Siliguri, June 15: Bengal urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya today reiterated the need to maintain peace and unity in Siliguri at any cost.

Talking to journalists today, the Darjeeling district Left Front convener said normality had to be restored in Siliguri immediately.

The minister refused to speak on the decision taken by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha not to attend the meeting with the Bengal government on Wednesday in Calcutta and to resume their strike from tomorrow.

“I don’t want to comment on this as the entire episode is being monitored by the CPM’s state leadership and the chief minister,” said Bhattacharya. “We will tackle the crisis politically and as part of the move, we have been organising meetings in villages and tea garden for the past couple of days, appealing to the public to maintain peace and normality in the region.”

After the clash the trade hub witnessed on Thursday, the Darjeeling district unit of the CPM has been holding several meetings to spread messages on peace and unity, especially between the people of the hills and the plains.

Apart from Bhattacharya, Jibitesh Sarkar, Bikash Ghosh and Anil Saha have also attended the meetings at Kharibari, Naxalbari and Matigara blocks.

“It is true that Siliguri’s spirit of unity has been shattered by Thursday’s incident. But we will overcome it with the help of residents,” said a senior party leader in the district.

Bhattacharya alleged that some of his party members were confined to their houses in Goak and Bijanbari area in hills today. “Some anti-CPM posters also appeared in these places,” he said. The minister, however, refused to divulge the names of people behind the incident.

A brick-battle between two communities residing on either side of the Mahananda here had almost spiralled out of control on Thursday, forcing the administration to impose Section 144 to prevent the violence from turning an ethnic turn.