Gorkhaland: GJM leaders meet Mamata

Kolkata, May 26 : A team of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders led by Roshan Giri met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Writers' Buildings on Thursday and later both sides called it a courtesy call.
Mamata Banerjee would meet GJM leader Bimal Gurung  on Monday to take forward the hill talks while Banerjee asked the chief secretary to initiate the process.
"It was a courtesy call," said Mamata about the visit on Thursday while Roshan Giri said they had come to congratulate Mamata Banerjee for unseating the 34 year old Left Front government.Giri said they support Mamata Banerjee and have welcomed her initiative to review the list of political prisoners in the state.
Giri, however, said Gurung would meet Mamata Banerjee on Monday.The GJM also demanded a CBI probe into the into the death of two of its supporters in police firing at Sibchu in Jalpaiguri district in February last .

Asked if the Gorkhaland demand would figure in the talks, Giri avoided a direct reply and said "Gorkhaland demand is always there in the heart."

After taking over as the Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee had said that she would solve the problem of the hills.

The Gorkhas of Darjeeling, who are ethnic Nepalese, are demanding a separate state of Gorkhaland carved out of the northern Himalayan district of Darjeeling and parts of the foothills under Jalpaiguri district.

                                                                                                                                                --IBNS