West Bengal home secretary denied resistance by Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha

Siliguri, 7 August : The West Bengal home secretary, Mr Basudeb Banerjee, has denied having faced any resistance by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) activists in Darjeeling today. Mr Banerjee, who was in Darjeeling to take stock of the situation, reportedly had to walk from the office of the superintendent of police to the district magistrate office because the GJMM activists were squatting and shouting slogans. “I have not faced any problem there. 

I held a meeting at Gorkhaland Territorial Administration( GTA) office and also had gone to the district magistrate's office,” Mr Banerjee told reporters in Siliguri today. He said the bandh was partial in the Hills. A meeting was held involving the north Bengal development minister Mr Gautam Deb, the home secretary, the GTA principal secretary Mr R D Meena, the Darjeeling district magistrate Mr Saumitra Mohan, the Siliguri Metropolitan Police commissioner Mr K Jayaraman, the representatives of the tea industry, traders, and tour operators at Circuit House. 

Mr Deb advised the GJMM leaders to read the people’s mind. “People in the remote areas of the Hills have been badly hit with the shutdowns, time has come the GJMM leaders should read the writing on the wall," he said. The minister said the government would not allow any divisive forces to demand separate states. He also said an appeal had been made to the traders to thwart the bandh in Siliguri. “We want normalcy to be restored in the Hills. The elected Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) representatives should work for the development,” Mr Deb said.(SNS)

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