GNLF posters in Hills call for dissolution of GTA

SNS, Darjeeling, 15 October 2013: The Darjeeling unit of Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), the party that kept calling the shots in the Hills till the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) emerged in late 2007 has pasted posters in the town that said the GTA must be rejected immediately. 

Besides, the posters implore the people to rally behind the demand for the inclusion of the Hills under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. 

Residents said this is for the first time that the GNLF posters have appeared in the Hills since the GTA was formed. 

The GNLF supporters said they had put up posters at several places in the town on 12 October. However, in Chowk Bazaar, one poster was found torn. 

“If Gorkhaland is impossible, we must vouch for the Sixth Schedule which is the next best alternative, given the present drift of the situation. It is a constitutionally guaranteed provision unlike the GTA,” said Mr Manhang Subba, the president of the GNLF’s Borbotey village committee, Darjeeling. 

According to Mr Subba, the GNLF would organise a couple of rallies and meetings across the Hills to boost the morale of its supporters. 

“We hope my party would get a new lease of life with the people becoming frustrated with the GTA. Things would further look up once our leader, Subash Ghising returns to Darjeeling. It is a matter of time. He is expected to address a rally here. The date is being worked out now,” he said. 

According to political observers, GNLF’s revival is imminent with the GJMM having remained stuck in the GTA/ Gorkhaland dichotomous paradox. 

“Maybe, the Sixth Schedule would catch the imagination of the people with the realisation dawning on them that statehood would not become a reality in the near future. However, it is uncertain whether the upper caste and the Scheduled Caste people would support the Scheduled Tribe-specific provision,” an observer said. 

However, the GJMM is not attaching much importance to the GNLF attempting to get revived. “India is a democratic country and any political party has the right to participate in the democratic engagement,” a senior GJMM leader from Darjeeling said.