Indian Gorkhas failed by Centre and the State- GTF Home Minister Shinde assures GTF delegation to talk on Gorkhaland issue

Mukesh Sharma: The Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde met a delegation of the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh (BGP) - Gorkhaland Task Force (GTF) today at his residence in New Delhi. Led by GTF Chairman Rev Dr Enos Das Pradhan, the delegation discussed the separate State issue with the Home Minister and submitted a memorandum on the same.At the discussion, Rev Dr Pradhan and  GTF General Secretary Munish Tamang emphasized that the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) do not meet the expectations of over 1 crore Indian Gorkhas. They pointed out that the GTA was only a development agency, while the demand of the Indian Gorkhas revolves around their National identity and political security. The Union Government had not consulted all political parties or social organizations concerned while settling for the GTA agreement, they said.The delegation said that the Indian Gorkhas has been regularly failed by the Centre and the State and their actual problems are not being taken seriously. “As a Dalit, you will understand marginalization. We request you to understand the issues of deprivation of the Indian Gorkhas and take steps to give them justice,” they told Shinde. The Home Minister was keen on these views and assured that he would like to discuss them more. “We will sit down again and talk about the issues of the Gorkhas,” he told the delegation. Other members in the delegation included BGP Secretary General Sukhman Moktan, Gorkha Rajya Nirman Morcha (GRNM) President Dawa Pakhrin and GTF National Coordinator R Moktan.