Most members skip Gorkhaland body's meeting

Most elected members of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) skipped a meeting of the autonomous development body in West Bengal's Darjeeling hills Wednesday and demanded release of all arrested GTA members.

The protesting GTA members submitted a memorandum, saying they would boycott all sittings till all the 10 arrested GTA members are released.

Of the 45 elected members, only four - including the chairperson and deputy chairperson of the GTA - took part in the meeting.

All elected GTA members are from Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which won all the seats in the maiden elections held last year.

Twentynine GTA members signed the memorandum addressed to GTA Principal Secretary R.D. Meena demanding all arrested members of the body be set free. Six of the arrested members are executive members.

The members were taken into custody as part of the Mamata Banerjee led government's crackdown on the GJM ever since it intensified the movement for a separate state of Gorkhaland late July.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people raised pro-Gorkhaland slogans in the hills Wednesday, while bare-chested men whipped themselves publicly, demanding a separate state.