'Whether we like it or not, we have been separated by the Meiteis and therefore we have put up our demand for a separate administration in the form of a Union territory with legislature.' 'For us lasting peace is the achievement of our demand.'
The famed Darjeeling tea may have slip to a new production low in 2025, as changing weather patterns, a shortage of pluckers and mounting economic stress weigh on the region's gardens.
The death toll from landslides in Darjeeling, West Bengal has risen to 24, with rescue operations continuing amidst challenging conditions. Thousands of tourists are stranded as roads remain blocked.
The recent flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain in north Bengal have caused massive destruction in at least 30-35 tea gardens in Darjeeling, with reports of loss of plantation areas, deaths of workers and damage to houses of labourers, prompting planters to convene a meeting to assess the situation, stakeholders said.
At least 23 people, including children, were killed as relentless rain triggered one of the worst landslides in a decade in Darjeeling hills and adjoining areas on Sunday, sweeping away homes, cutting off roads, isolating villages, and leaving hundreds of stranded tourists amid widespread devastation, officials said.
Around 2,000 Gorkha Muslims staged a protest march supporting the Gorkha Jamukti Morcha cause.
The protesters marched from Rajghat to Jantar Mantar carrying the flag, depicting 110 years of their struggle for separate state.
A day after the signing of the tripartite agreement on Darjeeling, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung on Tuesday said its original demand for Gorkhaland still stands.
'Winning this election will take us a step closer to realising our dreams'
The unrest in the hills has led to the tea sector losing its entire second flush, and Rs 200 crore of its annual earnings.
GJM president Bimal Gurung has been holding meetings in Darjeeling district claiming that none could resist the formation of Gorkhaland, while urging partymen in the plains in the Dooars to ensure that the government assessment team returned convinced that people there area wanted to be under the new hill council.
'When I look at the faces of people around me, they have a certain energy, as if unemployment, food scarcity and infrastructural breakdown are small sacrifices for our agitation for Gorkhaland,' a Gorkha based in Delhi tells Geetanjali Krishna.
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.
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha on Friday said the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, the new hill council to run the administration in the Darjeeling hills, is a step towards achievement of Gorkhaland, an indication that they are not going back on their demand for a separate state.
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.
GNLF leader Shanta Chetri, who retained her Kurseong seat for two consecutive terms in the assembly polls, told reporters on Friday that there was no reason to surrender the demand for Gorkhaland.
A parallel meeting called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha on Tuesday passed a resolution demanding creation of a separate state of Gorkhaland.
Our election slogan is simple "Ballot for Bullet".
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.
With the Gorkhaland agitation going slow following strong measures taken by the administration, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha on Friday held out an olive branch to the West Bengal government, saying it wanted to clear 'misunderstandings' with it.
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.
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.
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.
He died in New Delhi on Thursday at the age of 78.
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.
Going back on its call for an indefinite shut down in Darjeeling in view of the Eid festival, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha on Thursday announced a four-day bandh from Saturday to demand a separate Gorkhaland.
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.
Hours ahead of the second-phase strike, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) president Bimal Gurung on Monday sought intervention of the Centre for resolving the crisis in the Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal.
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.
Tempers ran high over Gorkhaland issue in the Lok Sabha on Thursday with a Trinamool Congress member attacking senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh for making a strong plea for a political solution to the issue but later expressed regret.
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.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday complimented West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung for making the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration agreement possible.
Official-level talks on Gorkhaland has failed to make a headway owing to Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's insistence on discussing the territorial jurisdiction of the proposed interim authority.
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha Thursday asked the government to consider its demand for a Gorkhaland state if it takes into consideration creation of a separate Telangana.
Accusing the Left Front government in West Bengal of ignoring Darjeeling Hills, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh on Friday demanded the creation of a separate Gorkhaland. Singh also demanded more funds under the Cyclone Aila package. Initiating a debate on the Finance Bill in the Lok Sabha, the Darjeeling Member of Parliament wondered, "What wrong have the Gorkhas done not to deserve a separate state."
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.
"Nothing short of Gorkhaland is now acceptable for the morcha. No discussion on interim set-up anymore," Gurung told media persons after the GJM meeting at Kumani, on the border of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts.
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