Maintain faith even if tripartite talks fail: Chettri

Pradip Lohagun: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha spokesperson Dr. Harka Bahadur Chettri today suggested people should not give up hope even if the upcoming tripartite meeting fails to yield any major results.

He said, “The central government is in a weak position given the impending general elections and is eyeing the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress for support. The truth is her support is very crucial for the formation of a new alliance after the polls. With this in the backdrop, the centre’s move cannot be predicted precisely. I believe until a new government is formed next year, no major step is going to be taken on the Darjeeling issue.”

Chettri however, said the main agenda during the tripartite talks on October 23 would be the formation of a Gorkhaland state. He said the GJM has taken over the GTA once again to render futile the state government’s designs regarding the administrative body, adding the Morcha would use the GTA as a weapon for pressing forward the statehood agitation.

“We are not dropping the statehood demand and reverting to the GTA. The state government was ready to field its own candidate as GTA chief. In such an event, we would have had to fight him as well as the government. Hence, we elected Binay Tamang as the GTA chief executive although he is in prison as we perceive the GTA itself as a prison. We can stall the GTA and go ahead with our demand,” said the GJM spokesperson.

He cited the case of the Bodo people who are fighting for statehood while keeping the Bodo Territorial Council alive. “Quitting the GTA means throwing away a very important weapon,” said Chettri. “We should know how to make proper use of it.”

According to the GJM leader, who is also the Kalimpong MLA, the Morcha has already apprised home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde aware of the failure of the GTA. He further said the GJM will not work under any form of setup under the state government. “We have demanded a completely separate setup that will not be under the control and influence of the West Bengal government. We want the centre to realise the Gorkhas are not just fighting against injustice meted out them alone, but to all other communities residing in the Darjeeling hills.”

Chettri refrained from commenting on speculations that a Union Territory status may be demanded for Darjeeling. “We have not demanded for a Union Territory and it was only a suggestion tabled by some central leaders during a seminar held recently in Delhi. We have no comments on the proposal as our main goal is a Gorkhaland state,” summed up the GJM spokesperson.