With no end in sight to the Darjeeling impasse, the representatives of the Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee (GMCC) will observe a one-day hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on August 4.
The representatives met in New Delhi on Tuesday and urged the Centre to take adequate steps so that normalcy was restored in the hills of Bengal. GMCC is a 30-member-body comprising representatives of all political parties in the hills and social organisations to take forward the demand for Gorkhaland.
“We are sensitive to the hardship faced by the people of the hills, but we support the indefinite strike. We call upon the government to take steps to see that the strike is lifted and the young people on fast in Darjeeling are saved,” Munish Tamang, national working president of Bharatiya Gorkha Parisang, said. GMCC representatives acknowledged that they had received letters from school principals stating that students were losing crucial days.
Mr. Tamang said that while there would be flag hoisting on Independence Day in the hills, people would also form a human chain in demand for Gorkhaland.
The indefinite strike in the Darjeeling hills started on June 15.
Mamata appeals for normalcy
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at a public event in north Bengal urged political parties and leaders in the hills to “be calm and help in restoring normal life in Darjeeling.”
Expressing concern over the situation in the hills, Ms. Banerjee said that the tea gardens were closed and essential services were not reaching the people. She, however, once again ruled out any division of the state and creation of Gorkhaland.
“Whatever happens, everyone should remember that I am ready to give up my life but I will never support dividing (the state),” she said.
