Parishad state president Birsa Tirkey claimed that tribal people against the inclusion of the regions in the GTA

Jalpaiguri, Nov. 14: The Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad chief today claimed that tribal people in the Terai and the Dooars were against the inclusion of the regions in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.

Parishad state president Birsa Tirkey’s claim came a day after Parishad supporters confronted him at Malbazar for showcausing five regional leaders who had batted for the GTA.

The Parishad chief has been touring the region for the past three days to find out if the Adivasis support the local leadership’s nod to the inclusion of the Terai and the Dooars in the GTA.

“I have realised during the tour that the people of our community are not interested in the GTA. It is only a handful of Parishad leaders who are mooting the alliance with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. The majority of the Adivasis are not with them,” Tirkey said here today.

Parishad state secretary Tezkumar Toppo and the former president of the forum’s Terai-Dooars regional committee, John Barla, were among the five leaders showcaused by the state committee of the forum.

The five had jointly announced at Mungpoo on October 31 that they were in favour of the GTA’s jurisdiction stretching to the Terai and the Dooars.

The president of the tribal outfit had held talks with the rebels in Malbazar yesterday. After the meeting, more than 400 Parishad members surrounded Tirkey and asked him to withdraw the notices slapped on the five leaders. Although the crowd told the state president that they would prefer to go with the GTA, he did not comment then.

Tirkey today said only the state committee could alter the Parishad’s stand on the territorial jurisdiction of the GTA. “The state committee had submitted its opinion regarding the territory of the GTA to the high-powered panel headed by a retired judge on October 24. So, only the state committee can withdraw what we stated before the high-powered panel. No decision can be taken based on the opinion of a handful of leaders in the Terai and the Dooars,” he said.

The state president also said as the Terai and the Dooars were covered under the Centre’s Integrated Tribal Development Project, the region could not be included in any set up like the GTA.

Tirkey submitted a memorandum to the Jalpaiguri district magistrate with a list of demands that included the granting of pattas and establishment of Hindi schools and an industrial training institute.TT