Buddhadev calls all-party meeting on Darjeeling issue

June 12, 2008 03:25:00 PM

KOLKATA CAL10

Kolkata, June 12 (PTI) With the situation turning grave in Darjeeling over the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha’s demand for a separate state, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee today announced an all-party meeting on June 17.
Chief Minister’s secretariat sources said that the all-party meeting would be held at Writers’ Buildings here.

The decision came in the wake of violence reportedly committed by Morcha supporters in the Darjeeling hills and in different parts of north Bengal in support of their demand for a separate Gorkhaland state.

Several local inhabitants, tourists and the police were injured in the Morcha attack in the last two days in different parts of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts.

The demand for an all-party meeting was made by Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunshi yesterday when he blamed the intelligence failure to assess the ground reality and ‘lack of vision’ by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for the situation in Darjeeling.

Dasmunshi has been harping on the necessity of calling an all-party meeting to discuss the Darjeeling crisis and said that the Morcha’s demand for a separate state ‘within a state’ cannot be supported.

“Not only intelligence failure, but lack of vision on the part of the chief minister to assess the ground reality before pressing the Centre for expedition of grant of Sixth Schedule status to Darjeeling, has contributed to the situation in Darjeeling hills,” Dasmunshi, who is also the WBPCC chief, said. PTI