GJM threatens to boycott hill panel - Gurung cry for mouzas and early GTA

Sibchu, Feb. 8.TT: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today threatened to withdraw all its four members from the territory committee if the Gorkha-dominated mouzas that it has demanded were not brought under the new hill administrative set-up.

Morcha president Bimal Gurung also expressed displeasure at the delay in the implementation of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. One of the stumbling blocks to the early implementation of the GTA is that the territory panel is yet to submit its recommendations to the government.

The Morcha chief was speaking at a programme here to mark the first anniversary of the police firing that killed three party supporters at Sibchu.

“Our members will walk out from the HPC (high-powered committee) if it fails to include the mouzas demanded by us,” Gurung said.

In his address earlier, Morcha secretary Roshan Giri said the committee would meet in Calcutta on February 24 to hear the opinion of all political parties in the Dooars and Terai in the set-up. “The additional areas (to be included in the GTA) will be decided on the basis of contiguity, continuity and homogeneity. There shouldn’t be any difficulty in including the areas from the Dooars and Terai,” he said.

Apart from the 199 mouzas in the Terai and 196 from the Dooars, the Morcha has demanded the inclusion of three mouzas from the Rajganj block of Jalpaiguri district in the GTA.

Gurung’s walkout threat is being seen as a tactics to put pressure on the committee to submit its report earliest given that the Morcha has set a deadline of March 27 for the state government to implement the GTA agreement. The party has threatened to re-launch the Gorkhaland agitation, if the deadline is not met.

The Morcha has four members in the HPC which is headed by Justice Shyamal Sen. Other members are the district magistrates of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri, a representative of the state home department, the director of census (representing the Centre) and the administrator of the DGHC. The government had on January 27 extended the term of the 10-member HPC formed in July last year by six months, a few days after the Morcha set the March 27 deadline.

The Morcha president wondered why the HPC was not being able to submit its report till today. “The delay in the formation of the GTA is providing an opportunity to the (opposition) leaders in the hills to chirp,” he said. Morcha rivals have revved up their campaigns in recent times, clamouring for statehood and Sixth Schedule status.

In Calcutta, Justice Sen said he did not know what the Morcha was saying. He said Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri had met him recently and had accepted the government proposals.

“He told me that a Morcha delegation would meet me in Calcutta on February 24. We have had cordial talks and had placed several proposals before them. They have agreed to them and it has been recorded. I don’t know what they are saying. They have not said they will not meet me on February 24,” Justice Sen told The Telegraph.

In Sibchu, on the fringes of the Dooars , Gurung came down heavily on Chhatrey Subba, accusing the 71-year-old rebel Gorkha leader of trying to breach peace in the hills. He, however, clarified that when he talked about training camps and Maoists in his speech, the charges were not against all constituents of the Gorkhaland Task Force. The GTF is an anti-Morcha consortium of five outfits — the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisang, CPRM, ABGL, Gorkha Rajya Nirman Morcha and the GNLF (C).

The GTF members had yesterday said Gurung would have to either retract his statements delivered on Monday or prove their involvement in conducting such camps.

“I mentioned the Task Force because Chhatrey (Subba) is part of it,” Gurung said. The Morcha chief had said the forests of Kalimpong were harbouring 15-20 Maoists. “No one should engineer violence. Remember, we too have GLP. We will pounce on any one (indulging in violence) and hand him over to the government,” he said. The GLP is a squad of lathi-wielding volunteers raised by the Morcha, apparently to control crowds at its meetings.

The Morcha president dared Subba to share his vision of Gorkhaland with the people. “I will assemble one lakh people in Kalimpong or anywhere to hear him,” he added.