Gorkhaland: State demand gets new voice in hills

In a sign of fresh trouble erupting in the hills, the Gorkha Yuba Morcha, the youth wing of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), on Sunday held a large rally at Mongpu in Darjeeling where it once again raised the demand for Gorkhaland and said they would not accept anything short of a separate statehood. This comes months after a tripartite agreement signed between the Centre, GJM and the state government paved the way for setting up a Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).

Though there was no official from the GJM at today’s rally, but that it had the blessings of the top brass was evident from the fact that Asha Gurung, wife of GJM president Bimal Gurung was present there.

“The GTA was thrust upon us. By creating it, the legitimate desire of the people of Darjeeling was not fulfilled. It’s true that we did not have the GJM top brass with us. But we have got the mandate to carry on with our agitation,” said Rai. 

He also spelt out the rallies to be held during the whole month of January and first week of February in support of the demand. While on January 7 a rally will be held in Kurseong, on January 16, a rally will be held at Mirik. They will be followed by rallies at Kalimpong on January 22, at Siliguri on January 29 and at Darjeeling on February 5. “We have collected signatures from residents of Darjeeling and we are sending them to both the union government and the state government,” Rai said.


Express news service