed the state government o ensure normality in Darjeeling hills from today.
* Both the state and GJM have rejected any necessity of dialogue between the two.
* Bimal Gurung in his Facebook social network has stated that "in the last 4 days more than 150 people have been arrested. They have arrested senior Central Committee members for old cases which was suppose to have been withdrawn.
The State Government knows there would be no negotiation this time for Gorkhaland and that’s why they are trying to use force to silence our demand?
Now we are criminals for asking for Gorkhaland. The Central must look into this as the state has decided to use force upon us. We will continue to ask for Gorkhaland in the Gandhian way".
* Amid turbulence in Gorkhaland after the decision on Telangana, Trinamool Congress wanted a statement by Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde that now no new state will be carved out cautioning otherwise “India will burn”. As demands for new states rose in various regions including the demand for Gorkhaland in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress has demanded that the Home Minister issue a statement that no other state would be created.