The Hindu : National : GNLF strike continues

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Tuesday, Nov 27, 2007
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National

GNLF strike continues

Special Correspondent

KOLKATA: Normal life continued to be severely disrupted in the Darjeeling hills of West Bengal on Monday because of an indefinite strike by the principal party of the region — the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) — following the attack on one of its senior leaders allegedly by supporters of the rival Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha (GJMM) on November 23.

“The strike will continue till the GJMM leader, Bimal Gurung, is arrested for the attack on party leader and former councillor of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), K.B. Gurung Dipak Gurung, president of the Darjeeling branch committee of the GNLF, told The Hindu over telephone from Darjeeling.

“Our party also demands that the proposed Bill granting Sixth Schedule status to the region be introduced in Parliament without further delay”, Mr. Gurung said.

He ridiculed the rival GJMM’s demand for a separate Gorkhaland state as a “sham”.

“It is aimed at creating unrest in the region and divide the Gorkha community,” Mr. Gurung added.

It was the GNLF that had first raised in the mid-1980s the demand for a separate state to be carved out of the Darjeeling hills.

The demand was dropped following a tripartite agreement involving the party leadership, the Centre and the State Government that paved the way for the formation of the DGHC in 1988.

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