Digha: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today exuded confidence that the peace would be restored soon in the Darjeeling Hills, facing violent stir for the last 27 days for a separate state of Gorkhaland.
“We will not let Darjeeling burn like this. I am saying that peace will be reinstated there soon and I am focused on that,” she said at a programme here.
Blaming the BJP-led government at the Centre for the impasse in Darjeeling, she said, “We will not give in to the Centre’s conspiracy … I again ask people who are playing with fire in the hills to give up and help in restoring peace there because violence is pollution and peace is the solution.”
The police and security forces are patrolling the streets and keeping vigil on the entry and exit routes of the picturesque hill town.
Internet services have remained suspended for the last 24 days with the schools and colleges staying closed. Barring pharmacies, all shops are closed and supplies of essential commodities are fast drying up.
An Army column, comprising around 50 personnel, was deployed in Kalimpong last night close on the heels of two columns positioned in Darjeeling and Sonada on Saturday after large-scale violence and arson there, Defence sources said.
—PTI