Morcha Equated Harka Bahadur Chhetri Trilok Dewan with Mir Jafar

Darjeeling, Sept. 23: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today indirectly equated the rebellion of Harka Bahadur Chhetri and Trilok Dewan with the action of Mir Jafar and claimed the two had signed a bond promising to resign as MLAs whenever the party directed them to do so.

Responding for the first time to the charges raised by Chhetri and Dewan, Binay Tamang, the assistant secretary of the Morcha, said in a press release today: "Just because of one or two Mir Jafars, Kanchenjungha will not melt to become the Bay of Bengal."

Mir Jafar had turned against his own people and helped the British win the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The Morcha had directed its all three MLAs, Harka Bahadur Chhetri (Kalimpong), Trilok Kumar Dewan (Darjeeling) and Rohit Sharma (Kurseong) to resign from the Assembly to protest the state government's alleged interference in the functioning of the GTA.

While Sharma toed the party line and resigned from the Assembly, Chhetri refused to do so and instead, quit the Morcha saying the leadership was acting in a dictatorial manner. Dewan resigned from both the Assembly and the party, and levelled same charges against the Morcha leadership as Chhetri.

Both Chhetri and Dewan had said they hadn't been consulted before the leadership had decided on their resignation from the Assembly.

Tamang in the written statement said: "On March 14, 2011, a few moments before the names of the MLAs were announced at Darjeeling Gymkhana Club, Bimal Gurung had said that those getting the party tickets for the elections would have to resign from the Assembly on the direction of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, irrespective of the time or the prevailing situation, for the cause of Gorkhaland and the general good of the people of the hills. Gurung had also stated that if the need arose, the legislators would have to sit on a hunger strike in front of the West Bengal Assembly."

The Morcha assistant secretary, however, said only Rohit Sharma had kept the promise like a true Gorkha. "Only Dr Rohit Sharma has shown integrity and kept his promise like a true Gorkha and has worked in the interest of Gorkhaland and the people of the hills. Before tendering his resignation, he also raised the issue of Gorkhaland and his deeds will be written in golden letters," said Tamang.

Indirectly accusing Chhetri and Dewan of looking after their self-interest, Tamang said: "Dr Rohit Sharma did not look for personal interest."

Chhetri admitted that he had signed the bond. However, he said: "Signing a bond does not mean that I have to accept all the wrongs as right. It would be better for the Morcha to not talk about commitments as Bimal Gurung himself had said he would get Gorkhaland by March 10, 2010 or else, he would shoot himself."

The Kalimpong MLA said he hoped that the party would learn from the past.

"The party should have a group of 7-10 people who discuss and take decisions. At the moment, whatever Bimal Gurung dreams the night before is announced as the party decision the next day. The central committee, which has over 90 members, has become a place where all those people who do not fit in other panels are admitted. There are no criteria for one to become a central committee member in the party," said Chhetri.(TT)