The Jan Andolan Party headed by Harka Bahadur Chhetri has listed the
statehood demand on top of its election manifesto and said the outfit
will work towards it by carving out Darjeeling district and parts of the
Dooars by building consensus both at the Centre and the state.
When Kalimpong MLA Chhetri had launched the party (JAP) on January 27
this year, its manifesto had said the outfit would work towards "the
eventual attainment of a separate state" but also focus on other issues
concerning the Darjeeling hills and work towards achieving those "step
by step".
Asked about his stand on Gorkhaland, Chhetri who had taken up the
Kalimpong district demand had said last year a separate state might not
be achieved by the present generation: "We are at primary school.
Gorkhaland is a university. We will first have to think of getting to a
secondary school and then to a college. Maybe, we will not be able to
reach the university in our generation, the next generation possibly
can," he had said.
The JAP's 10-page election manifesto that The Telegraph had access to
a day before its release, would be published by party chief Chhetri
after he submits his nomination for the Kalimpong seat tomorrow.
"Nowhere in India has the creation of new states led to the
proliferation of secessionist demands. The Party intends to build
opinion and consensus in the Centre and State on the formation of a
separate state consisting of Darjeeling District and portions of the
Dooars under Article 3 of the Indian Constitution. Unless this opinion
and consensus is built, a separate state cannot be realised by rabid
cultural nationalism alone," it states.
"The Jan Andolan Party pledges and assures to its people that it will
work towards the goal of autonomy and self-governance by the eventual
attainment of a separate state of the region based on the principle of
inclusiveness, cultural harmony, economic and political rationality...;
provided that pending the creation of a separate state, the Union
Government should make a special arrangement having constitutional
protection and greater autonomy for the people of Darjeeling District
and the Dooars," it reads.
The party has sought to connect the creation of Kalimpong district to statehood.
"... Months before the creation of the Jana Andolan Party, our
President Dr. Harka Bahadur Chhetri had been working tirelessly towards
this goal which resulted in the Cabinet approval of the proposal by the
Government of West Bengal on 18th December 2015... The Jana Andolan
Party pledges and assures to its people that it will move heaven and
earth to ensure that the district of Kalimpong is up and running without
delay."
The manifesto also says it would take up the demand for land rights
of tea and cinchona workers and forest dwellers and Scheduled Tribe
status for various communities.(TT)
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