Gurung: Tribals reached for land

Kalchini, July 4: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung today claimed that his party was in touch with the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad on the issue of territory.

His claim, however, has been rejected as untrue by leaders of the tribal organisation, which has decided to oppose tooth and nail the Morcha demand to bring some pockets of the Dooars under a new set-up for the hills.

After addressing about 2,000 people who had gathered at the Kalchini thana grounds, this afternoon, Gurung said: “We are in touch with the Parishad and we also have faith in the high-power committee that the state government will constitute to look into the territorial issue.” He, however, did not elaborate on which leaders of the Parishad his party was in touch with.

Reacting to Gurung’s claim, John Barla, the president of the Terai-Dooars coordination committee of the Parishad, said: “Nobody from the Morcha had contacted us. We are determined in our stand not to allow an inch of land from the Terai or the Dooars to be included in the Morcha’s proposed territory. If need be we will take to the streets,” Barla said.

While Gurung did not touch upon the developments in Andhra Pradesh where 78 MLAs resigned today for Telangana, Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said in Darjeeling that the situation in Hyderabad was “being monitored”.

“We are closely monitoring the developments on Telangana and our future stand will depend on the prevailing situation,” said Giri.

Back in the plains, Gurung said that in March 2008, former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had offered the Morcha Rs 1,500 crore for the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council only if the party gave up its agitation for statehood. “I rejected the offer and said we were interested in nothing short of Gorkhaland,” he said.

While addressing the gathering — his second speech in as many days in the Dooars — Gurung said: “I saw hundreds of Gorkhas and Adivasis lined up at the Bhutan gate, waiting to enter Bhutan for work. They will be jobless if that country does not give them work. We will introduce industries in this region so that you have jobs. I will draw Mamata Didi’s attention to this.” 

-The Telegraph