advertisement
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday appealed to the leaders of the Gorkhaland statehood movement in Darjeeling to call off their agitation, and urged the West Bengal government to initiate dialogue with them, a Home Ministry official said.
During a two-hour meeting chaired by Singh in New Delhi, the leaders of the Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee (GMCC) submitted a memorandum to the Centre detailing their demands.
The home minister appealed to the leaders to call off the indefinite shutdown in Darjeeling, which entered its 60th day.
Singh also appealed to the West Bengal government to initiate dialogue with the Gorkhaland movement leaders to resolve their demands, the official said.
The BJP's Darjeeling MP S S Ahluwalia also attended the meeting.
Swaraj Thapa, a leader of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which is a part of the GMCC, said the home minister had told them that he was mindful of the sufferings of the people in Darjeeling.
The GJM leader said the home minister had appealed to them to end the agitation.
"We will soon decide the future course of action," he said.
(Love your mother tongue? This Independence Day, tell The Quint why and how you love your bhasha. You may even win a BOL t-shirt! Sing, write, perform, spew poetry – whatever you like – in your mother tongue. Send us your BOL at bol@thequint.com or WhatsApp it to 9910181818.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)