Will not let Darjeeling turn into Kashmir, says Binay Tamang

Kolkata: Condemning the incident in Darjeeling, Binay Tamang said: "The attempt of turning the situation of Darjeeling like Kashmir will be foiled."

Tamang, who has been made chairman of the Board of Administrators to run the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), and Vice Chairman Anit Thapa, held a meeting with Chief Minister in Nabanna on Friday.

While giving reaction at the Kolkata Airport, Tamang said: "We don't want that the situation in Darjeeling to become as it is in Kashmir. We will not let it happen. We will not allow any sort of activities in the Hills that will disrupt the peace."

Condemning Friday's incident, he said: "Gurung has to take the responsibility of what happened in Darjeeling today (Friday)." He further said that they had accumulated AK-47 and it proves that the state government's claim are true.

It may be mentioned that Anuj Sharma, Additional Director general (Law and Order) on Friday clearly stated that Gurung and his associates are working hand-in-glove with Maoists and North-East insurgency groups to create trouble in the Hills. They have also prepared a blueprint to affect the normalcy and firearms have been supplied by the same groups.

Tamang and Thapa met the Chief Minister in Nabanna on Friday and it is learnt that there was discussions on projects for development of the Hills. On September 20, the Chief Minister had announced the setting up of the eight-member -

Board of Administrators to run GTA till further election is held in the Hills. The board was formed enjoying the power of the section 65B of the GTA Act of 2011 so that development work in the Hills can be carried out properly.

The Chief Minister also held meeting with members of all political parties from the Hills twice to restore peace. The first one was held in Nabanna and the second in Uttar Kanya - the state government's administrative headquarters in North Bengal. There is another meeting with members of all political parties from the Hills in Nabanna on Monday. According to sources, discussions on issues related to development of the Hills will take place in the meeting.