SILIGURI/KOLKATA: With expectations touching the rock bottom in the Hills over the ways of Bimal Gurung and his party, a GJM delegation is coming down to Kolkata to meet chief minister Mamata Banerjee for an honourable bailout. The CM announced on Monday that she would meet the GJM delegation on June 14. Mamata will also talk to members of the civil society in the Hills and the plains on June 15. "We have not received any official communication yet, but we have come to know from media reports that the CM has wanted to meet us and so we have decided to go to Kolkata on June 14," said GJM general secretary Roshan Giri.
However, chances of a windfall in terms of more mouzas for the GJM seems bleak, particularly because the state government is planning to go for the panchayat polls by the end of this year.
The resentment in the Hills over Bimal Gurng's failure to deliver the goods was apparent at the GJM central committee meeting on Sunday. Members there questioned the GJM president's decision to agree to the resolution adopted in March that the party would abide by the recommendations of the Shyamal Sen committee.
Following the downturn and with leaders like Chhatre Subba and CPRM's R B Rai waiting in the wings to replace Bimal Gurung and lead the movement for a separate Gorkhaland, the GJM leadership is desperate to get the wind back in its sail.
Feeling let down by the GJM, transport operator Panchen Lama of Siliguri said: "We have been cheated. The GJM promised us large parts of the Terai and the Dooars and also three mouzas in Rajganj block. And this is what we got. It is even less than the 14 mouzas that were included in the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in 1988."
A peek into the autonomous hill council history reveals that it got 11 Gorkha-dominated mouzas outside the three Hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and Kurseong in 1988. Later, in 2005, a tripartite agreement was signed over the Gorkha Council's getting the Sixth Schedule status. Accordingly, DGHC was renamed as Gorkha Hill Council 2006 and a draft bill was prepared. It however, didn't see the light of the day. During the tripartite agreement it was decided that inclusion of fresh mouzas should be settled across the table. Later, four new mouzas - Neponia, Chhota Changra, Sevak and Sevak Forest - were included in the Hill Council area, with the total number of mouzas adding up to 18.
In fact, two representatives - Birsa Tirkey and CPM's Jibesh Sarkar - had mentioned about the inclusion of 18 mouzas, while making their submission to the Shyamal Sen committee.
"I had been told about this. Several committees had been formed earlier. But the only reference I got was that hill mouzas of Siliguri should be transferred. The five mouzas we selected were based on the five factors (homogeneity, contiguity, compactness, ground level conditions and other relevant factors)," Justice Sen said.
He also rejected allegations that the panel didn't give suitable hearing to political parties and didn't visit north Bengal. "All political parties have not only submitted their petitions, some even made several representations. Several have deposed before me in person. Such claims do not hold ground. The DMs of Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling were members of the committee and their reports on the ground level situation were given due importance while arriving at a conclusion."
Asked how far the panel was right in excluding compact Gorkha-dominated mouzas such as Manabari, Patharjhora, Turibari or the inclusion of the Gorkha-dominated MM Terai mouza when it is an isolated pocket and lacks direct connectivity, Justice Sen said: "I will not speak on this beyond what has already been said by the chief secretary.
This is like a judgement that won't make everyone happy. I have done my best and I leave it to the state government to decide on it," Justice Sen said.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
However, chances of a windfall in terms of more mouzas for the GJM seems bleak, particularly because the state government is planning to go for the panchayat polls by the end of this year.
The resentment in the Hills over Bimal Gurng's failure to deliver the goods was apparent at the GJM central committee meeting on Sunday. Members there questioned the GJM president's decision to agree to the resolution adopted in March that the party would abide by the recommendations of the Shyamal Sen committee.
Following the downturn and with leaders like Chhatre Subba and CPRM's R B Rai waiting in the wings to replace Bimal Gurung and lead the movement for a separate Gorkhaland, the GJM leadership is desperate to get the wind back in its sail.
Feeling let down by the GJM, transport operator Panchen Lama of Siliguri said: "We have been cheated. The GJM promised us large parts of the Terai and the Dooars and also three mouzas in Rajganj block. And this is what we got. It is even less than the 14 mouzas that were included in the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in 1988."
A peek into the autonomous hill council history reveals that it got 11 Gorkha-dominated mouzas outside the three Hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and Kurseong in 1988. Later, in 2005, a tripartite agreement was signed over the Gorkha Council's getting the Sixth Schedule status. Accordingly, DGHC was renamed as Gorkha Hill Council 2006 and a draft bill was prepared. It however, didn't see the light of the day. During the tripartite agreement it was decided that inclusion of fresh mouzas should be settled across the table. Later, four new mouzas - Neponia, Chhota Changra, Sevak and Sevak Forest - were included in the Hill Council area, with the total number of mouzas adding up to 18.
In fact, two representatives - Birsa Tirkey and CPM's Jibesh Sarkar - had mentioned about the inclusion of 18 mouzas, while making their submission to the Shyamal Sen committee.
"I had been told about this. Several committees had been formed earlier. But the only reference I got was that hill mouzas of Siliguri should be transferred. The five mouzas we selected were based on the five factors (homogeneity, contiguity, compactness, ground level conditions and other relevant factors)," Justice Sen said.
He also rejected allegations that the panel didn't give suitable hearing to political parties and didn't visit north Bengal. "All political parties have not only submitted their petitions, some even made several representations. Several have deposed before me in person. Such claims do not hold ground. The DMs of Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling were members of the committee and their reports on the ground level situation were given due importance while arriving at a conclusion."
Asked how far the panel was right in excluding compact Gorkha-dominated mouzas such as Manabari, Patharjhora, Turibari or the inclusion of the Gorkha-dominated MM Terai mouza when it is an isolated pocket and lacks direct connectivity, Justice Sen said: "I will not speak on this beyond what has already been said by the chief secretary.
This is like a judgement that won't make everyone happy. I have done my best and I leave it to the state government to decide on it," Justice Sen said.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Mamata to meet GJM delegation June 14
Kolkata, June 11 : Amid reports of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) planning to revive violent agitation in protest against a high-powered panel's report, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday said she was likely to meet its delegation here June 14 to find a solution.
"We want peace and development in both hills and plains. Probably on June 14 the GJM delegation will be coming here for discussion and the civil society of Darjeeling will be coming on June 15 for discussion," Banerjee told media persons.
Upset over a high-power committee's report on additional areas to be included in the proposed Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in northern West Bengal, the GJM has called a 72-hour shutdown from July 2.
The committee was set up July 29 last year after GJM demanded 398 additional mouzas (area less than a sub-division) spread over Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts to be included in the GTA -- a new hill council that would run the administration in Darjeeling area.
The committee, which considered parameters such as homogeneity (whether over 50 percent of the mouza's population was Gorkha), geographical contiguity, compactness and ground reality, said only five mouzas - two in Jalpaiguri district and three in Darjeeling district - fulfilled all the criteria for being part of the GTA. (IANS)
"We want peace and development in both hills and plains. Probably on June 14 the GJM delegation will be coming here for discussion and the civil society of Darjeeling will be coming on June 15 for discussion," Banerjee told media persons.
Upset over a high-power committee's report on additional areas to be included in the proposed Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in northern West Bengal, the GJM has called a 72-hour shutdown from July 2.
The committee was set up July 29 last year after GJM demanded 398 additional mouzas (area less than a sub-division) spread over Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts to be included in the GTA -- a new hill council that would run the administration in Darjeeling area.
The committee, which considered parameters such as homogeneity (whether over 50 percent of the mouza's population was Gorkha), geographical contiguity, compactness and ground reality, said only five mouzas - two in Jalpaiguri district and three in Darjeeling district - fulfilled all the criteria for being part of the GTA. (IANS)
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