Roadmap to political solution: GJM submits memorandum

MoP specifies it will take around 6 months to implement the MOA & till such time ‘no polls to the GTA should be held...’

DARJEELING: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has submitted a Memorandum of Proposal (MoP) to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to “set the ball rolling for the long awaited political solution to the long-pending grievances of Indian Gorkhas inhabiting the regions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Terai and Dooars.”

The proposal, among other issues, has urged the Government to execute the MOA of 2011 of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, in letter and spirit. Till this time the MoP has proposed that no election to the GTA should be held.

Incidentally, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had assured that a Permanent Political Solution (PPS) would be worked out to resolve the Gorkha impasse.

During her visit to Kurseong, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had asked representatives of different political outfits including the GJM to draw up a draft proposal for the PPS.

“We have not submitted a proposal for PPS. Instead we have talked of inclusion of 396 Gorkha majority mouzas of Terai and Dooars in the GTA. Only after the GTA, which is now like a still born baby, is empowered will we talk of a new administrative setup,” stated Roshan Giri, General Secretary, GJM.

The MoP submitted on Monday in Kolkata through Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Aroop Biswas, is not a proposal for the PPS but outlines certain preconditions to set the ball rolling for the PPS. The 15 page long MoP states that “Unless the Memorandum of Agreement executed in 2011 is fully implemented and a sense of confidence and faith is once again instilled in the people of the region that the state government is genuinely interested in resolving the long pending legitimate grievances of the Gorkhas, till such time the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha proposes the following road map for arriving at a honourable political solution.”

The roadmap stresses on implementation of the tripartite Memorandum of Agreement executed on July 18, 2011 in letter and spirit thereby furnishing details of parts that have not been implemented yet. This includes the non-creation of a subordinate selection board which nullifies the clause of power vested to the GTA to create Group B, C and D posts. The list also includes Reconstitution and reorganisation of the territorial jurisdiction of sub-divisions and blocks; Panchayat election not being held; SSC for GTA not being set up, no government funds for development of administrative infrastructure and issuance of land documents to workers of tea gardens and cinchona plantation workers.

The MoP specifies that it will take around six months to implement the MOA and till such time no elections to the GTA should be held as it will just be a futile exercise.

After implementation of the above and withdrawal of the rest and residual criminal cases pertaining to political agitations as promised, a genuine atmosphere will prevail for the PPS.

This would then lead to GJM’s submission of a proposal for a new administrative dispensation (which they don’t want to dub as PPS) but without dropping the demand of a separate state of Gorkhaland. However, there were hints that the new dispensation could be on the lines of Bodoland Territorial Administration.

The proposal, among other issues, has urged the Government to execute the MOA of 2011 of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, in letter and spirit