Forty-six days after a general strike began in the Darjeeling hills in support of the demand for a separate state, leaders of the 14 party-strong Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee are meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday. But well before the meeting, on July 27, they had already declared that the strike will continue.

Beyond extending the strike, the leaders appear not to have any plan on how to further the statehood demand. “The movement is only going in a horizontal way with the GMCC [Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee] expanding its base, but the demand for Gorkhaland not making real progress,” said Samar Sinha, assistant professor, Nepali Department, Sikkim University.

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