Darjeeling, Oct. 7.TT: Hardly 100
people today turned up at the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s sixth foundation
day celebration, where the party called upon supporters to be ready for
an agitation if the Centre takes a positive step towards the formation
of Telangana.
The event in
Darjeeling witnessed the thinnest crowd the Morcha has mustered in
recent times, probably because party chief Bimal Gurung was absent. The
reason for the party chief’s absence is believed to be personal —
Gurung’s father’s last rites were completed only yesterday.
Observers believe
Morcha members didn’t attend the foundation day celebration as most of
them were busy with the last rites of Gurung’s father at his residence
till late last evening. “Another reason for the Morcha supporters’
disinterest in the party event might be Gurung’s absence,” said an
observer.
According to
customs in the Nepali community, family members of a deceased person
have to perform the last rites on the 13th day after death. They feed
all the people who attend the ceremony, and the guests contribute some
money towards the family. Three separate pandals were erected at
Gurung’s house to feed the visitors yesterday.
Asked about the
thin crowd, Ishamani Pakhrin, the president of the Morcha’s Darjeeling
town committee, expressed his annoyance. “If this is the attitude of
workers towards party functions, then I think the hands of leaders will
start shaking (they will be hesitant) when they are asked to make any
recommendation by the supporters.”
Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri was the main speaker at the foundation day celebration at Chowrastha.
“We are closely
monitoring the developments regarding Telangana. We appeal to our
supporters to be ready to start an agitation in case the Centre takes
any positive step towards the formation of Telangana. The agitation will
be organised not only in the hills but also in the Dooars and Terai.”
In his address, Giri didn’t comment on the low turnout.
The CPRM, one of
the principal anti-Morcha parties in the hills, has already resumed the
movement for Gorkhaland following the renewal of the Telangana
agitation. In the wake of the opposition’s movement, it was expected
that the Morcha couldn’t lie low for long.
Giri said unlike
the GNLF, which had agreed to drop the statehood demand while accepting
the DGHC in 1988, the Morcha hadn’t given up the call for Gorkhaland in
lieu of the GTA.
“It is clearly
mentioned in the agreement that we have not dropped the demand for
Gorkhaland. That is why we have been telling the people that the GTA is
a major achievement for us. We are free to carry on with the statehood
agitation,” said Giri.
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