GJM writes to CWC on Gorkhaland issue

Darjeeling,15 Jul 2013: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leadership today shot off a letter to the Congress Working Committee requesting the inclusion of the Gorkhaland state issue in its deliberations on the Telengana issue.

Welcoming the Congress Core Committee’s (CCC) decision to authorise the CWC to deliberate on Telengana, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said, “The GJM party welcomes the initiative of the Congress Core Committee to ask the CWC to deliberate and take a decision on creating a Telengana state. However, the separate Gorkhaland state demand, which is an old one, must also be considered.”
Giri also brought to light the move of the Sikkim State Assembly in 2011 when it passed a resolution to form a separate Gorkhaland state for a permanent solution, unlike the Andhra Pradesh government which has failed to do so. “The central government is keen to form Telengana although the Andhra Pradesh government is yet to pass a resolution in its assembly and differences among the pro and anti-statehood agitators there are still in hot contention. But in our case, the neighboring Sikkim state has already passed a resolution in support of the formation of the justified and long-standing separate Gorkhaland state demand,” said the GJM general secretary.
The GJM leadership on July 11 had threatened start a fresh agitation to press for the separate statehood demand, a day before the Congress core committee huddled in New Delhi to deliberate on Telengana.
The GJM general secretary, however, did not dwell on the agitation issue today and instead chose to concentrate on communication with the CWC. “The CWC has 42 members that comprise ministers, MPs, MLAs, former ministers and senior Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. It is only apt that we communicate with the highest decision-making body of the Congress party,” Giri said.
The GJM leader reiterated a separate Gorkhaland state should be formed comprising the Hills region and plains of the Terai and
Dooars. “True empowerment in a democracy can only be achieved when the aspiration and demands of the smallest community are heard,” he said.
Interestingly, the plains population under the aegis of the Akhil
Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad (ABAVP) and a couple of social outfits are against the inclusion of the Terai and Dooars regions in the Darjeeling Hills.
Further, Trinamool Congress chief and state chief minister Mamata Banerjee, during her several visits to Darjeeling, has time and again quashed the popular sentiment of the populace here saying Bengal would never be divided.
The GJM general secretary also pointed out that veteran BJP leader
Jaswant Singh, who is also the Darjeeling MP, had written to Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde reiterating the need to create a separate Gorkhaland state.

 EOI