‘CM’s strategy may trigger ethnic tension’- Strategy reeking of ignorance of nuances will make things critical: Asok

SNS, Siliguri, 6 September 2013: The former state urban development minister and senior CPI-M leader, Mr Asok Bhattacharya, today sounded worried over the inter-ethnic distemper coming to the fore in the Darjeeling Hills in the aftermath of Mamata Banerjee’s recent Kalimpong visit. 

“She stoked fire by befriending the minority Lepcha community and distancing the majority Gorkha community by showering praise on the former and criticising the latter. Such a strategy reeking of ignorance of the nuances involved in the tangled politics of the Hills, will make things critical,” he said. 

Referring to the GJMM chief, Mr Bimal Gurung’s appeal to the Hill people to maintain peace and communal harmony, the Marxist leader said the situation is fraught with dangers. 

“It is for the first time that the people in the Hills are apprehending breach of inter-ethnic amity. The chief minister’s impulse-driven rhetoric to endear herself to the minority at the expense of the majority has created differences along the ethnic lines. This is a preposterous trend and unless arrested in time it might cast asunder the inter-ethnic tapestry the Hills can justifiably boast of,” he said. 

Countering the popular perception that the CM is on the right tracks vis-à-vis the restive Hills, he said the contrary is true if viewed from the long-term perspective. “Besides, arresting people on old cases in contravention of the tripartite treaty is unethical. Most of these cases were slapped when the Left Front was in power. 

She cried hoarse against us then and now with the situation there having turned hostile, she has been using the same cases to curb her former ally,” he said. 

“She must realize that her rough and tough gesture will consolidate those against whom she is fighting. What is needed is understanding and flexibility,” Mr Bhattacharya said. 

Referring to the allegations that the Left Front government under Jyoti Basu had deployed Central forces to curb the Gorkhaland movement in the middle of 1980s, he said the action was justified in view of the fact that the movement under Mr Subash Ghising was taking a secessionist turn. 

“They launched an armed struggle, demanding a separate State, not just separation from Bengal. Many people were killed as it was necessary to curb the movement with an iron hand,” the CPI-M leader said. He further said the Left Front government had succeeded in keeping the statehood ferment under control for two decades. 

“Now, under the new state government, the autonomy experiment has fizzled out in a year. Is this something we call success?” he asked. Multi Page Format