The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to work towards getting
constitutional recognition and legislative powers for the Gorkhaland
Territorial Administration, though the party’s long-term goal is to
safeguard “jati, mato and chinari” (community, land and identity).
The
Binay Tamang-headed Morcha held a two-day Chintan Sabha at Sukna last
week and decided to set short, mid and long term goals for the party.
“Our
Chintan Sabha focused on five areas; party’s policies, constitution,
programmes, organisation and issues,” Morcha spokesman Suraj Sharma
said.
The Morcha has divided “issues” into goals of three durations.
“Our
short-term plan is to ensure smooth functioning of the GTA. The
important decision of the Chintan Sabha is our mid-term goal of getting
constitutional recognition for the GTA and conferring legislative powers
on it,” said Sharma.
This is the first time that the
Tamang-headed Morcha has set clear goals for the party which, sources
say, is an attempt to be “practical” by understating the “political
realities” on ground.
Though not said in as many words, the Morcha sources were hinting that the statehood was a distant dream at the moment.
The
GTA had been formed through a bill passed by the Bengal Assembly and it
was signed into law by the President. The GTA does not feature in the
Constitution of India and enjoys no legislative powers.
A body, which can come into being through an amendment to the Constitution, will have permanency.
The
erstwhile Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council did not have constitutional
recognition. Although a council was mooted under the Sixth Schedule of
the Constitution, many opposed such an arrangement which is essentially
for an area dominated by tribal people. The Scheduled Tribe population
of the Darjeeling hills stands only at 34 per cent.
“Through short
and mid term goals, we want to realise our long term goal. The problem
is that we have not shown patience. Our problem is that we demand
something suddenly without taking into consideration the realities of
politics,” said Sharma.
The Morcha said its long term objective
was to safeguard “jati, mato and chinari” (community, land and
identity). Some proponents of
Gorkhaland link the demand with the identity of Indian Gorkhas.
During
the Chintan Sabha, the Morcha passed 13 resolutions on areas they want
the GTA to focus on, like tourism, education, health.
“Our major
focus will be on granting land rights to tea and cinchona plantation
workers and getting tribal status for 11 hill communities,” said Sharma.
The
Morcha adopted 55 resolutions at the two-day session. “We have also
drawn up a-year long party programme and decided to make our
organisation cadre based,” said Sharma.
https://www.telegraphindia.com/
Post a Comment
We love to hear from you! What's on your mind?