Darjeeling pact wrongly read: GJM - Morcha to meet CM on March 16

Darjeeling, March 14: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today accused the state government of wrongly “interpreting” the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration agreement, a day after the chief secretary said there was “no scope” for “considering" the demand to hold election only after the territory issue was settled.

The GTA bill today became a law through a gazette notification.

Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri, who is a signatory to the agreement on behalf of his party, said: “The Bengal government is wrongly interpreting the agreement that only says that the electoral process will run parallel to the high powered committee’s functioning. It does not say that elections would be held. The people will not accept an election without the finalisation of the territory and we will never accept anything that goes against public wishes.”

The other two signatories to the agreement were the Bengal government and the Centre.

The state government has appointed a 10-member committee headed by Justice (retired) Shymal Sen to look into the Morcha demand to bring Gorkha-dominated areas of the Terai and the Dooars under the GTA.

Giri, along with other senior Morcha leaders will meet Mamata Banerjee and the chief secretary in Calcutta on March 16. “We will make our stand clear at the meeting. Elections are out of question without finalising the territory,” said Giri. The Shyamal Sen committee will also meet in Calcutta the same day.

The Morcha wants the GTA election to be held only after the Shyamal Sen committee submits its report to the government. Its tenure has been extended for six months.

“Until then, the election process like delimiting constituencies (the present DGHC has 28 constituencies while the GTA will have 45) can start. But holding election is a different issue altogether. Till the polls are held, an interim board with nominated members should be formed,” said Giri.

Chief secretary Ghosh had yesterday said in Calcutta that there was “no scope” for “considering” the Morcha demand. “The tripartite agreement has been signed (by the Morcha as well). The agreement is exactly reflected in the law that will be notified tomorrow. It clearly states that the election process would be conducted by the state government even if the committee is yet to submit its report on the territorial matter,” Ghosh had said.

“There is no scope now for such considerations. We will go ahead with the elections (in the present DGHC) area,” he had said.

Countering Ghosh’s claim, Giri today said: “Clause 6 of the MoA reads ‘The work of this high-powered committee will run parallel to the electoral process which will be based on the existing delimited area (under the DGHC). However, the empowering statute will have a provision for the transfer of additional areas from Siliguri and the Terai and the Dooars that maybe agreed upon, based on the recommendation of the committee.’ I don’t think this means that election will have to take place parallel to the functioning of the high powered committee. The electoral process can definitely start.”

CPRM fast

The supporters of the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists will be on a 12-hour hunger strike in front of the Jantar Mantar in Delhi on March 20 in demand of Gorkhaland.

“We will also submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister's Office on March 20,” said Shekar Chhetri, chief of the CPRM’s youth wing.

Source: The Telegraph

"State did not delay the Darjeeling issue" says Mamata

In the backdrop of threats issued by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJB) to re-launch its agitation, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sought to put the ball in the Centre's court by saying that the State had not been delaying the implementation of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) pact and the resentment of the GJM was justified.

Talking to reporters after a meeting with GJM leaders in Siliguri, Ms. Banerjee said the State government had not delayed the implementation of the tripartite agreement.

“We have not delayed matters. The agreement was checked clause by clause. I don't know why the Centre is delaying things. We have given all the clarifications that were asked for. I have myself contacted the Prime Minister's Office on this, and the Chief Secretary also took a meeting. I have sought time around February 23 and 24 for meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss this issue and some others.”

Ms. Banerjee said that besides the GTA implementation, development issues, including drinking water projects, tea-tourism schemes were also discussed at the meeting with GJM.

GJM leader Roshan Giri said while they were not budging from their earlier stand of re-launching the agitation if the GTA pact was not implemented by March 27, the issue of expediting the matter was discussed with the Chief Minister on Saturday.

He said Ms. Banerjee would be visiting Darjeeling on February 27 after meeting the Prime Minister.

“She told us she will help implement the GTA accord at the earliest.”

Earlier this week, GJM president Bimal Gurung had announced that copies of the memorandum of agreement for the setting up of the GTA in the Hills would be burnt at a public rally on April 17, if the proposed body was not put in place.

The people of the hills were disappointed that despite an assurance from the government that the GTA would be set up within six months of signing the agreement (on July 18), there were few signs of its implementation.

They are also unhappy about the extension of the term of the high-power committee set up to explore the inclusion of some Gorkha-dominated areas in the Terai and Dooars within the territorial jurisdiction of the GTA.

Source: The Hindu

CM to meet PM to ‘discuss’ Darjeeling hill set-up

Mamata Banerjee today said she would seek an appointment with the Prime Minister to “discuss” the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) issue and blamed the Centre for the “delay” in forming the administrative set-up for the Darjeeling hills.

“I am trying to get an appointment with the Prime Minister to discuss, among other things, the GTA and the granting of backward status to Darjeeling,” the chief minister said. She said the “tentative date” of meeting Manmohan Singh was February 22 or 23 or 24. Mamata today announced that she would visit Darjeeling on February 28 with “some more projects”.

After a meeting with leaders of the Morcha, which has threatened to relaunch its statehood agitation if the GTA is not implemented by March 27, in Siliguri, Mamata said: “They (Morcha) are offended and I agree with them. The GTA agreement was signed on July 18, 2010, after a tripartite meeting with the Centre. Clause by clause, clarifications that the Centre had sought on the GTA were given. Even after that, the Centre is delaying the clearance.”

State government sources said the Centre was yet to give its nod to the GTA Act, which is awaiting the President’s consent. The deadline of the committee formed by the state to chalk out the territorial reach of the GTA was extended by six months in January-end.

Mamata has put the ball in the Centre’s court at a time the Morcha has set a deadline for the setting up of the GTA. Trinamul leaders close to Mamata said the chief minister needed to have “something concrete” to offer to the people in the hills before her visit there. “So she has planned to meet the Prime Minister before her visit to the hills,” a leader said.

Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said: “We heard what she had to say. But we will stick to our demand.”

Corruption glare
Mamata today told party colleagues that “a clean and honest image of Trinamul” has to be projected “ahead of the panchayat polls”. “Corruption will not be tolerated. We will have to ask those involved in corruption to mend their ways instead of driving them out of the organisation,” she said.

Source: The Telegraph

Morcha threatens to boycott Darjeeling hill panel - Gurung cry for mouzas and early GTA

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today threatened to withdraw all its four members from the territory committee if the Gorkha-dominated mouzas that it has demanded were not brought under the new hill administrative set-up.

Morcha president Bimal Gurung also expressed displeasure at the delay in the implementation of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. One of the stumbling blocks to the early implementation of the GTA is that the territory panel is yet to submit its recommendations to the government.

The Morcha chief was speaking at a programme here to mark the first anniversary of the police firing that killed three party supporters at Sibchu.

“Our members will walk out from the HPC (high-powered committee) if it fails to include the mouzas demanded by us,” Gurung said.

In his address earlier, Morcha secretary Roshan Giri said the committee would meet in Calcutta on February 24 to hear the opinion of all political parties in the Dooars and Terai in the set-up. “The additional areas (to be included in the GTA) will be decided on the basis of contiguity, continuity and homogeneity. There shouldn’t be any difficulty in including the areas from the Dooars and Terai,” he said.

Apart from the 199 mouzas in the Terai and 196 from the Dooars, the Morcha has demanded the inclusion of three mouzas from the Rajganj block of Jalpaiguri district in the GTA.

Gurung’s walkout threat is being seen as a tactics to put pressure on the committee to submit its report earliest given that the Morcha has set a deadline of March 27 for the state government to implement the GTA agreement. The party has threatened to re-launch the Gorkhaland agitation, if the deadline is not met.

The Morcha has four members in the HPC which is headed by Justice Shyamal Sen. Other members are the district magistrates of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri, a representative of the state home department, the director of census (representing the Centre) and the administrator of the DGHC. The government had on January 27 extended the term of the 10-member HPC formed in July last year by six months, a few days after the Morcha set the March 27 deadline.

The Morcha president wondered why the HPC was not being able to submit its report till today. “The delay in the formation of the GTA is providing an opportunity to the (opposition) leaders in the hills to chirp,” he said. Morcha rivals have revved up their campaigns in recent times, clamouring for statehood and Sixth Schedule status.

In Calcutta, Justice Sen said he did not know what the Morcha was saying. He said Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri had met him recently and had accepted the government proposals.

“He told me that a Morcha delegation would meet me in Calcutta on February 24. We have had cordial talks and had placed several proposals before them. They have agreed to them and it has been recorded. I don’t know what they are saying. They have not said they will not meet me on February 24,” Justice Sen told The Telegraph.

In Sibchu, on the fringes of the Dooars , Gurung came down heavily on Chhatrey Subba, accusing the 71-year-old rebel Gorkha leader of trying to breach peace in the hills. He, however, clarified that when he talked about training camps and Maoists in his speech, the charges were not against all constituents of the Gorkhaland Task Force. The GTF is an anti-Morcha consortium of five outfits — the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisang, CPRM, ABGL, Gorkha Rajya Nirman Morcha and the GNLF (C).

The GTF members had yesterday said Gurung would have to either retract his statements delivered on Monday or prove their involvement in conducting such camps.

“I mentioned the Task Force because Chhatrey (Subba) is part of it,” Gurung said. The Morcha chief had said the forests of Kalimpong were harbouring 15-20 Maoists. “No one should engineer violence. Remember, we too have GLP. We will pounce on any one (indulging in violence) and hand him over to the government,” he said. The GLP is a squad of lathi-wielding volunteers raised by the Morcha, apparently to control crowds at its meetings.

The Morcha president dared Subba to share his vision of Gorkhaland with the people. “I will assemble one lakh people in Kalimpong or anywhere to hear him,” he added.

Source: The Telegraph

Roshan Giri meets home secretary

Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader Roshan Giri met state home secretary G D Gautam at Writers' Buildings on Monday and discussed the first steps towards making Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in Darjeeling functional. There were also discussions on setting up of an administrative complex, a secretariat and staff quarters.at a meeting with West Bengal home secretary G. D. Gautama at Writers' Buildings in Kolkata on Monday discussed the first steps to make Gorkhaland Territorial Administration in Darjeeling functional, the setting up of an administrative complex, a secretariat and staff quartes. Giri later said that a detailed meeting was held on the functioning of the proposed GTA. With the GTA Bill having been passed in the assembly with the necessary amendments, GJM leaders were now getting ready to make GTA functional. "We are preparing For that we are getting ready and preparing the required infrastructure for functioning of the GTA," he said. Only a formal nod from GJM president Bimal Gurung was now awaited. For proper implementation of different clauses of the memorandum of agreement signed between GJM, the state government and the Centre, a series of talks with Kolkata and Delhi would now be necessary. In Monday's discussions, the possibility of appointment of members of th GJM's youth brigade in the state police and the army were discussed. Giri discussed with the home secretary also about setting of the three-tier panchayat system in the hills and how the panchayats would function to accelerate development. Panchayat bodies in the hills had turned defunct since 2004 as there was no election. Moreover, the panchayat system in the hills was a two-tier one, with gram panchayats and panchayat samities but no zilla parishad. Till now, the outgoing Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council was functioning also as the zilla parishad. Giri discussed the issue of giving proper status to scheduled tribes in the hills, as there was a sizeable tribal population. Giri said that scheduled castes should also get their dues., he said. GJM leaders would soon hold a meeting with the Backward Classes Commission so that people of backward classes had better opportunities. An official said in the hills about 30 per cent of the population were tribals and about 18 per cent were scheduled castes. The task of delimitation of constituencies for holding the GTA elections would also have to be taken up. While the state government wants the process of holding the elections and the survey for inclusion of additional areas in Dooars and Terai to continue as parallel processes, GJM wants the elections to be held after completion of the process of inclusion of new areas. Giri refused to comment on the progress in inclusion of Dooars and Terai areas to GTA, saying that a high power committee for identification of areas was doing its job. Source: Times of India

GJM suspends bandh till February 7

Two days after the meeting between its representatives and Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram in New Delhi, the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) leadership that had earlier threatened a 15-day bandh in Darjeeling district from January 29, decided on Thursday to suspend its programme till February 7.

“We have suspended the third phase of the bandh that was to have been resumed [as part of its call for a 26-day bandh] on Saturday, but will continue with our plans for a padayatra to the Dooars”, GJM central committee leader Harka Bahadur Chettri told The Hindu over telephone from Kumani in the Kalimpong sub-division of Darjeeling district.

While the GJM leaders had, following their meeting with Mr. Chidambaram on January 25, expressed their satisfaction with the outcome of the talks, the decision to suspend and not withdraw its bandh call is being construed as a ploy to put pressure on the Centre to come up by the first week of February with a draft for the proposal of an interim arrangement to replace the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council.

Dr. Chettri, who was in the GJM delegation that met the Union Home Minister, had said shortly after, that his colleagues were hopeful that the draft of the proposal for the interim set-up would be ready for perusal by the first week of February. They had also been reportedly assured that it would not compromise their demand for a separate Gorkhaland State.

Future of stir discussed

The future of the GJM's agitation to put pressure on the Centre to clarify its position on the separate State issue was discussed at a meeting at Kumani of the party's central committee in the presence of GJM president Bimal Gurung. A report on the talks with Mr. Chidambaram was also placed at the meeting.

While the GJM leadership awaits the draft proposal for the interim arrangement, it chose to go ahead with its padayatra to Jaigaon in the Dooars, even if that means breaking through barricades set up by the police.

The Jalpaiguri district authorities had imposed prohibitory orders in certain areas of the Dooars to prevent the GJM leaders from walking into the region in view of the tense situation prevailing there following clashes in Jaigaon on January 16 between supporters of the GJM and those of regional outfits opposed to the Statehood demand.

Volunteers of the GJM will be going on a relay hunger-strike at places across Darjeeling district and parts of the Dooars during the days the bandh remains suspended, to maintain pressure on the Centre for a clarification of its stand on the Gorkhaland demand.

The Hindu

Rival spews ‘mislead’ fire

Darjeeling, March 22: The ABGL has been accused of “misleading” the people and trying to create a law and order problem in the hills, a day after its supporters burned the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s proposal for an interim set-up.

Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said: “Madan Tamang is misleading the hill people over our demand to grant tribal status to the hill people. Granting tribal status and including the region (under Sixth Schedule) are two different issues which Tamang has not understood.”

“The Nagas are tribals but Sixth Schedule is not applicable there (in Nagaland). The same holds true in Arunachal Pradesh. In fact, the Sixth Schedule is applicable to only four of the eight northeastern states. Tamang is deliberately trying to mislead the people and create a law and order situation so that our proposal for a state within a state is affected,” Giri added.

Tamang had yesterday organised a rally in Darjeeling where copies of the Morcha’s proposal for an interim arrangement were burned. Tamang accused the Morcha of trying to hoodwink the people by settling for a special status under the Sixth Schedule. “The Morcha’s demand to grant ST status to all Gorkhas and to set up a tribal research institute are a sure give away that its proposal is nothing but the Sixth Schedule status,” he said.

Today, the Morcha leadership iterated that they had little interest in the special status. “Our proposal is far stronger than the Sixth Schedule. Ours is a state within a state for which we have demanded legislative and judiciary powers also,” said Giri.

Describing Tamang as a failure in politics, Giri said: “The people have never accepted him. Moreover, in his long political career he has done nothing but criticism. He has never raised any issue at a proper forum like Delhi but only speaks at the Motor Stands of Kalimpong and Kurseong and in Chowk Bazar in Darjeeling.”

Tamang should also understand that the proposal is not a final settlement, said Giri.

From The Telegraph

Six-member team for Calcutta meeting Morcha president to stay away

The president of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to skip the meeting with chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in Calcutta tomorrow but has lined up a six-member delegation to discuss the six demands of the party.

Morcha vice-president R.P. Waiba, general secretary Roshan Giri, Binay Tamang, Anmole Prasad, Harka Bahadur Chhetri and president of the party’s trade union P.T. Sherpa will leave for Calcutta tomorrow. “The meeting is scheduled to take place at Writers at 5.30pm. We will once again place our charter of six demands,” said Tamang, the media and publicity secretary of the Morcha.

Gurung had met Bhattacharjee at Writers’ Buildings on February 4. However, the talks had remained inconclusive with the chief minister refusing to grant permission to hold public meetings in the Dooars and announcing that immediate reopening of the gardens in the region was not a feasible idea. MORE...

GJMM convoy attacked in West Bengals Dooars

The situation in the Dooars turned volatile again on Monday, after GJM leader Roshan Giri was chased out of Ethelbari in the evening.

Late on Monday, the homes of some Nepali-speaking persons were set ablaze at Nagrakata’s Dayna tea estate. Unconfirmed sources said there were reports of gunshots being fired. In the morning, Giri had gone to the home of his party colleague, Akbar Lama, who had been killed during Saturday’s clash at Ethelbari. The GJM leadership had earlier dubbed Lama a “martyr”. MORE...