GJMM not to participate in poll to elect gta chief

SNS, Kurseong, 15 September 2013: Even if the state government releases the GTA Sabha members on parole, the GJMM will not participate in the meeting to elect a new chief executive of GTA Sabha. 
Other GTA members are unlikely to participate as well. When asked whether the GJMM would agree to participate in the chief executive’s meeting if the state government releases all the GTA Sabha members, the GJMM general secretary and the GTA Sabha executive member, Mr Roshan Giri said nothing of that sort will happen. 
The GTA chairman, Mr Pradip Pradhan had recently said that we have already sent a resolution to the state government that until and unless all the arrested GTA members and other GJMM activists are released, we will not participate in the GTA meeting. 
Mr Pradhan further added: “On one hand, the state government is forcing us to honour the GTA Act by telling us to run it properly, but in reality the government itself has not honoured the GTA act as they are on a spree of arresting GTA Sabha members and GJMM activists on cases filed during the four-year long Gorkhaland agitation from 2007.” 
Mr Pradhan further said: “It is clearly mentioned in the GTA Agreement signed on 18 July 2011 between the State, Central and the GJMM that all court cases filed against the GJMM activists during the agitation period except murder cases will be withdrawn.” He added: “But even though it is clearly mentioned in the GTA pact about the said agreement, the government is not honouring it but interestingly they are the ones who are telling us to honour and follow the GTA agreement and Act.” 
Recently, the GTA Principal Secretary Mr R D Meena, under the directive of the state government following the GTA Act, had arranged a meeting to elect a new Chief Executive but only two GTA Sabha members turned up that did not even fulfill the quorum for election. 
In the same meeting, the GTA Sabha Chairman Mr Pradip Pradhan who was one of the attendee had then submitted a copy of the resolution signed by 29 GTA Sabha members that a proper meeting can only be possible once all the arrested members are released by the state government. 
Notably, it was learnt that at least a dozen GTA Sabha members have been arrested by police till today, since the past one-and-a-half months under different cases, in which, hardly only one or two GTA members have obtained bail and the rest of the GTA Sabha members are still behind bars. 
At a time when the GJMM supporters are being released on bail, the GTA members, who have been arrested from Kurseong region, are yet to receive bail ahead of the GTA chief executive election to be held on 27 September. 
Notably, all the GTA members from Kurseong GTA constituencies have already been arrested except Mr Roshan Giri, who is a sabha member from Sittong ~ Latpachor constituency from Kurseong. 
The arrested GTA members from Kurseong are Mrs Prabha Chettri, Mr Anosh Thapa and Mr Mahendra Pradhan. “The State Government sponsored terror is going on at different places in the Hills,” said GJMM general secretary, Mr Roshan Giri. 
Mr Giri claimed north Bengal development minister Mr Gautam Deb was unleashing terror through distribution of grains among residents of Sittong Lathapunchor. “We went to Sittong to organise a party meeting but the administration did not allow us to do so,” he added.