Darjeeling unrest: Mamata Banerjee says 'will not allow division of West Bengal'

Burdwan (West Bengal): Amid the ongoing stir in the Darjeeling hills for carving out a separate ‘Gorkhaland’ out of West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday firmly ruled out the further division of the state.

“Bengal cannot be divided. I will not allow it,” she said at a public meeting in Burdwan.

Banerjee also had an apparent dig at the Centre, saying, “They cannot tackle Kashmir. They are peeping (into Darjeeling).”

She said, “Whatever be the conspiracy, we will fight unitedly.”

Banerjee had earlier stated that the agitation for Gorkhaland, being spearheaded by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, was a “deep-rooted conspiracy” and supported by insurgent groups of the Northeast and some foreign countries.

On Wednesday, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha activists had held fresh demonstrations for Gorkhaland as security forces kept a strict vigil in the hills which remained tense on the 14th day of the indefinite shutdown.

The army, meanwhile, was withdrawn from the restive hills after the state government sought its pull-out. The GJM supporters had torched an office of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration last night prompting the police to briefly detain two central committee members of the party, Samuel Gurung and RB Bhujal. Both were released after two hours. Protesters also ransacked a panchayat office in Bijanbari area, 25 kilometres from Darjeeling.