GJM renews demand for separate State

Darjeeling future hinges on fate of Telangana demand

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee may have claimed that she has ushered in an era of calm in the Darjeeling hills but the region is threatened with a fresh spell of political unrest with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leadership on Sunday renewing its call for a separate State and urging the people to prepare for an “agitation-to-the-end” for Gorkhaland.

The development comes only five months after the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration started functioning and, significantly, ahead of some sort of an announcement expected from the Centre on the Telangana statehood issue later this month. The political future of the hills now seems to hinge on the fate of the demand for Telangana.

“Telangana cannot be created and our demand ignored,” GJM general secretary Roshan Giri told

The Hindu over telephone from Darjeeling after addressing a massive rally there marking the start of a fresh phase of agitation for Gorkhaland.