All parties unite for Gorkhaland Local BJP in a bind to take a position
DARJEELING UNREST GJM pulls out of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, which it is running since 2012; parties to boycott meeting convened by CM Mamata Banerjee on June 22
Upping the ante in the ongoing standoff with the MamataBanerjeegovernmentin West Bengal, the Bimal Gurungled GJM on Tuesday decided to pull out of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) that it was running since 2012.
At an all-party meeting at the Gymkhana Hall, all the 14 political and non-political parties in the Darjeeling hills further hardened their stand against the ruling Trinamool Congress by deciding to take forward their demand for a separate Gorkhaland state.
Also, all the hill parties decided to boycott the all-party meeting that chief minister Mamata Banerjee has convened on June 22. Since she is in the Netherlands on official tour, the meeting will be attended by Trinamool ministers. The parties, including the BJP, signed the resolution where they unanimously decided to boycott the next election of the GTA as well.
The GTA accord was signed in July 2011. In 2012, the GTA was formally formed with GJM becoming the controlling force of the semi- autonomous body.
Addressing the media after the meeting, GJM spokesman P Aryun said they will honour the unanimous decisions taken at the meeting and leave the GTA. “A separate Gorkhaland state is the common goal and we all will now concentrate on our united movement to achieve this goal only,” Aryun said.
He said the indefinite strike in the hills would be withdrawn only after the state government withdraws the police and security forces deployed in the hills.
Echoing the sentiment, Gorkha National Liberation Front spokesman Neeraj Zimba said a separate Gorkhaland state is the only demand of the hill people and all the hill-based forces will move ahead to achieve that. “We find no point in attending the allparty meeting called by the state government. On one hand, the state government is convening the meeting, while on the other, it is sending forces to the hills to gag the voices of dissent,” said Aryun.
Meanwhile, officials at the state secretariat said the government has already submitted a report on the current situation to the Union home ministry.
For almost a decade, the BJP has slowly made inroads into the Darjeeling hills, riding on its alliance with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) that commands a wide following in the region. The saffron party has won the Darjeeling Lok Sabha twice on the back of a promise to back a separate state of Gorkhaland.
But now, BJP leaders in the hills are feeling the heat as a violent movement for Gorkhaland rages in the hills. Increasingly, the local population is asking party leaders to take a stand on an issue that has simmered for more than a century.
“The Darjeeling BJP unit is in a dilemma,” said a hill BJP leader.
“The BJP has taken the Nepali speaking people of the hills for a ride,” said another senior party leader from Darjeeling.
The BJP won Darjeeling parliamentary seat in 2009 and 2014. The current MP, SS Ahluwalia, speaks about favouring a separate state for the Nepali speaking people of Darjeeling, but has over the last decade done practically nothing to fulfill the aspiration, say local residents.
“The BJP central leadership should understand the sentiments and emotions of the people…BJP leadership has to come clear on its stance on the formation of Gorkhaland. The hill BJP unit has no option but to join the movement for a separate state.”
Ashok Bhattacharya, former Bengal minister whose government and party had opposed the demand for a separate Gorkhaland, said the BJP government at the Centre wasn’t obliged to favour Gorkhaland, considering the region’s strategic location.
The area is bordered by Nepal in the west, Bhutan in the east and China not too far in the north.
“The BJP at the Centre will not want to create another Kashmir-like situation in the border districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, keeping in mind the defence perspective and the strategic location of the region,” Bhattacharya said.
“The BJP the centre is playing a dual game and using the GJM.”