ABGL not in the joint coalition to oppose the Sixth Schedule

Darjeeling, Jan. 28: Opposition parties in the hills have once again tried to put up a united front on the Sixth Schedule issue, but the ABGL has refused to take part in the joint plans.

The rift was not so evident yesterday when all hill parties, except the GNLF and the CPM, attended a meeting called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha to formalise an action plan against the special status before a parliamentary standing committee arrives in Darjeeling on February 6.

The committee, which will be here for three days, is scrutinising the constitutional amendment bill granting Sixth Schedule status to the Darjeeling hills.

The ABGL, an important Opposition outfit, attended the meeting held at Gorkha Dukha Niwarak Sammelan Hall here along with the Morcha, CPRM, Congress, BJP, Gorkha Rastriya Congress, GNLF(C), Bharitya Gorkha Janshakti and Trinamul Congress.

R.B. Rai, the general secretary of the CPRM, said: “It was an historic moment as all the parties agreed to come on a common platform and organise a public meeting at Chowk Bazar in Darjeeling on February 4.”

Dawa Lama, a central committee member of the Morcha, said: “Right from the start, we are appealing to all political parties to join hands to achieve our goal of a separate state for the Darjeeling hills. At the meeting, we also discussed how we could unitedly welcome the standing committee and voice our opposition to the Sixth Schedule status.”

However, the ABGL leadership today begged to disagree. “Our representatives attended the meeting as observers. We will not be part of the (Opposition) agitation unless everyone agrees on a collective leadership. We will organise our own public meeting in Darjeeling on February 1,” said ABGL president Madan Tamang.

The ABGL maintains that a decision on the collective leadership is important so that no individual leader can later compromise on the statehood issue.

Morcha rally

The people of Kalimpong block I turned up in huge numbers at a Morcha rally in Kalimpong town today, suggesting that the three-month old party has breached the last bastion of the GNLF.

Around 7,000 people braved the winter chill for close to five hours to listen to speeches by a host of Morcha leaders, including party president Bimal Gurung.

“I’ve always said that people of Kalimpong take time to warm up, but once they are charged up it becomes very difficult to rein them in. The days of the GNLF are numbered,” said Gurung to wild cheers from his supporters.

“We are against the politics of violence. We will not take recourse to khukuris and guns to achieve our goal, but fight with the might of pen,” the Morcha president added.

The Morcha will organise rallies at Algarah tomorrow and at Gorubathan on Wednesday.