Forum disputes Morcha claims - Protest in hills and plains on new administrative set-up

Kalimpong, July 11: A newly formed body has castigated the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha for agreeing to a new administrative arrangement for the hills, which, it said, was short of the autonomous development council that had been offered under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution in 2005.

The Darjeeling Dooars People’s Forum, which claims to be an apolitical organisation, called the proposed agreement establishing the Gorkha Territorial Authority in place of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council as a “sell-out” and accused the Morcha of hoodwinking the people in the name of Gorkhaland.

The organisation was formed last week to work for the creation of Gorkhaland which would include the Darjeeling hills as well as the Dooars.

“The Morcha’s claim that it had agreed to an arrangement with no constitutional recognition so that there would be no hurdles on the road to Gorkhaland is total hogwash. Some states in the Northeast like Nagaland and Meghalaya attained full statehood despite being constitutionally recognised autonomous bodies within the state of Assam at the time of their formation,” said Pravin Gurung, the convener of the forum.

The proposed arrangement, he said, was a compulsion forced on the Morcha by the party’s criminal acts during its 44-month-long agitation in the hills. “Morcha leaders are facing charges in the Madan Tamang (former ABGL president) murder case. The previous administrator of the DGHC B.L. Meena had openly accused the Morcha leaders of corruption. It is little wonder then that they were forced to accept an arrangement, which is worse than (special status for the hills under) the Sixth Schedule. The GTA is a total sell-out,” he said. 

-TT