Lepchas keen to host Didi in Hills- MOVE Chief minister has already been extended an invitation

Pramod Giri, THT, 20 August 2013, SILIGURI: The Lepchas in Darjeeling Hills have voiced hope of the chief minister attending the September 2 event organised by the Indigenous Lepcha Tribal Association to mark the second anniversary of her government’s move to set up the Lepcha Development Board. 

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has already been extended an invitation to preside over the event where she is to be conferred the title of Kingtsoom Daarmit (Goddess of Prosperity). Members of the association heaped praise on the chief minister, saying her government’s move to set up the Mayel Lyang Lepcha Development Board on September 2, 2011, gave a new lease of life to the often deprived Lepcha community. 

“September 2, 2011 will forever remain a red-letter day for the Lepcha community in Bengal and our association has organised an elaborate event to mark the second foundation day of the Lepcha Development Board,” read a press release by the Lepcha body on June 13. 

However, the chief minister’s move to set up the Lepcha development body didn’t find favour with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and set off a fresh spell of acrimony between her government and GJM chief Bimal Gurung. Slamming the move, the GJM termed the formation of the Lepcha Development Board under the state department for backward classes as a clear infringement on the powers vested in the autonomous Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). 

However, the Lepchas had been against the formation of the board under the GTA and had pitched for an autonomous body. They said the Lepchas residing in areas outside the purview of the GTA could be deprived of the desired benefits unless the body comes under the state government. Voicing opposition to the Mamata government’s move, the GJM even enforced a shutdown across the Hills back on February 9. 

However, that was before the Lepchas, under the banner of the Lepcha Rights Movement, launched a fast-unto-death on February 6, demanding a separate board for the development of the community. 

The fast was called off on February 12 after the state government issued a gazette notification on the formation of the board. The move didn’t go down well with the GJM, with the party top brass accusing the chief minister of creating divisions among the Hills people. 

The second foundation day of the Lepcha board comes at a time the Hills have been in the grip of a fresh spell of unrest over the Gorkhaland cause and the GJM has ruled out any dialogue with the Mamata government. Gurung has already issued a rallying cry to locals, cutting across the ethnic divide, to unite for the greater cause of Gorkhaland.