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GJM to sit for talks with Buddhadeb

Special Correspondent

Focus on finding ways to restore normality in Dooars

KOLKATA: Leaders of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) on Tuesday agreed to hold talks with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee here on Wednesday.

However, its president Bimal Gurung will not attend the discussions.

The GJM has been demanding creation of a separate State.

On Monday, Mr. Bhattacharjee invited the GJM leadership for a meeting to discuss the situation in the Darjeeling hills and to determine ways of restoring normality in the Dooars area, which has witnessed violence involving GJM supporters and those of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad (ABAVP) during the past few days. The ABAVP is opposed to inclusion of the Dooars and Terai regions in the separate State being sought by the GJM.

“Police partisan”

GJM general secretary Roshan Giri, who will lead a seven-member delegation for the talks, told The Hindu from Gorubathan in the Kalimpong sub-division that it would take up with the Chief Minister “the partisan role of the local police in the Dooars in preventing our supporters from carrying out a democratically legitimate campaign in the region.”

He said: “We stick to our demand for a separate State — a matter that has been on the agenda of tripartite talks involving the Centre, the State and the GJM.”

The State government has rejected the plea for bifurcation of the State.

At a Cabinet meeting, Mr. Bhattacharjee expressed concern over the developments in the Dooars.

Additional security forces have been deployed in the region to prevent further violence.

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