A home guard was set on fire in Darjeeling town on Friday where incidents of arson were reported on the eve of the indefinite bandh called in the hills to demand a separate state of Gorkhaland on the lines of Telangana.
The fourth round of tripartite talks on Gokhaland issue on Monday failed to come to an agreement in the absence of a consensus and the organisation spearheading the movement for a separate state has sought political dialogue at the next round of talks within 45 days.
Home Minister P Chidambaram appealed to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha on Friday to call off its fast-unto-death agitation and create a conducive atmosphere for the December 21 tripartite talks.
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.
A 96-hour bandh called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha on Monday to press for Gorkhaland in the Darjeeling hills has been withdrawn.GJM general secretary Roshan Giri told PTI from Delhi that the decision was taken after senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley urged that the shutdown be called off for a normal situation to prevail before the tripartite talks begin in Darjeeling on December 21.However, the indefinite fast will continue.
Darjeeling Member of Parliament and expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh raised the demand for creation of Gorkhaland state in the Lok Sabha, on Monday, saying the people of the region were already "emotionally separated" from rest of West Bengal.
The Centre on Saturday sought to downplay the growing momentum for carving out of small states in some regions after the decision on Telangana and said cooperation of (undivided) states and political parties is needed in addressing such demands.
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.
Life came to a standstill in all three sub-divisions of Darjeeling district on Monday due to Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's indefinite bandh called to press for a separate state and other demands.
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.
Nepal's remote mountainous areas have suffered "almost total devastation" from a powerful quake that claimed over 6,300 lives, aid agencies warned even as relief slowly began to reach far-flung regions amid fresh aftershocks that kept people on edge.
Mainstream political parties in Sikkim have thrown their weight behind the separate Gorkhaland state issue for which the state has witnessed a series of agitations with its economy paralysed. The state's main political force -- the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front -- has openly supported the creation of a separate Gorkhaland state to fulfil what it says the aspiration of the Gorkha people.
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.
'When violence spread, it looked as if Mamata was losing control, but soon, she was able to contain the situation.' 'Now, the TMC stands to gain the most.'
Sikkim was cut off from the rest of the country when Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha activists blocked the National Highway 31A early on Saturday as part of their 24-hour strike in the Darjeeling Hills region. Vehicular traffic between Sikkim and Siliguri via the NH-31A has been totally paralysed since early morning, police officials at Rangpo inter-state border checkpost said. Only a few vehicles belonging to the military forces, press persons and some ambulances were seen.
Six persons, including an army personnel, were killed and four others injured in separate violence in militancy-hit Manipur, official sources said on Tuesday.
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has said it is satisfied with the positive dialogue its delegation had with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and hoped it will pave the way for early tripartite talks on the Gorkhaland issue."We are expecting tripartite talks on the Gorkhaland issue soon as the dialogue with Mukherjee was positive," GJM press secretary Benoy Tamang said.
Taking West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee head on, the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi accused her of playing vote bank politics and said no real 'parivartan' (change) has taken place in the state during the Trinamool Congress' rule.
Gen Rawat will be able to serve as CDS for a period of up to three years after the government amended the rules extending the age of retirement to 65 years.
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.
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha on Thursday said it was no longer interested in holding talks with the West Bengal government on Gorkhaland issue and was awaiting tripartite talks in Delhi.
Talks between the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the West Bengal government on the Darjeeling crisis are expected to take place in Kolkata on June 25.
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.
Stating that the GJM was seeking appointment with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and the Leader of the Opposition L K Advani, Gurung told PTI from Darjeeling that a delegation, comprising GJM central committee members, would meet MPs of different political parties.
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.
Till recently there was no monument to the Maratha victory or the great Maratha General Mahadji Shinde. It was a defeat, such as never suffered by the British in India.
At least three people lost their lives during violent protests over granting the PRC to six non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe communities living in Namsai and Changlang districts -- Deoris, Sonowal-Kacharis, Morans, Adivasis and Mishings -- and to the Gorkhas living in Vijaynagar.
"Tayab alias Abu Talha, the LeT operational commander for Kashmir, was killed in Hanjipora village of north Kashmir Kupwara district on Wednesday," a police spokesman said in Srinagar.
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.
The Chinese probably thought that brutal assault was a knock-out, but they had not counted on the ingenuity, loyalty and courage of battle-trained Indian officers and jawans.
In an effort to gain support for a separate Gorkhaland, leaders of Gorkha Janmmukti Morcha (GJM) on Tuesday met senior BJP leader L K Advani in New Delhi to seek the party's support for the demand.
Jagat had joined the militant organisation in 1999 and was involved in several extremist operations in Upper Assam, besides receiving training as a paramedic.
Ambulance operators were refusing to carry patients due to fear of harassment.
The Army was kept on stand-by as violence erupted in Darjeeling Hills after ruling GNLF leader K G Gurung was grievously injured in an alleged attack by rival GJMM activists on Friday.
Regarding Pakistan's role, he said Bangladesh was being developed as a new base for its 'anti-India operations' and Pakistan has reportedly 'shifted almost 200 terrorist training camps from Pak-occupied Kashmir to Bangladesh'.
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