Darjeeling: Lt General (retd) Shakti Gurung, who is heading
the National Gorkhaland Committee with an aim to take forward the
statehood demand at the highest level, on Wednesday called on political
parties to have the courage to speak the truth even if that statement
meant that statehood was not possible immediately
Gurung, who
admitted that he was being "blunt" said: "Political parties should have
the guts, courage to tell the people that your dream of statehood,
cannot be achieved so early. For statehood, there should either be
political compulsion or political will (of the power in Centre)."
Gurung,
who heads the NGC, was speaking his mind and not the stand of NGC, at a
consultative meeting with local stakeholders at Gorkha Dukha Niwarak
Sammelan Hall in Darjeeling on Wednesday.
During
the interaction, Gurung said: "Since there is no political will or
political compulsion, statehood is a little far. This is the reality.
Political parties should not think that if we tell that statehood is a
little far, little difficult, our votes will be less. You have to be
very honest ....if statehood is not possible immediately, what is
possible, you have to tell the people."
"My request to the political parties, is let us be very open with the
people and tell them; look, statehood is our final issue, let's try
this way and that way and the struggle must go on it should not finish,"
he went on.
Given the sensitive statement made by Gurung, who is
the president of the NGC, Munish Tamang, the general secretary of the
body immediately, took the mike and clarified the armyman's statement.
"The
NGC is not trying to say that statehood is very far. What we are trying
to say is that even now, people talk whether statehood is good for the
moment or Union Territory. Many people have different stands. Through a
series of consultations, if political parties feel that is the scene
(now), then, it should be spelled out clearly," said Tamang.
The Telegraph
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