Telangana coming soon, govt urged us to stay calm, claim Gorkha leaders

If the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leadership is to be believed, the UPA government has indicated to them that it has decided in favour of a separate Telangana state and asked them to remain peaceful when the decision is announced.

The indication was given when Gorkha leaders met UPA ministers, including Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, in Delhi this week, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri told The Indian Express Friday after returning from the capital.

"Given the talks we had in Delhi with UPA leaders, we have come to know that the government is going to concede the Telangana demand. The announcement is to be made within a short time," Giri said. "The GJM delegation came out of the meeting knowing that Telangana is happening. When we discussed the issue, the union home minister told us to go for a peaceful, democratic movement."

Trilok Dewan, another GJM leader who attended the meetings, said conceding Telangana would lead to trouble in the Gorkha areas.

"Once we got a whiff of things to come, we also made it clear to the UPA and other central leaders that if Telangana comes, the demand for a separate Gorkhaland will have to be conceded. Otherwise, the hills will be in total turmoil and there will be a deep crisis. GJM leaders will not have to start it. The people themselves will take to the streets," Dewan said. "We are looking at a timeframe of 15 days at the most for the announcement to be made."

Giri too claimed there would be violence in the Gorkha areas if the government gives in to demands for a Telangana state.

"We cannot sit idle and silent, We have told the Central government. There will be a lot of bloodshed if the agitation starts again. We leaders cannot stop the people any more, as they have realized that they did not get actual autonomy from the Gorkha Territorial Administration," Giri said.

The GJM leaders said the first step would be to walk out of the Gorkha Territorial Administration arrangement as it was just an interim arrangement and the Gorkha people were not happy with it as they feel it had failed to address the aspirations of the hill people.

Observers said that the Centre should be concerned by the 15,000-strong Gorkhaland police raised by GJM leader Bimal Gurung and his men since the GJM took over the hills in 2007. This force was raised following training from a vast army of ex-servicemen. 

 

IE.