The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha claimed Prime Minister
Narendra Modi today expressed his "commitment" to start the process of
creating a separate state of Gorkhaland.
There was no word from the Centre on the Morcha's claim, but party
leaders said they were "extremely satisfied" with the outcome of the
meeting in New Delhi.
Morcha chief Bimal Gurung said in a statement:
"We met Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the demand of creating a
separate state of Gorkhaland. The Prime Minister reiterated that he has
not forgotten the word given to the Gorkhas and he gave us a commitment
to start the process of forming Gorkhaland in the near future."
Gurung was accompanied by senior Morcha leaders Roshan Giri and Binay Tamang, and Darjeeling BJP MP S.S. Ahluwalia.
Gurung's statement is an indication that the Morcha would use the
claimed "commitment" to bolster its image in the run-up to panchayat and
civic elections in the Darjeeling hills and also in the Gorkhaland
Territorial Administration (GTA).
The Morcha has been facing pressure within and outside the party,
with many accusing it of "forgetting" the Gorkhaland demand. Its
decision to join hands with the BJP has also been criticised. To add to
the Morcha's worries, the Trinamul Congress has been making rapid
inroads into the Darjeeling hills.
While addressing an election rally in Siliguri on April 10, 2014, Modi had said the "dream of Gorkhas is my dream".
Gurung today said the Morcha delegation reminded the Prime Minister
about his statement and told him "it was time to fulfil the dreams of
the Gorkhas".
"We also told the Prime Minister that the Darjeeling hills and the
Dooars were a 'chicken's neck' for the country and that creating
Gorkhaland would be in the interest of national security," the Morcha
chief said.
N.B. Khawash, the Trinamul working president in the Darjeeling hills said the people had "seen through" the Morcha's "lies".
"Earlier, they had claimed a committee would examine the Gorkhaland
demand, but nothing happened. On several occasions earlier, the Morcha
had claimed after meetings that they had raised only the statehood
issue. But official communications from the Centre later suggested the
talks had centred around funds for the GTA. Today's claim, too, is
hollow. People have seen through their lies. Their claim is
election-centric," Khawash said.
The Morcha recently joined an umbrella organisation demanding
separate states of Bodoland, Bundelkhand, Vidarbha, Purbanchal and
Twipra Land. The National Federation of Smaller States decided last
Friday that it would hold a series of protests, including the submission
of a memorandum to Modi, and hold dharnas and bandhs in the six areas
simultaneously.
The Morcha's youth wing has been putting pressure on the party to
re-start the statehood agitation. Prakash Gurung, the youth president of
the Morcha, has resigned from the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration
to "work for statehood".
The Morcha said at today's meeting, the leaders also demanded the
granting of Scheduled Tribe status to 11 hill communities and setting up
a central university in the Darjeeling hills.
"The Prime Minister assured us that the process of granting tribal
status to the 11 communities would also be started once the report is
placed to the Centre," Gurung said.
Granting of tribal status to the Bhujel, Gurung, Mangar, Newar, Jogi,
Khas, Rai, Sunuwar, Thami, Yakka (Dewan) and Dhimal communities has
been a long-standing demand in the hills.(TT)
I appreciate his work concerning the benefits for people of hills through ST demand but I also suggest him to have transparency with the people about Gorkhaland. Else it will be like a mother trying to convince her son to have cookies by showing him a vision of Disney Land.
ReplyDelete"Janta are not children. We know the difference between a cookie and Disney."