Siliguri (West Bengal), July 19 (IANS) The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), spearheading a protest for a separate Gorkhaland state out of West Bengal, Sunday declared it will allow a 10-hour relaxation Monday in the ongoing indefinite shutdown in Darjeeling district.
“We’ve decided to give a 10-hour relaxation from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday to the ongoing strike in the hills. We’ll allow everything to be open during this time except for government and private offices in the three hill sub-divisions,” GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said.

The GJM had Saturday allowed traffic blockade to be relaxed on the National Highway (NH)-31A, a key route connecting West Bengal and Sikkim.

The GJM called the indefinite shutdown July 13 for a carving of a separate Gorkhaland. The shutdown has paralysed life in Darjeeling’s three hill sub-divisions - Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong.

“The government should now consider our demand for a separate Gorkhaland,” Giri said.

The central and state governments are going for tripartite meeting with the pro-Gorkhaland parties Aug 11.

The GJM had announced indefinite shutdown in the hills twice last year and also in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls this year, severely hitting the tea and tourism industries - the bread and butter of the region.

Tripartite talks held last year in New Delhi had failed to break the deadlock.