GJAC decides to put agitation on hold till October 20

The Gorkhaland Joint Action Committee, which is spearheading the statehood movement in the Darjeeling hills, today decided to suspend its agitation till October 20.
The GJAC, a conglomerate of hill-based parties with the common agenda of creation of a separate state, said after a meeting that it was suspending its movement till October 20 in deference to the appeal by Union Home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to end the indefinite agitation before tripartite talks could be held on the statehood issue.
GJM chief Bimal Gurung, who was appointed the new chairman of the GJAC in the meeting held at Singmari here, wrote on social networking website Facebook, that the GJAC had decided to put on hold its agitation on the condition that the talks should be held by October 20.

"The Home Minister has clearly stated that no new states can be created immediately. We reiterate that the solution to Gorkhaland is not immediate and that it requires a stepwise dialogue to solve the century-old demand of the Gorkhas," Gurung said.
The new GJAC chairman said, "We decry the hostile and confrontationist attitude of the state government and would henceforth expect its cooperation to take the tripartite talks forward."
Gurung announced that the GJAC would organise a sit-in in the three sub-divisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong from September 13 onwards in "traditional attire".