Buddha says no Gorkhaland as indefinite stir begins

DARGEELING BURNS: GJM chief warned people to stock up on essential supplies for the next 45 days.

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Keywords: Darjeeling, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Monday ruled out considering the demand for a separate Gorkhaland state, even as the hill areas of the state shut down in response to a call by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) and the outfit's chief warned people to stock up on essential supplies for 45 days.

The demand for Gorkhaland may be raised in the all-party meeting on the Darjeeling issue scheduled on Tuesday, but West Bengal government will not consider the demand, Bhattacharjee said on Monday evening.

"We are open to all possible negotiations with other parties and GJM to restore peace and democratic atmosphere in Darjeeling district. If any party wants Gorkhaland, it can place the demand at the meeting on Tuesday. But we will not consider it," the Chief Minister said.

"We are always ready to help GJM with other issues of the hills apart from Gorkhaland," Bhattacharjee added.

Meanwhile, the indefinite shutdown called by the GJM, fighting for a separate Gorkhaland state in northern West Bengal, began with a call from the party chief that people should stock up on food and essential supplies for the next month.

"The shutdown has started. Our workers are picketing several roads," GJM general secretary Roshan Giri told IANS over phone.

Tea gardens, cinchona plantations and school and college examinations have been kept outside the purview of the shutdown that started at 1800 hours IST on Monday in the three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling district – Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong.

Giri said GJM president Bimal Gurung has asked the people in the hills to stock up food and essential supplies "but that does not mean that we are calling a 45-day shutdown. Ours is an indefinite agitation."

GJM has exempted the plains of the district – Silguri, Dooars and Terai – from the shutdown, but a conflict seemed to be brewing between the party and the administration over the GJM's decision to conduct relay hunger strikes in these areas.

"The administration is trying to scuttle the hunger strike by banning assembly of more than four people in parts of Siliguri and Dooars. We will not be cowed down by these moves," Giri said.