Guv asks all political parties to help restore peace in Hills

MALDA: West Bengal Governor M K Narayan on Thursday asked all political parties to help restore peace in the trouble-torn Darjeeling Hills and Dooars area of Jalpaiguri district.

"It is very much essential to help restore peace in Darjeeling Hills and Dooars area and everybody including political parties should play a role in restoring peace," Narayanan told reporters here.

The Governor said the situation in the Darjeeling Hills is not so serious that it needs the deployment of the army there.

The Gorkha JanaMukti Morcha (GJM), which is spearheading the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland comprising the Darjeeling Hills and some areas of Dooars, is observing an indefinite strike in the Hills from Wednesday to protest the police firing at Sipchu in Jalpaiguri district on Tuesday which left two persons dead.

Normal life was completely paralysed in the Darjeeling Hills in response to the GJM strike on Wednesday and Thursday.