'Nothing to do with Mamata's visit to hills'

ENS, Kolkata, Aug 24 2013: Even though Morcha leaders today announced that people have 'nothing to do' with Mamata Banerjee's visit to the Hills, the district administration and police remain apprehensive and cited possible unrest in the area during the Chief Minister's visit. Banerjee's Darjeeling visit, slated for the first week of September, might attract protests in the area, the administration feared.

While GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said the party is yet to decide on its "political programme" during the visit, the leaders of Yuva Morcha (GJM's youth wing) said Banerjee will have to "pay the price for arresting innocent Morcha supporters in politically-motivated cases".

The Morcha leaders have also announced that the people would go on hunger strike if required."We are and law abiding people. We have not insisted that people shut their shops or not got to work. We have only said that people who want Gorkhaland should not open their shops or join duty. People who do not want Gorkhaland can open shops. We have not set up any picket and people are free to move," Giri said.

Along with the GJM, the CPRM, the largest Opposition party in the Hills, have today taken out rallies in the area demanding Gorkhaland. Enos Das Pradhan, chairman of the Gorkhaland Joint Action Committee, too, said there is "no point" in seeing the CM.

"We have no reason to meet her. She is the CM and we are still in Bengal. So, legally, she can move to any part of the state. She could only have a dialogue with us on GTA, which is a non-issue to us now. We want to start a dialogue on Gorkhaland and that too with the Centre. Even though we know the Centre would not displease her before the election, we can talk to their emissaries if they come," said Pradhan.