State to decide forces' pull-out from Darjeeling hills: official

Stating that the West Bengal government is doing everything to maintain peace and order in the north Bengal hills, a senior officer on Thursday said the withdrawal of security forces from the region will depend on the state's assessment of the situation.

"The state government cannot abdicate its constitutional obligation to maintain peace and order. State's decision to remove the security forces will depend on its own assessment of the situation," Home Secretary Malay Kumar Dey said at the end of state government-convened all-party meeting in Siliguri.

"The state government is doing its constitutional duty to maintain law and order in the hills. However, if someone is facing trouble or has any misunderstanding, then we are open to discussion," he said referring to the ongoing indefinite shutdown in the Darjeeling hills for the past eight days.

Fourteen political parties in the hills, including Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), which sat for a meeting on Tuesday, claimed that the indefinite shutdown could be lifted if the security forces were withdrawn from region.

They also unanimously decided to boycott the state government-convened all-party meeting on Thursday.

Home Secretary Dey, however, described the discussions in the meeting as "positive" and assured the people that the state government was in favour of bringing back peace and normalcy in the hills.

"This was an unconditional meeting. We called everyone in the meeting with the sole motive to maintain peace in the hills," he said.

Stating that two hill development boards and three political parties attended the state government meeting, Dey also appealed to all the other stakeholders to come to the discussion table.

"We hope that the people in the hills are in favour of peace and they would do their bit to bring back normalcy."

Criticising complete shutdown in the hills, the Home Secretary on behalf of the Bengal government assured of providing security to the people "who are willing to work".

"The state government has put necessary security measures in place in Darjeeling. We assures to help out everyone who are willing to carry on with the normal activities," he added.

--IANS

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