GJM leaders step up Gorkhaland demand

In what may not come as good news to the state government, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leadership has threatened to go for a militant movement in the hills to realise their demand for a separate state.

‘This time our movement might not be a democratic one. We may be forced to go for a violent agitation in Darjeeling and both the Centre and the state government will have to bear responsibilities for any untoward incidents,’ GJM leader Benoy Tamang said on Wednesday.

The GJM leadership apparently did not approve of  the chief minister’s act of meeting some Lepcha representatives in Darjeeling on Wednesday.

Mamata has assured the Lepchas that her government will set up an autonomous council for the development of this Hill people. ‘The chief minister is trying to draw a line of division among the Hill people and we will not allow her to do this,’ Tamang said. Wednesday’s development at Bijanbari – when Gurung again opened the new Bijanbari bridge – clearly indicates the fact that both the GJM and Mamata Banerjee’s government are likely to confront each other in the days ahead.