Gorkhaland issue: GJM, GMCC leader meet Rajnath

A delegation of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee (GMCC) met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday over the long pending issue of Gorkhaland.

This meeting came a day after; an arrest warrant was register against GJM chief Bimal Gurung and seven others.

According to the reports, the warrant has been issued in the wake of the unrest created in Darjeeling on June 8 when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had held a cabinet meeting in the hilly city.

Earlier on September 1, the police issued a lookout notice against the GJM chief for his alleged involvement in various cases, including a bomb blast in Kalimpong police station, in which a civic volunteer was killed.

The lookout notice was issued after the expulsion of the party assistant general secretary Binay Tamang and Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) member Anit Thapa for violating the party line.

Last month, a section of the GJM's central committee met in Kurseong and decided to suspend the indefinite shutdown in Darjeeling and Kalimpong till September 12, when the Hills parties would be meeting West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee in Siliguri for a second round of talks.

But, the suspension of the shutdown resulted in turmoil and confusion within the GJM as another group, apparently with party president Bimal Gurung's blessings, removed Tamang from the post.

A delegation of the GJM leaders met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on August 29 and submitted a memorandum demanding a judicial inquiry into the deaths caused due to the police action.

The meeting was also attended by other hill parties like the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) and the Jan Andolan Party (JAP).