Gorkhaland supporters stage a rally in Siliguri

Siliguri, Mar 19 (ANI): Activists and supporters of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJMM) staged a mass rally here on Thursday to hail the tripartite talks with the Central Government in New Delhi with the hopes that the aspirations of Gorkhas in the Darjeeling hills region would be fulfilled.

The rally witnessed hundreds of supporters of GJMM holding flags of Gorkhaland and festoons, speeches and slogans in support of the talks.

The supporters were hopeful that a positive response would come out of the talks and all their demands would be fulfilled.

"We are hopeful that all our demands would be fulfilled. We want that the proposal by the panel should be accepted in the meeting today, the process of Gorkhaland would also be finished gradually," said Roshni Chettri, a supporter of GJMM.

Meanwhile, in New Delhi, Roshan Giri, General Secretary of GJMM attending the tripartite meet mentioned that the discussion about interim arrangement and territory would be carried out at the political level by May 14.

"We will not back out from our demand for a Gorkhaland. We will continue with our demand for Gorkhaland. The talks about interim arrangement and territory would be carried out at a political level by May 14," Giri said.

The Gorkhaland Movement has taken a different turn after the GJM proposed the establishment of an interim council till December 31, 2011, as a precursor to the creation of a separate Gorkhaland state.

The Gorkhaland Regional Authority seeks to have legislative powers on matters such as town and country planning, culture and mining of certain minerals.

The Gorkha population in West Bengal is estimated to be around a million. (ANI)