With only three political parties, including the ruling Trinamool Congress, joining talks on the ongoing situation in Darjeeling, the meeting called by the West Bengal government in Siliguri on Thursday turned out to be a damp squib.
The isolation of the government was also evident as only two of the 15 development boards set up by the State government in the hills came for talks.
This was the first meeting called by the government to tackle the issue and none of political parties from the hills participated in it. Even major Opposition parties like the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front stayed away.
“This meeting was held without any conditions. Those who have not come I hope will join the discussions in future,” West Bengal Home Secretary Moloy De said after the meeting.
State’s appeal
Mr. De said the government was making an appeal with an open mind that the bandh in the hills be withdrawn, adding that the path of dialogue remained open for all stakeholders.
The State’s Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee said the government will keep the process of discussion on and appealed that the ‘disruptive activities’ in the hills stop.
Meanwhile the situation in the Darjeeling hills remained the same, with near-total shutdown on the eighth day of the indefinite strike called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. While the Internet services remained down, cable television services were also suspended.
Chamling backs demand
In a related development Chief Minister of Sikkim Pawan Chamling wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh coming out in support of the demand for Gorkhaland. In a letter to Mr. Singh, Mr. Chamling said the “creation of Gorkhaland State will restore permanent peace and prosperity in the region.”
He also said that Sikkim had been suffering due to the agitation and blockade along the State’s only lifeline, National Highway 10, for the past 30 years.
West Bengal took strong exception to the letter and Mr. Partha Chatterjee said the neighouring State had no right to interfere.
Meanwhile, the Darjeeling police have lodged an FIR against GJM president Bimal Gurung and other senior leaders of the party alleging their complicity in the June 17 violence which claimed three lives. The charges include murder and attempt to murder. The development has triggered fresh tension in the hills with the GJM claiming that their leaders were being falsely implicated.
