Adivasis stick to condition

The Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad has refused to budge from the pre-condition that it had set for talks with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

The outfit wants the hill party to drop the demand for the Terai and Dooars as part of Gorkhaland before they sit for discussions to bring peace in the region.

The Parishad members today deliberated on Medha Patkar’s offer to mediate between the two sides that have been clashing with each other for the past two weeks. On February 7, two persons were killed in the violence.

“We discussed in detail the proposal and unanimously consented that the precondition we mentioned to her yesterday should be met before we sit in any meeting with the Morcha,” said Rajesh Lakra, the secretary of the Terai-Dooars Coordination Committee of the Parishad. “We will initiate the peace process on our own.” MORE...