Darjeeling: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday blamed Sikkim for unrest in Darjeeling, stating that the neighbouring state gets benefited if trouble erupts in the Hills.
“If there is unrest in Darjeeling, Sikkim gets benefited. I want peace to prevail in Sikkim. Darjeeling is as beautiful a place as Sikkim or even Switzerland. If there is unrest in Darjeeling, tourists flock to Sikkim.”
The chief minister stated that if there is a bandh in the Hills, it is the people and the business in Darjeeling which suffer. “Some people come from Sikkim and pour in money to create unrest in Darjeeling. It is Darjeeling’s loss,” said Mamata Banerjee, speaking at Chowrasta in Darjeeling during her second day of the visit to the Hills. During the violence in Darjeeling last year, Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling had extended his support for a separate Gorkhaland state, Indian Express reported.
Apart from Sikim, Mamata blamed foreign forces which ‘fuel unrest’ in the region. “There are so many forces, foreign countries who want unrest in Darjeeling. These people do not want Darjeeling to remain peaceful. These forces too pump in money to fuel unrest in Darjeeling. It is for their personal gain. We want both Darjeeling and Sikkim to remain peaceful,” she said.
She also announced setting up of a state university and asked the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) ‘not to beg to the Centre’. “I have heard from Binay Tamang (GTA chief) that they requested the Centre for a university in Darjeeling. I told them not to beg to the Centre. We will set up a university here. There are so many possibilities in the Hills, be it IT hub or tourism hub. We will try our best to develop the area. But peace must be maintained. People are scared to invest here fearing trouble,” said the chief minister.
During the Gorkhaland agitation, 13 people had allegedly died in police firing. The GTA had shortlisted nine families for monetary help from the chief minister. However, only five families turned up to receive Rs 2 lakh each from the chief minister. Meanwhile, in a press note, Bimal Gurung, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief who is in hiding, stated that the struggle for Gorkhaland will continue and the true respect to martyrs will be the achievement of a separate state.
After the chief minister’s last visit on June 8, 2017 when she held her first cabinet meeting in the Hills, a series of clashes broke out between GJM supporters and the police. Bimal Gurung re-ignited the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland. This followed a 104-day bandh called by the GJM. While GJM members claimed that 13 of their supporters had been killed during the violence, the state administration said that a sub-inspector and a civic volunteer were also killed in the agitation.