Doors for talks on Gorkhaland with Mamata govt closed forever, says GJM

GJM secretary Binay Tamang said the doors for talks with Mamata Banerjee and the West Bengal government are “closed forever”.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha turned down on Saturday West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s offer for talks, but said it was willing to hold discussions with the Centre on the issue of Gorkhaland.

An injured man is taken away following clashes between Gorkhaland supporters and police in Sonada near Darjeeling on Saturday, July 8, 2017.(AFP)

In a statement tonight, the GJM, which is spearheading the agitation for a separate state, said the doors for talks with Banerjee and the state government are “closed forever”.

“We will go for it ... if the Centre calls for talks on our demand for Gorkhaland,” GJM secretary Binay Tamang said in the statement.

Banerjee on Saturday appealed for peace and said her government was ready for talks with the hill parties, but peace has to be restored first.

Tamang said the GJM felt bad that national parties paid no attention to the “killings of innocent people during the month-long unrest”, but a single incident at Basirhat drew their condemnation.

“We sincerely ask the leaders of all political parties - Are we in India?”

Fresh violence erupted on Saturday in Darjeeling hills prompting the state government to call the army back on the streets as Gorkhaland supporters torched a police outpost, a toy train station and clashed with the police at two places.

While the GJM claimed that two youths were killed in police firing, police said there were no reports of any such incident.