Siliguri, 18 December: With pitch being raised for merging Darjeeling Hills with Sikkim and with the protagonists alluding to the tangled history of the region to bolster their stance, the senior CPI-M leader and former state minister, Mr Asok Bhattacharya today said his party is opposed to such demand. “It would be no solution to the problem. Rather it would beget fresh unrest,” he said.
Notably, Gorkha Rashtriya Congress, a pro-merger party, based in both Darjeeling Hills and Sikkim, has decided to take the issue to new heights by making it the principal focus of its campaigning for the coming Lok Sabha election slated for next year. The party president, Mr Nima Lama would contest from the Darjeeling Parliamentary seat.
“We would take things to Delhi. The people of both the Hills under Bengal and Sikkim are favouring the merger. Sikkim and Darjeeling Hills are tied by umbilical cord in terms of history,” Mr Lama said, adding that reunifying them would be the only viable solution to the dragging imbroglio over the demand for Gorkhaland apart from correcting a wrong wrought by history.
History testifies to the fact that Darjeeling Hills that also include the present area of Kurseong sub-division, were parts of the Chogyal-ruled Sikkim prior to their accession to the British East India Company by way of a gift deed executed by the then Chigyal in 1835.
However, refuting the claim, Mr Bhattacharya said the people of both Darjeeling Hills and Sikkim are against the demand of merger. “Sikkim became a state of the Indian Union under certain historical circumstances. The process has nothing to do with the history of Darjeeling Hills. It would be the best thing if we allow Sikkim to remain in Sikkim and Darjeeling in Darjeeling,” he said.
Notably, Gorkha Rashtriya Congress, a pro-merger party, based in both Darjeeling Hills and Sikkim, has decided to take the issue to new heights by making it the principal focus of its campaigning for the coming Lok Sabha election slated for next year. The party president, Mr Nima Lama would contest from the Darjeeling Parliamentary seat.
“We would take things to Delhi. The people of both the Hills under Bengal and Sikkim are favouring the merger. Sikkim and Darjeeling Hills are tied by umbilical cord in terms of history,” Mr Lama said, adding that reunifying them would be the only viable solution to the dragging imbroglio over the demand for Gorkhaland apart from correcting a wrong wrought by history.
History testifies to the fact that Darjeeling Hills that also include the present area of Kurseong sub-division, were parts of the Chogyal-ruled Sikkim prior to their accession to the British East India Company by way of a gift deed executed by the then Chigyal in 1835.
However, refuting the claim, Mr Bhattacharya said the people of both Darjeeling Hills and Sikkim are against the demand of merger. “Sikkim became a state of the Indian Union under certain historical circumstances. The process has nothing to do with the history of Darjeeling Hills. It would be the best thing if we allow Sikkim to remain in Sikkim and Darjeeling in Darjeeling,” he said.
Source: SNS