Siliguri, April 26: The government today formally denied the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha permission to hold a rally in Siliguri to campaign for a separate Gorkhaland.

State home secretary Ashok Mohan Chakrabarti met a team of eight Morcha leaders led by general secretary Roshan Giri this evening and tried to persuade them to call off such plans as they could escalate tension in the region.

Director-general of police A.B. Vohra, inspector-general (law and order) Raj Kanojia and B.L. Meena, the caretaker administrator of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, accompanied Chakrabarti to the talks that lasted 40 minutes.

He was the first to leave the conference room around 6.45pm.

“We consider the denial of permission to organise a meeting in Siliguri an infringement of our democratic rights,” Giri said. “Siliguri is an integral part of Darjeeling district where we have a right to undertake a democratic activity.”

Giri did not reiterate the threat the Morcha had issued yesterday — to go ahead with the rally even if denied permission.

The Morcha had wanted to hold the rally between April 28 and 30. “We have only one option now,” Giri said, “to launch an indefinite hunger strike.”

“Our aim is to spread the Morcha’s message in Siliguri because it would be a part of Gorkhaland,” he added.

Chakrabarti said: “They have been asked to reconsider their plan to hold a march and a meeting here. Such activities can spark tension.”