Day after, GJM says Gorkhaland demand still on agenda

A day after signing the tripartite agreement, Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) president Bimal Gurung addressed a public meeting at Sukna on Tuesday where he assured the hill people that his party had not dropped its demand for a separate Gorkhaland state. 

Gurung also sought to allay the fears of a section of Gorkhas over the uncertainty on the inclusion of Dooars and Terai region in the new Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said on Monday that “Bengal will not be divided”. Gurung on Tuesday said her statement was “made out of political compulsions”. Many in the hills said Tuesday’s public rally was the beginning of a new phase of movement for separate statehood.
“When children cry, mothers tries to appease them by saying so many things. It was such a statement, and nothing much should be read into it. Politics was being played over the agreement at home and Mamata Banerjee had to keep that in mind while making the statement,” said Gurung.  

He also said the new boundary demarcation would soon start in the Dooars and Terai, where the GJM had demanded a total of 196 and 199 mouzas respectively. He directed all Gorkhas to put up GJM flags atop their houses before the survey begins. “All Gorkha homes should have this identity mark,” he said.
The GJM leadership had to hurriedly convene the meeting at Sukna on Tuesday, at the same venue where the tripartite agreement was signed on Monday, as a large section of the hill people were unhappy and complained they were kept in the dark about the details of the agreement.  

Gurung said it was only on the assurance that Dooars and Terai region would be included in the GTA that the GJM signed the agreement. He said the CM had admitted that “injustice has been done to the Gorkhas”, Gurung said Banerjee had assured justice. “Her words are honest and sincere,” he said.
Gurung’s deputy Roshan Giri also explained the tripartite agreement at length to the people in an apparent bid to convince them that it was not a compromise on their Gorkhaland demand.
“Bimal Gurung did not sign the agreement because he wants to take forward the agitation for a separate state of Gorkhaland and launch a full-fledged movement soon,” said Giri, who signed the tripartite agreement on Monday.
~IE