Telangana boost for Gorkhaland seekers

Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi outside the Parliament House after boycotting
the Telangana Bill on Tuesday. (Praveen Jain)

Madhuparna Das, IE, Kolkata | February 19, 2014 : With Parliament clearing creation of Telangana, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders now see hope for a separate Gorkhaland — a demand that they had put on the backburner after several months of agitation with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee vehemently opposed to it.

A GJM delegation would be in New Delhi next week to hold talks with some union ministers on the Gorkhaland issue.

The GJM leaders said the passage of the Telangana Bill has strengthened the Gorkhaland movement.

GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said: “This has strengthened our movement and it has encouraged us, too. Our people are also happy and they have now started believing that Gorkhaland is also possible.”

Giri pointed out that the state’s opposition to their demand would not stand in the long run.

“The Andhra Pradesh Assembly did not pass the Telangana Bill but the Centre went ahead with it and it was finally cleared in Parliament. Therefore, we now want the Centre’s intervention in the Gorkhaland issue as well. Passage of the Telangana Bill has established that the state does not have a role to play in this matter,” added Giri.

Meanwhile, GJM chief Bimal Gurung posted in a social networking website that the Centre should now consider their “fair” demand for a separate Gorkhaland and that the state’s consent is not necessary for the same.

“… We would now request the Centre to similarly consider the just and fair demand for separate state of Gorkhaland, which is amongst the oldest in the country.

“Today’s passage of the Telangana Bill makes it clear that state consent is not necessary for its bifurcation, a fact which we have been reiterating for a long time,” Gurung posted on Facebook.

“We are confident that the Centre will sooner than later respect the sentiments of the Gorkhaland area and will take an unilateral decision on creating Gorkhaland despite protest from the rest of Bengal,” Gurung added in the post.