Tripartite talks likely on tribal tag in Hills

Kolkata: The Centre is likely to invite the Bengal government and the Hills parties for a tripartite meeting over granting of tribal status to local communities. The state’s participation in the talks is important because the recommendation has to go from the state to the Centre.

Representatives of the GJM (Bimal Gurung) faction called on Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday urging him to fulfil the BJP’s 2019 election manifesto for the Hills people. The faction’s organizational secretary Nima Tamang said in a press statement that the GJM leaders had submitted a memorandum to Shah and the home minister had assured them of convening a tripartite meeting. “He (Shah) has instructed his office to send invitations for the same by July 23. The first round of tripartite talks will be held in his office,” the statement said.

BJP’s national general secretary Bhupender Yadav, who was present during the GJM delegation’s meeting with Shah, confirmed the development in a tweet on Tuesday.

Binoy Tamang, president of GJM (Tamang faction), was dismissive of the proposed tripartite meeting saying that all political parties and the state government were already on the same page on granting tribal status to 11 Gorkha communities. “These are election stunts ahead of the 2021 assembly polls in Bengal,” he said.
GJM (Bimal Gurung) spokesperson Roshan Giri welcomed the Centre’s initiative calling it a positive step towards a “permanent political solution”. BJP’s Darjeeling MP, Raju Bista, had earlier met Shah and apprised him that the 13 sub-tribes of the Gorkhas, who were categorised as “hill tribes” even in the 1941 census, were left out of the Scheduled Tribes lists prepared in 1950.
He alleged that Gorkha community representatives were not consulted before the step was taken.

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