Gurung says can’t trust other parties, hill unity under cloud
In the most significant and unexpected political development since June 13 when the hill party leaders attended a meeting in Darjeeling to unanimously resolve to fight for a separate state of Gorkhaland, GJM president Bimal Gurung virtually engineered a crack in the growing solidarity between the parties that were ready to plunge headlong into fight for a separate state.
Gurung took a shot at Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) by saying he cannot trust a party that tied up with Trinamool Congress just a month ago for the civic polls. He also attacked Harka Bahadur Chettri, the chief of Jan Andolan Party (JAP), and referred to him as “the leader of another party who is keen to fulfil his personal interest.” “There is no guarantee that these two parties would not ditch the issue of Gorkhaland midway,” Gurung said.
“We have accepted their demand to resign from the GTA and with this all party exercise has come to an end,” he said in a statement that not only asserted his personal supremacy in the hills, but also deeply offended the parties that sunk their differences with GJM and vowed to fight for Gorkhaland.
On Friday, Gurung said he was misquoted by the media. But the fissures were already visible and GNLF and JAP leaders reacted sharply. “Gurung is sold. This time we won’t allow him to sell the dream and aspiration of 1.5 crore Indian Gorkhas,” said Niraj Zimba, spokesperson of GNLF. Incidentally, GNLF was set up on April 5, 1980 by Subhash Ghisingh with the goal of setting up a separate state for the Gorkhas.
“We are in touch with all the political parties excluding GJM to spearhead the movement collectively,” said Bishal Rai, the JAP youth wing president.
Gurung’s statement, within 72 hours of the last all-party meeting, has left other parties as well as some key leaders of his own party wondering why he chose to imperil an intensifying movement that put the state government under pressure. “I don’t know about the development and I need to know what Gurung has said,” GJM general secretary, Roshan Giri, who is camping in Delhi to lobby for Gorkhaland said on Thursday.