Rival censures closure during census

Kalimpong, April 8: GNLF (C) president D.K. Pradhan today said the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s indefinite shutdown of subdivisional and block offices in the hills could not have been so ill-timed for the Gorkhas when an important exercise like the census held once in 10 years was going on.

Pradhan told The Telegraph that the Morcha was committing the same mistake the GNLF had made 10 years back when it had called strikes around the same time the enumeration exercise was being conducted. “Census is very important for every Indian citizen, and instead of creating disruption, we should all be lending our hands to ensure smooth and proper conduct of the exercise,” he said.

Pradhan said at a time when the Gorkhas across the country were demanding a separate state for themselves to protect their identity and culture, it was even more important to ensure that no member of the community was left out of the head count. “Isn’t it surprising that the last census put the total number of Gorkhas in the country at about 28 lakh when we all, including the Morcha and the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisang, claimed that the figure was 1 crore?” he asked.

The Morcha began its shutdown yesterday ostensibly to stop the collection of taxes as well as to protest the alleged tardy progress in the implementation of the 100-days’ work scheme in the hills. But observers say the shutdown is part of the Morcha’s tactics to build up pressure on both the state and central governments to yield ground on the territorial jurisdiction of the interim set-up.

The GNLF (C) president, however, said both the reasons the Morcha had cited for the closure did not hold much water. “Which taxes is the Morcha talking about when it has not allowed the people to pay even their telephone and electricity bills. The slow progress in the implementation of the 100-days’ work is not because of official lethargy, but because of the unwarranted interference by anti-social elements at every stage of the scheme,” he alleged.

Pradhan said the shutdown could not be part of the Morcha tactics to extract concessions from the governments during negotiations on its demand to include Gorkha-dominated areas in the Dooars in the interim set-up.

“The Morcha is closing down the SDO and BDO offices in the hills, not in the portions of the plains which it wants included in the new arrangement. If they are serious and sincere on the demand, they should shut down the offices in the plains also,” he said.

Source: The Telegraph