The West Bengal government arrested Binay Tamang, one of the top leaders of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha and a member of its central committee, around midnight on Wednesday.
Intensifying their efforts to hold tripartite talks on their demand for a separate state, the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha on Friday wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee asking him to take an initiative in the matter.
The indefinite shutdown forced by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha to protest against alleged police atrocities against its workers affected normal life in parts of West Bengal on Saturday.
"The Morcha has lost faith in tripartite talks. Our participation in the talks at Darjeeling is very much uncertain. We will take a decision after we get some feedback from Delhi on our demand for Gorkhaland on the lines of Telangana," the outfit's central committee member Harkabahadur Chetri told PTI over telephone from Kalimpong.
According to the GJM leaders, the breather was given from 6 pm on Sunday following requests of some Union ministers to enable school students to finish their term before summer vacations begin from June 25.
The army was called in Siliguri and adjacent areas on Thursday in view of fresh tension arising out of Darjeeling crisis. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has called an all-party meeting on June 17 to discuss the Darjeeling crisis, arising out of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha's demand for separate Gorkhaland state.
In a sign of political bonhomie with Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Saturday announced withdrawal of all 17 party candidates for the coming Gorkhaland Territorial Administration election.
In a blunt message to the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha demand, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday ruled any division of West Bengal.
The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, which came into being earlier this month, is a 'preparation' for a separate Gorkhaland state which would come into being soon, GTA chief Bimal Gurung has said.
The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha today rejected West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's offer of more autonomy, power and funds for Darjeeling hills, saying it would not rest till its demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland is met.
Activists of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, a regional organisation spearheading the demand for a separate state, stepped up their protest on Saturday for separate state of Gorkhaland, as they went on a hunger strike.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she will never agree to a division of the state even as the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha insisted that it has not given up its demand for separate Gorkhaland.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi on Wednesday welcomed the bandh relaxation in the Darjeeling Hills by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, but said that Gorkhaland was an impossibility.
A parallel meeting called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha on Tuesday passed a resolution demanding creation of a separate state of Gorkhaland.
The Centre on Saturday expressed its willingness for a dialogue with the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, which in turn declared that Gorkhaland was not a separatist demand.Stating that the government was willing to talk to the GJM, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who held a brief meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, said, "There is no question of creating a separate state of Gorkhaland."
The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha on Friday rejected the West Bengal government's offer for talks on the Darjeeling issue on June 18, saying the agenda of development of the hills was "irrelevant" when the main issue was a separate state of Gorkhaland.
Gorkha Janamukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung has warned that any attempt to arrest him in connection with the ongoing agitation in Darjeeling hills will unleash a spate of violence there and the West Bengal government will be responsible for the consequences.
Normal life was hit for the third day in Darjeeling Hills on Friday in response to the indefinite bandh called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha to protest police firing at Sipchu in Jalpaiguri district that left two persons dead.
The ruling Left Front and the opposition Trinamool Congress and the Congress on Friday united against the demand by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha for a separate Gorkhaland on the lines of Telangana. "We don't want division of Bengal," Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, said in Delhi.
With the Centre conceding to the demand for a Telangana state bifurcating Andhra Pradesh, the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha on Thursday demanded for a separate 'Gorkhaland' should also be allowed and announced a three-day bandh in Darjeeling hills from December 14.
Union Finance Minister and West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee president Pranab Mukheree on Sunday ruled out any further division of West Bengal.The minister said no problem could be solved by force and hoped that the GJM would call off its indefinite bandh in the Darjeeling Hills.
Bowing to the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha's demand, the West Bengal government on Wednesday said it will seek from the Centre a tripartite meeting to resolve the Darjeeling crisis in a few days.
Responding to West Bengal Chief Minister's appeal to the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha for abjuring violence and sit for talks, a prominent leader of the outfit on Thursday said it was open for dialogue, but only if the agenda is demand for Gorkhaland.
The West Bengal government on Wednesday said the ongoing Gorkha Janamukti Morcha agitation is not conducive to the tripartite talks on the demand for Gorkhaland state to be held on December 21.
The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) today refused to be drawn into the expulsion of Darjeeling MP Jaswant Singh from BJP, saying the development would not affect its movement for Gorkhaland statehood.
Normal life in Darjeeling Hills was paralysed for the second day today due to the indefinite bandh called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) in support of their demand for a separate Gorkhaland.
Normal life in the three hill sub-divisions of Darjeeling district was paralysed on Tuesday as the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha enforced a second spell of indefinite bandh in the area, to press for its demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland.Shops, markets, business establishments, banks and post offices were closed and vehicles remained off the roads after the bandh resumed from 6 pm on Monday after a five-day break.
Gurung vowed to support the TMC in the 2021 Bengal assembly elections.
The meeting was attended by the GJM, the GNLF, the Gorkhaland Rajya Nirman Morcha, the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh (apolitical) and the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists.
With the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha renewing the demand for Gorkhaland in Darjeeling following United Progressive Alliance unanimously endorsing creation of a separate Telangana state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday ruled out division of West Bengal and blamed the Congress for the agitation in the hills.
"There will be no discussion with the morcha on the statehood demand, but talks can be held on administrative arrangements and greater autonomy (for Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council)," Chief Secretary A K Deb told reporters at Writers' Buildings. Deb said in the absence of Morcha president Bimal Gurung, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee would talk to any GJM representative.
Tamang said, "All schools in Darjeeling will be given relaxation for 12 hours on June 23 to evacuate students from the city."
In a strong message to the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that West Bengal and Darjeeling were inseparable.
Security personnel in large numbers were deployed in the hill district of West Bengal after widespread clashes between GJM activists and the police were witnessed on Saturday.
In a climbdown, Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, spearheading an indefinite bandh in Darjeeling hills for the last 10 days to demand Gorkhaland state, on Mondy said it would not use force to enforce the shutdown but a 'janata curfew' would be held as announced from Tuesday.
'Winning this election will take us a step closer to realising our dreams'
Most of the coded signals and communications were in Nepali and Tibetan languages.
The statehood issue and implementation of the sixth schedule of the Constitution have been the major demands in the hills since the beginning of the protracted Gorkhaland movement in 1986.
Alleging that there had been politicisation and criminalisation of government officers in the state, the BJP leader, who was on a two-day visit, said the TMC government had stopped sending crime statistics to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) after 2018.
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