PHOTO FEATURE: GLP deployment in Darjeeling

GLP deployment in Darjeeling. Photo by Himalaya Darpan

DARJEELING HILLS: Six houses damaged by wild elephant in Darjeeling

FROM SINDH TODAY.NET

Siliguri (West Bengal), July 23 (IANS) At least six houses were damaged by a wild elephant Wednesday night in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district, a forest official said Thursday.

“An elephant went berserk, and moving out of the forest in Kurseong forest division damaged at least six houses in that area. The incident took place at Bounpukhri area in the district,” Kurseong divisional forest officer (DFO) Y.P. Aden said.

He said the local people had staged a blockade in front of the Kurseong forest range office Wednesday night following the elephant’s attack.

Sources said the night patrolling by the forest officials was also stopped for the time being because of the indefinite shutdown called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) in the hills.

NEW DELHI: Indian arms for Nepal

FROM THE TRIBUNE

NEWS SHARED BY JTM

Eager to regain its foothold in Nepal and counter China’s strategic inroads, India will resume supplies of weapons to the Himalayan country. The arms supply was stopped in 2005.

Also, India will continue with its recruitment of Nepali Gorkhas for the Indian Army.

This comes after Nepal defence minister Bidya Devi Bhandari, and her 10-member delegation held talks with Indian Defence Minister AK Antony and other Defence officials here. The “Insas” rifles that is used by the Indian Army will be supplied to the Royal Nepal Army. The visiting delegation also discussed the aspect of training its army, sources in the Ministry of Defence said.

The recruitment of Nepalis in Indian Army’s Gorkha Rifles also figured in the talks. No recruitment rallies were held in Nepal since September 2006 due to the strife in that country. It was only in February-March this year that the Indian Army once again began the process, with rallies in Dharan (eastern Nepal) and Pokhara (central Nepal), attracting over 15,000 applicants.

DARJEELING HILLS/SIKKIM: BGP bouquets for Swaraj, brickbats for Mukherjee

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK, July 22: The Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh (BGP) has expressed its gratitude to BJP stalwart Sushma Swaraj for raising the issue of Gorkhaland in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Expressing the organization’s appreciation to Ms Swaraj, BGP working president CK Shrestha said that the Gorkhaland issue is more about the identity issue of the Indian Gorkhas than about the ‘slavery’ imposed by West Bengal government.

At the same time, Mr. Shrestha slammed Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for his ‘anti-Gorkhaland’ stand and termed his recent statements as ‘unfortunate’.

Mukherjee’s statements reflect that he has stooped down to communal levels and has gave up the principles and dignity of his respected post, said the BGP working president. He asserted that the Gorkhaland issue is not about the division of Bengal but about a separate State for the Indian Gorkhas.

Mr. Shrestha also dared Mr. Mukherjee to give strong points in order to justify why Gorkhaland should not happen. He also pointed out no national leader has ever come on record stating that Andhra Pradesh or Maharashtra should not be divided in view of demand for Telanga and Vidharbha.

SIKKIM: BJP dharna for full opertionalization of Gangtok DD Kendra

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK, July 22: Members of Sikkim BJP unit today sat on a dharna in front of the Gangtok DD Kendra premises here at Gangtok today demanding full operational of the Kendra services in Sikkim.

The dharna was led by State BJP vice president, Padam Bahadur Chettri including other party members, Padam Sharma, Narendra Adikhari, Gyalsten Bhutia, Dilip Gurung and Prakash Bista.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Chettri alleged the Centre and State government for delay in the inauguration of the Gangtok DD Kendra even after spending crores of rupees for the infrastructure and manpower in the Kendra.

“We will continue our protests till Gangtok DD Kendra is fully operational and its services are availed by the people of Sikkim”, said Mr. Chettri. He claimed that the inauguration of Gangtok DD Kendra has been deliberately delayed by the State and Centre governments.

“Why is the delay in full operationalization of Gangtok DD Kendra?”, questioned the State BJP vice president.

Our BJP MPs in the Parliament will be raising this issue in the Parliament and the State unit has already sent all the documents received through RTI to the party high command, said Mr. Chettri.

ASSAM: Fresh trouble for Nepali population in Assam

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

July 22: The Assam government has rushed additional police forces to Langpih and nearby areas to prevent any kind of untoward incidents after the Synjuk Ki Rangbah Shnong of Langpih Area (SKRSLA) issued ‘quit notice’ to the Nepali people residing these areas.

According to reports coming out from Assam, the deployment of forces by the Assam government has created a sense of fear psychosis in the minds of the local indigenous population as well as the Nepali population.

“Majority of the people remain awake at night. There is also fear among the Nepalis with the deployment of additional forces by the Assam Government” SKRSLA president T Nonglang said, the media reports states.

“We have decided to give 15 days time with the quit notice to the Nepalese population since they would need sufficient time to pack up and leave our homeland permanently,” Mr. Nonglang said.

According to the reports, the SKRSLA president pointed out that if they failed to comply with the demand after the 15 days time then they would not hesitate to use force in order to remove them from the area. He blamed the Nepalis for forcing the local indigenous population to resort to these drastic steps.

DARJEELING HILLS: Indefinite bandh will continue: GJM Susma Swaraj raises Gorkhaland issue in Lok Sabha

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

DARJEELING, July 22: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) today asserted the indefinite Darjeeling bandh will continue even as proper environment was being created for the withdrawal of the strike which has crippled the hills since the last nine days.

“The indefinite bandh will continue and no force in the world can suppress our democratic movement”, said GJM general secretary Roshan Giri in a press meet today referring to the impending deployment of paramilitary forces in the hills.

Whatever forces the government may apply to suppress us, our movement will continue and if our people are subjected to assaults then the circumstances will be different, Mr. Giri said in a thinly veiled warning against the government. We don’t want to stay with West Bengal and why we are being forced to do so?, he questioned.

At the same time, the GJM general secretary admitted that things were till yesterday heading in a proper direction for calling off the strike due to the State government’s letter to hold talks on Gorkhaland issue.

However, today the GNLF leader Rajen Mukhia was released on bail while nineteen of our members were not granted bail and sent back to jail in connection to the Panighata incident of July 10, said Mr. Giri. “Our people should also be released”, he demanded.

The GJM general secretary also demanded the transfer of IG (North Bengal) KL Tamta, additional SP and Kurseong SDPO as they are trying to ‘suppress’ the ongoing agitation.

“At one hand, they (government) is offering to hold talks and at the same time, they are doing injustice to us”, he said.

PHOTO FEATURE: ENFORCING THE GUKTA BAN

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

Sadar police on Wednesday raided a pan shop at Lal Bazaar run by Kambu Madhav and recovered around 200 packets of banned gutka productss from the shop. A challan has been issued as per notification number 27F (H) A/PFA of the Department of Health and Family Welfare.

NEW DELHI: BJP offers chairpersonship of Par Comms to seniors

FROM ENEWSTRACK.COM

Plagued by disgruntled senior leaders going public with their grievances after the Lok Sabha debacle, BJP has sought to placate them with offers of chairpersonship of Parliamentary Committees.

“BJP today filed nomination forms of three MPs — Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha and Gopinath Munde — for membership of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament. The UPA government has offered the chairpersonship of this committee to BJP,” Deputy Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj told reporters at New Delhi on Wednesday.

Though election of the chairperson of PAC is scheduled for 6th August as per convention no polling is likely to be held and BJP will choose one of its three MPs for the post.

“The BJP has a quota of three Lok Sabha and two Rajya Sabha MPs in PAC in accordance with its strength. Chairperson of PAC is always from the Lower House,” Swaraj said.

BJP sources said Jaswant Singh is likely to become chairperson of PAC. Singh, who was Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha before being elected to Lok Sabha from Darjeeling, is keen on holding this post, party sources said.

In offering this post to Singh, BJP is giving a go-by to another convention. The PAC is usually headed by Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

V K Malhotra headed PAC in the 14th Lok Sabha but his successor Swaraj will have to contend with chairpersonship of the Standing Committee on External Affairs.

The PAC chairperson gets an office in Parliament building and a staff, among other perks, just like Leaders of Opposition in both Houses of Parliament.

SIKKIM: Rationing of petrol, diesel lifted in Sikkim

FROM PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Gangtok, Jul 22 (PTI) The Sikkim government today lifted the restriction on sale of petrol and diesel in the state following Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha’s decision to relax its blockade of the national highway 31A indefinitely.

In view of relaxation of the bandh called by the GJM, the restriction on sale of petrol and diesel stands suspended with immediate effect until further order, Special Secretary CT Wangdi said.

The state government had imposed the restriction on July 15 under which the retailers were directed to sell only five litre petrol and 10 litre diesel per person after the GJM had called for blockade of all roads in Darjeeling Hills, including the NH-31A, known as the life line of Sikkim.

NEPAL: Indian assurance for defense support panics Nepal Maoist

FROM TWG

NEWS SHARED BY ABDUL KALAM EZANI

The Chairman of the Maoist Party, Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda has asked Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal not to make any agreement for the import of arms and ammunitions from India.

Dahal, say sources, also told the prime minister over telephonic conversation that the defense support from India to the Nepal Army would have definitely an adverse impact on the peace process.

Source further disclose that Mr. Dahal repeatedly asked the Prime Minister not to go against the peace process.

“The government and the prime minister will be entirely responsible for derailing the peace process if weapons were imported from India”, Dahal told the prime minister.

“Nepal’s government approach made to India during Defense minister’s visit must be stopped”, Dahal’s press advisor, Om Sharma quoted Dahal as saying.

It was earlier reported that an irritated India, mainly by the proximity of the Nepal Maoists towards China, had told the visiting Nepal’s Minister for Defense that it will continue the defense support that was disrupted at time of the unyielding Nepal’s monarch Gyanendra Shah.

However, Prime Minister Nepal maintained that Nepal was not buying weapons for the Nepal Army but India has heeded to Nepal’s request to provide continuity to the disrupted defense support.

He also told Prachanda not to get panicked, sources disclose.

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS: Sushma Swaraj on Gorkhaland

THE HIMALAYAN BEACON [BEACON ONLINE] EXCLUSIVE

CLICK ON THE SCANNED COPIES TO ENLARGE

All documents dated 22nd July 2009

DARJEELING HILLS: GJM comes up with new set of demands

FROM TIMES OF INDIA

DARJEELING: A day after having expressed satisfaction over the government’s response to its terms for holding the third round of tripartite talks  on Gorkhaland, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) did a volte-face on Wednesday and came up with a fresh set of demands.

The GJM leadership has now demanded transfer of the police officials involved in the Panighatta incident of July 10, release of 19 of its supporters currently in jail and an impartial inquiry into alleged police atrocities on their cadres.

On July 10, police had lathicharged GJM supporters participating in a rally in Panighatta. Several persons were injured, followed by the arrest of some supporters of GJM and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF). While most of the GNLF men had already been released on bail, prime accused Rajen Mukhia, a GNLF leader, was released on Wednesday.

However, 19 GJM supporters are still in jail. “We demand the transfer of police officials involved in the Panighatta incident, including North Bengal IG K L Tamta. Our demand is justified,” reasoned GJM secretary Roshan Giri.

In Kolkata, agitated urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya on Wednesday said GJM must withdraw the bandh considering that talks would be held soon. “I have told the chief minister that accepting the fact that the bandh will continue during the talks means we are buckling under pressure. If the bandh continues, there is no point in holding discussions,” he said. “The chief minister is worried about the issue.” He held that there is no question of a separate state, adding that Subhas Ghisingh was more responsible than Bimal Gurung.

INDIA/NEPAL: Antique idols recovered from India-Nepal border

FROM NEW DELHI NEWS.NET

At least 24 antique idols of Hindu gods and goddesses were recovered Wednesday from the India-Nepal Border of West Bengal, officials said.

‘The idols, made of black stones, were brought in a white Ambassador car from Raigunge and being taken from near the India-Nepal border in Siliguri sub-division of Darjeeling district,’ Additional Commissioner of Customs (North Bengal and Sikkim) R. Mangababu said.

He said the idols were worth over Rs.5.3 million and belonged to the eight-12 AD period.

BENGAL: Govt letter lifts GJM spirits and Sikkim blockade

FROM INDIAN EXPRESS

Even as the third round of tripartite talks seemed headed for failure, the state government’s move to accept some of the demands of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha appears to have infused a thaw in the impasse.

Senior GJM leaders said they found the letter sent to them by state Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen to be “all right”, and have completely withdrawn the blockade on the NH-31A connecting Sikkim to Siliguri as a gesture of goodwill.

GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said the government both at the state and Centre had committed themselves to considering the demand for a separate Gorkhaland state with all its implications, and had advanced the talks as well to August 11.

“We feel this is a positive move by the government. However, we are yet to decide on the government’s request to hold talks at the secretarial level, as we have been insisting on political-level talks. We already held an emergency Central Committee meeting and decided to withdraw the blockade on the NH-31A. We will be holding a meeting in a day or two to decide on participation in talks at the secretarial level, and on calling off the ongoing strike in Darjeeling,” Giri told The Indian Express.

At the time of calling for the strike, which entered the tenth day today, the GJM had demanded that the talks be on a single-point agenda of Gorkhaland, and be held at the political level involving Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee instead of the state chief secretary and Union home secretary as has been the norm in the previous two rounds of talks held last year.

In a letter to the GJM from the state home secretary, the West Bengal government informed that it is willing to discuss the issue of a separate Gorkhaland state, but requested that the discussions should be at an official level for the present, Darjeeling district magistrate Surendra Gupta said.

DARJEELING HILLS: GJM mulls ending shutdown in Darjeeling hills

FROM NEW KERALA.COM

Siliguri (West Bengal), July 22 : The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), spearheading an agitation for a separate Gorkhaland state, is now considering withdrawal of the indefinite shutdown it has called in the Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal ahead of the tripartite meeting on the issue next month.

“We’re discussing within our party the issue of withdrawing the indefinite shutdown in the hills. We’ve already withdrawn the blockade from the National Highway (NH)-31A and all tea gardens are already kept out of the purview of the strike,” said GJM general secretary Roshan Giri.

The central and state governments will have a meeting with the pro-Gorkhaland parties Aug 11.

“We want the discussion to be focussed on our Gorkhaland demand,” he said.

The GJM called an indefinite shutdown from July 13 in support of its demand. The shutdown has paralysed life in Darjeeling’s three hill sub-divisions – Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong.

West Bengal Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty said the state government had requested the GJM leadership to withdraw their strike.

OPINION: Riding a tiger?

FROM THE STATESMAN

If Bimal Gurung tends to follow in the footsteps of his one-time mentor, Subash Ghisingh, and clings to the leadership in the manner a duck clings to water, there are chances his popularity will suffer a serious drubbing, says Romit Bagchi

BIMAL Gurung has an inner voice. He claims to have derived the name of the party he formed to take on the GNLF at the crucial crossroads of the Gorkhaland movement from this inner voice. He has even declared that a Gorkhaland state will become a reality by 2010. “My inner voice has been giving me infallible clues as to how to move on and how developments would keep unfolding towards the climax,” he keeps affirming.

Taking recourse to an inner voice or intuitive pre-vision is not new in Indian politics. Mahatma Gandhi pioneered the process. When faced with a grim dilemma in regard to the non-violent movement having digressed into a wave of violence, he was inclined to falling upon voices from within. And, time and again, he took some decisions that had a momentous bearing on the course of the anti-colonial movement on the basis of such intuition. He once steadfastly stuck to a resolution, taking in his stride the torrent of flak from his critics. Inner voices were infallible if one could develop the capacity to listen correctly, he would insist.

In more recent times, we find another instance of a subjective inner voice having stamped its imprint. Sonia Gandhi rejected her party men’s pleas to assume the Prime Minister’s office. “I have listened to my inner voice which has commanded me against assuming office and I would remain loyal to it, no matter how much pressure is put upon me to act to the contrary,” she declared.

But what is known as an “inner voice” or intuition can be extremely misleading. In the spiritual view, an infinite quantum of invisible “forces” is at work… plotting things, making men act unaware of their designs. These “forces”, inclined to mould the plastic clay of life according to their peculiar designs, seem to be amusing themselves with the endless drama involving the lives of mere mortals. Sporting with good and evil seems to be their passion. So those who claim to have a grasp of the occult counselling men to beware of the “voices from within” say that veiled suggestions emanating from the “hidden mind” which goad men to calamitous hopes lead nowhere.

SILIGURI: GJMM responding positively – chief secy

FROM THE STATESMAN

SILIGURI, 22 JULY: The chief secretary of West Bengal, Mr Ashok Mohan Chakraborty, has said that the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha has sought a few days’ time to decide on the issue of their ongoing indefinite bandh in the Darjeeling Hills. He also noted

that the GJMM is already responding positively on the matter.

The chief secretary was speaking to reporters after holding a review meeting on the Teesta Irrigation Project with the district magistrates of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, north and south Dinajpur at the Siliguri circuit house.

Speaking on the prevailing Darjeeling Hill situation, the chief secretary said: “The state government sent a letter to the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha leadership urging it to withdraw the indefinite strike. The GJMM leadership has sought a few days to consider the matter. We are waiting for their decision.”

Asked if the state government had any action plan if the GJMM leadership refused to withdraw the bandh, the chief secretary said: “I do not want any confusion on the matter and so would not elaborate on the subject. The GJMM leadership is already responding positively. It has already excluded the National Highway 31A, the only link road to Sikkim in keeping with the official message sent to it yesterday,” said Mr Chakraborty.

Mr Chakraborty added that all issues pertaining to the Darjeeling hills would be discussed threadbare at the 11 August tripartite meeting in New Delhi.

“It would be for the interest of all if the hill leaders’ response continues to remain positive and life returns to normal in the Darjeeling hills as early as possible,” he said.

Speaking on the progress of the Teesta project, Mr Chakraborty said the work of the first Sub-stage of Stage-I of Phase-I would be completed by 2015. The project plan for the 2nd sub-stage would be finalised soon, he added. The project was delayed due to land acquisition problems and the chief secretary had asked the respective departments to submit reports on land related problems within a month. “A meeting on the issue would be held in the end of August in Kolkata by when we expect to receive reports from respective irrigation departments,” Mr Chakraborty said.

NEW DELHI: BJP voice for state rises in Lok Sabha

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Sushma Swaraj

July 22: Creating Gorkhaland will help integrate the troubled region with the rest of India, senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said in Lok Sabha today, the first time the party openly supported the demand for carving up Bengal on the floor of the Lower House of Parliament.

Arguing that it was high time that Gorkhaland became a reality, Swaraj, the deputy leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, said the demand for statehood must not be treated on a par with secessionist movements. She made the comments in the Lok Sabha, while speaking on the demand for grants of the home ministry.

“A group of people from there (Darjeeling hills) came to meet me. They said: ‘We fight for India in the army. We have India in our minds, but people still refer to us as Nepalis because of our features.’ It left me aghast,” she said.

Swaraj argued that smaller states like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand, created under the NDA’s rule, are easier to manage.

While these new states were born after Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh legislatures had approved their creation, Bengal has not consented to Gorkhaland.

When this was pointed out to Swaraj later in the day, the BJP leader said: “That may be so. But Gorkhaland is an idea whose time has come.”

SILIGURI: Clouds play spoilsport for Siliguri sky watchers

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Siliguri, July 22: Monsoon clouds turned out to be villains for thousands of people, including amateur astronomers, who had woken up earlier in the morning to watch the total solar eclipse.

Siliguri was on the path of the total solar eclipse today, the first such celestial event in north Bengal after 1788 and the last before 2124.

However, as dark cirrus clouds covered the sky, everyone missed the corona and two diamond rings of the eclipse.

Members of the North Bengal Sky Watchers’ Association (SWAN), stationed at Chopra, located around 60km from Siliguri, worked throughout last night to fix their gadgets for research works like polarimetric study of the corona, the Bailey’s beads and study of the shadow band.

“However, there was a steady cloud cover and we could only see some glimpses of the partial eclipse. Though the sky later started to clear, we missed the corona and the totality phase that lasted for around three minutes,” said Debasis Sarkar, the secretary of SWAN.

“What disappointed our members was that just after the total eclipse, the sky was clear and we could see the entire second partial phase. Had the clouds moved even two minutes earlier, we could have seen the total eclipse,” said Sarkar.

SILIGURI: Govt denies change in stand

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Siliguri, July 22: Bengal chief secretary said today allowing the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha to raise the issue of Gorkhaland at the tripartite meeting in Delhi did not imply that the state government had softened its stand.

“That the hill party will be allowed to raise the issue at the tripartite talks does not mean that the government has agreed to its demand. As I know, the state home secretary yesterday requested the Morcha to sit for a dialogue and said the party was free to bring up the topic of Gorkhaland and other issues,” said Asok Mohan Chakrabarty.

When asked by journalists if the government had bowed down to the Morcha, Chakrabarty said: “At the tripartite talks, all the parties can express their viewpoints and opinions. So, the invitation given to the Morcha for a dialogue does not mean that the government has agreed to its demand to carve a separate state out of Bengal.”

In Calcutta, state municipal affairs minister Asok Bhattacharya said at Writers’ Buildings that he had met the chief minister today and told him that tripartite talks should not be held unless the Morcha withdrew its strike.

When told about Bhattacharya’s premise, the home secretary, Ardhendu Sen, said the talks were very much necessary. “The dialogue is needed and there is no need to delay it. We had requested the Morcha to withdraw the bandh and it assured us that a decision would be taken in a day or two,” Sen said in the evening when Morcha leaders were announcing in Darjeeling that the strike would continue.

The chief secretary refused a reply on the deployment of paramilitary forces in the region.

KALIMPONG: ‘GNLF’ men shunted out of hills

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Kalimpong, July 22: Three persons living in villages under Gorubathan block of the Kalimpong subdivision were forced to leave their homes today in the wake of the quit notice issued to them by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha for allegedly hobnobbing with the GNLF.

Bishnuraj Biswakarma, Krishna Rasaily and Sanu Tamang were accused of meeting former GNLF councillor from the area, K.N. Subba, in Siliguri. Subba has been living in Siliguri ever since he was exiled by the Morcha last year.

While Biswakarma left his home in Mission Hill tea garden along with his entire family, Rasaily and Tamang were allowed to leave their families behind. Rasaily and Tamang have been declared persona non grata in the area for three months, during which the Morcha said it will monitor their activities.

“If the two do not indulge in any anti-party activities during the three month period, they would be allowed to return to their villages and join our party,” said Binay Tamang, the assistant secretary of the Morcha.

Tamang said while Biswakarma had not turned up to attend a hearing summoned by the Morcha last weekend, Rasaily and Tamang had showed up. “Both of them admitted that they had met Subba in Siliguri. However, they said the purpose of the meeting was to ask Subba to return the money that they had lent him,” said the Morcha assistant secretary.

DARJEELING: Morcha links stir withdrawal to cop transfer ‘Talks ok, but we have other demands’

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Shops closed during the indefinite strike in Darjeeling on Wednesday. Picture by Suman Tamang

Darjeeling, July 22: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today admitted that the stand taken by the Central and state governments on the tripartite talks was encouraging but said the party would not withdraw its strike unless their demands like the transfer of senior police officers were met.

Following, yesterday’s clarification from Bengal home secretary Ardhendu Sen that the tripartite talks would feature the Gorkhaland issue, it was largely perceived that the indefinite strike would be lifted as the Morcha had sounded upbeat about the developments. Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the party, said here this afternoon: “The right atmosphere was being created after the government pre-poned the talks and agreed to discuss the Gorkhaland issue at the tripartite meeting on August 11. As they want official level talks before a political dialogue, we believe that justice has been denied to us.”

“While the GNLF leader, Rajen Mukhia, was released today, 19 of our supporters are still in jail. The government has not done anything to transfer K.L. Tamta, inspector-general, north Bengal, along with additional police superintendent of Darjeeling and the SDPO of Kurseong,” said Giri.

GNLF and Morcha supporters had clashed at Panighatta near Siliguri on July 10 and the incident had sparked off the ongoing indefinite strike. Apart from the demand for tripartite talks, the Morcha had also asked for the transfer of these officers.