An all-party meet convened by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) will chalk out their “next course of action” as the indefinite shutdown continued to cripple normal life in Darjeeling for the sixth consecutive day.
The meeting, which was believed to have been attended by all the political parties of the hills, was scheduled to be held at Gymkhana Club at 11 a.m. on Tuesday.
“We will discuss with all the hill parties and chalk out our next course of action,” a GJM leader said.
The hill parties have agreed that the demand for a separate Gorkhaland state was a “priority”.
Security forces were patrolling the streets and Internet services remained suspended for the third day on Tuesday.
Except medicine shops, all other shops remained closed.
On Monday, effigies of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee were burnt as thousands of protesters marched on the streets of Darjeeling demanding a separate state.
Supporters of the separatist Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) group shout slogans while burning an effigy of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during an indefinite strike called in Darjeeling on June 19, 2017. Hundreds of protesters on June 18 paraded with coffins containing the bodies of two men they claimed were killed in clashes with Indian security forces in Darjeeling, as the hill resort reels from separatist unrest.
Students, returning home after the closure of schools, walk past shuttered shops during a general strike called by the GJM. The imposition of Bengali in schools had sparked the protests for a separate state.
The roads wear a deserted look as the GJM called for an indefinite total bandh in Darjeeling.
A child rides her tricycle as paramilitary personnel stand guard during an indefinite strike in Darjeeling on June 16, 2017.
A soldier patrols next to a burned out vehicle after clashes with supporters of the separatist GJM in Darjeeling.
A man has been killed and dozens of police personnel injured in clashes between Indian security forces and protesters.
Members of the Indian Muslim community take part in a rally in support of a separate state of Gorkhaland in Darjeeling on June 18, 2017.
A tourist looks on as security personnel stop the supporters of the GJM during a protest amid a general strike in Darjeeling.
Thousands of tourists fled the Indian hill resort of Darjeeling on June 12 after local activists demanding the creation of a new state warned that a general strike could degenerate into violence. Hundreds of troops and riot police patrolled the streets of the famed tea-producing resort in eastern India as panicked tourists packed their bags.
