Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) chief Bimal Gurung today made a public appearance for the first time after the recent bout of the Gorkhaland agitation in the Hills, which forced him to go into hiding. Neatly dressed, Mr Gurung greeted the people on New Year, while he also said he was all ready to cooperate if an independent committee or agency took up investigations into the violence that occurred in the Hills of Darjeeling and Kalimpong during the agitation that began in early June and ended towards the end of September last year.

“We don’t have anything against Bengal’s people as they are our brothers and sisters. But out language, our culture, are very different from theirs. Whatever we are asking, we are asking under the Indian constitution. We are India’s inseparable part, and we will remain so,” the GJMM leader, who is on the run, said.

As GJMM general secretary Roshan Giri circulated photos of Mr Gurung in Delhi on Whatsapp, he said the Darjeeling leader talked to some press people. Mr Giri also circulated a New Year message Mr Gurung sent to the people through the media.

“Though I sent the photos, I am not with Mr Gurung presently. He talked to some media people I n Delhi today,” he told The Statesman, without elaborating.

“The state government, for the past several months, is working like a directionless government, and it has been giving one-sided account of all that has been happening in Darjeeling, but the truth is, we are not separatists,” Mr Gurung said in the message.

“I will continue the peaceful crusade for the Gorkha people’s identity and their life,” he added, and appealed to “my people” to maintain peace, not lose hope, have patience, and continue with their daily work and stay away from illegal activities.

“I have always trusted on the judiciary, and I am ready to cooperate with any independent investigation agency that will work with honesty,” he said.

“I have prayed to our judiciary to form independent probe committees/agencies to look into the various police cases slapped on us,” he added.

Meanhile, the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) is all set to hold a ‘centralized’ public meeting in Darjeeling on 28 January, where, the party said, it will present to the public the details of whatever transpired between the state and the central governments during the recent Gorkhaland agitation in the Hills.

Political observers feel that the meeting will also be a show of strength for the party that has regained popularity after the recent agitation.