In Delhi- GJMM team in dialogue with Arun Jaitley and RPN Singh

Rajesh Sharma, KalimNews, New Delhi, 8th August 2013: In an effort to expedite its demand for the formation a new State in the Indian Union Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is observing indefinite strike in the Darjeeling hills. 
At the same time it is leaving no stone unturned to meet the central political leaders in the capital city of New Delhi from Parliament to North Block. 

A six member GJMM team led by Roshan Giri the GJM general secretary is continuing its extensive campaign towards the statehood issue in New Delhi. 

GJMM team met Mr Arun Jaitley- Senior Advocate of the Apex Court and senior leader of BJP at Parliament Complex, New Delhi today from 4 pm to 4.40 pm. 

In a press release signed by Ranjan Sharma General Secretary of Delhi GJMM who also accompanied the team states that the issues pertaining to the scheme of BJP with respect to creation of small states was discussed with Jaitley. Jaitley in response said that he would raise the issues in the appropriate forum in the coming days. 

He further stated that BJP party's manifesto also contains clauses in favor of creation of small states. He also assured to raise the issue in the Parliament and the BJP Parliamentary board meeting. 

The team also met Mr R.P.N Singh, Minister of State (Home Affairs) at North Block from 6:40pm to 7:35 pm. The GJM team discussed and put across in a straight forward manner the one point agenda of GJMM for the creation of a separate state of Gorkhaland. The team also discussed the facts and consequences that led to signing of the GTA Agreement and why GTA became a flop show and failed miserably. 

The GJM team apprised the Minster that as all alternative arrangements granted by the State and Central Government since the past such as the Hill Development Council, DGHC, arrangement accorded to Subhash Ghisingh vis a vis the Sixth Schedule in 2005, GTA failed to meet the aspirations of the Gorkhas of the area. The so called autonomy granted to GTA was merely a lip service by the state administration, granted for name sake by simply bulldozing the aspiration of the people at large. 

GTA technically was always in the clutches of the State Government without any free hand. The contents of the tripartite Agreement and the clauses of GTA Act passed in the State legislature were not followed in letter and spirit by the state. 

The team made it clear to the centre that since the Union government was also a party to the Tripartite Agreement the dispute resolution falls equally with the centre and the central government should intervene by playing a neutral role. The Gorkhaland movement was initiated since 1907 and is a justified demand but the state and central government have been simply overlooking the invaluable contribution of Gorkhas in nation building. 

The team reiterated the stand that the indefinite strike of GJMM presently called in the hills is purely non violent and peaceful but the state government is provoking for violence by sending police force unnecessarily. 

Gorkhas have been the victims of political discrimination and government should stop the step motherly treatment to the Gorkhas as the demand of statehood revolves around the core issue of identity catastrophe. Enough is enough as the state administration has been buying time, again and again to prolong the issue. Government has always showed a deaf ear to the cause, states the release.

Dr. H.B.Chhetri a member of the team and GJM spokesperson later addressing the media stated that GTA has no practical autonomy instead it has to approach the state government in every matter. The state government instead of helping the GTA intervenes in every step. GJM is fed up with such unwelcomed interference and the hill people has no other alternative then to rebegin its demand for the creation of Gorkhaland, Chhetri added . /div>