DARJEELING HILLS: Centre responsible for peace in the Hills, says GJM chief

FROM INDIAN EXPRESS Gurung dismisses relevance of tripartite meeting, says ‘people losing patience, want immediate results’ “Our agitations will be peaceful. But if the law and order situation goes haywire in the Hills, the Centre will be responsible. If they can consider Telangana, why not Gorkhaland?” asked Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung on [...]

DARJEELING HILLS: GJM says talks losing meaning, warns of violence

FROM INDIAN EXPRESS Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung on Sunday hinted at the possibility of violence in Darjeeling and surrounding areas if the outfit’s demand for a separate state was not fulfilled. He described the four-day bandh in the hills that starts from Monday as the “last battle” to get a separate Gorkhaland [...]

Mediator holds out hope for trouble-torn Hills

DARJEELING: A path for solving the crisis in the Hills has been identified, according to interlocutor Lt-Gen (retd) Vijay Madan, who met Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders in Darjeeling on Thursday. The GJM leaders, on their part, assured the Centre and the state government that no disturbance would occur in the run-up to the December [...]

Morcha starts slush clean-up

The “brown envelope”, which has been the talk of the hills for the past week, has finally started reaching Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders asking them to refrain from in any party activity. The move, apparently aimed to cleanse the party of corruption, could also be one of the biggest tests for the Morcha. The outfit [...]

Morcha to close block offices in hills

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today announced that it would lock all the block development offices across the hills from November 7 even as the interlocutor for the talks involving the Centre, the state government and the party arrived here. “However, we have decided to exempt those sections which deal with registration and issuing of birth [...]

GJM expresses satisfaction

The Hindu KOLKATA: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leadership has expressed “satisfaction” with the outcome of the third round of tripartite talks held in New Delhi on Tuesday to end the political stalemate in the Darjeeling hills arising from the GJM demand for the creation of a Gorkhaland state. “In the right direction” “The results of [...]

Darjeeling to have new administrative framework

The Times Of India NEW DELHI: The Darjeeling Hill areas will soon have a new administrative set-up as the Centre on Tuesday decided to abolish the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) — the body which has been involved in the affairs of the region for the last two decades. Besides, the Centre also agreed to [...]

Anti-Gorkhaland groups detain vehicles carrying replenishments

SILIGURI, 20 JULY: The anti-Gorkhaland Siliguri-based pressure group “Bangla O Bangla Bhasa Bachao Committee” and another radical outfit, the “Aamra Bangli”, detained vehicles purportedly carrying replenishments to the Darjeeling hills at several important intersections of the town today, protesting against the GJMM sponsored indefinite shutdown in the Hills. The police later made way for the [...]

Pranab rules out Gorkhaland demand

Statesman News Service RAIGANJ, 19 JULY: The Union finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee (in picture) categorically ruled out any possibility of a formation of a separate Gorkhaland state comprising three sub-divisions in the Darjeeling hills. “The GJMM leadership should see reason and stay focused on evolving a achievable solution to the prolonged tangle instead of [...]

Dangerous politics

Shikha Mukerjee DNA In line with its commitment to chopping up the larger Indian states into bite-size pieces for reasons that range from respect for people with separate identities and recognition of their rights to administrative convenience, the BJP has nominated former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh to contest the Darjeeling seat in West Bengal. [...]