After the second round of an all-party meeting between chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the leaders of the hills at Uttarkanya at the state secretariat at Siliguri, Banerjee said that a high-level inquiry would be initiated into the alleged police firing that killed Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) supporters. However, it is not yet clear when bandh at the hills will finally be lifted.
"They had been agitating. It is their democratic right, but we want the situation to normalise. They demanded a high-level probe into the police firing and I have agreed to it. They have also asked for compensation for the dead and injured. I said I will give that once normalcy returns to the hills and peace prevails," Mamata said.
Terming the meeting on Tuesday as a positive one, she said that the next meeting has been scheduled on October 16 at Nabanna. She added that there should be a dialogue so that a permanent solution was evolved at, but was quick to add that hills were a part of Bengal. She said that there had been no discussion about a separate Gorkhaland.
Meanwhile, ousted GJM leader Binay Tamang presented a 17-point demand to the state government. "Our demands include initiation of a tripartite talk as soon as possible, a high-level inquiry into the deaths of our supporters, withdrawal of all cases and releases of all those who had been arrested and allowing of media and internet to function normally," Tamang said.
Immediately after the meeting, however, Jyoti Kumar Rai, assistant general secretary of GJM issued a statement saying that the GJM was disappointed with the outcome of the meeting on Tuesday.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
- Banerjee said those who missed admission would get a month’s salary in advance
- Rai urged the Centre to convene a meeting on Gorkaland to end stalemate.
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