JAP steps up demand for workers’ land rights ahead of Assembly polls

EOI, Darjeeling 25 Feb 2016: With the state Assembly election fast approaching, the Jan Andolan Party has upped the ante in seeking land rights for tea garden and cinchona plantation workers saying the party would meet the chief minister on the matter. Members of the Parja-Patta Demand Committee (PPDC) - a JAP affiliate – are on an indefinite dharna outside the district administration office in Darjeeling since February 17 to draw the state government’s attention. 

On Tuesday, a JAP delegation comprising senior leaders met minister Arup Biswas in Siliguri and apprised him of the demand and the ongoing agitation. JAP president and Kalimpong MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri was in Darjeeling on Wednesday to interact with the agitators where he blamed previous leaderships of the hills for not taking up the land rights issue seriously. 

“Leaders of various political parties have failed to prioritise the parja-patta demand in the past as their focus remained fixed on other issues. However, our party will accord top priority to the issue and take it forward in earnest,” the MLA said. He said he would take up the land rights issue with chief minister Mamata Banerjee and also place it in the state Assembly once the new session starts from Thursday. 

“I will meet the chief minister and seek her intervention. I will also take up the land rights demand when the Assembly session starts. I am hopeful of the state government giving us a positive response,” Chhetri said. On whether the JAP had set a timeframe to achieve the demand, the Kalimpong MLA said, “I have already said the demand was always there. However, what we want the state government to do is to start the actual process and not just keep it suspended as an issue. It must also be remembered that there are lot of technicalities involved and under such a backdrop, it will not be proper to set a timeframe,” Chhetri said. 

The JAP was officially launched a couple of months ago after Chhetri severed ties with the GorkhaJanmuktiMorcha in September 2015. His party is giving precedence to development issues over the separate statehood demand, unlike the practice whenever a new political outfit emerges in the hills. 

“Tea garden and cinchona plantation workers make up nearly 70 per cent of the hill population. They have been living in their respective areas since decades. However, they have no rights on the land they reside in and our party intends to set this straight,” Chhetri said. 

The JAP has also announced its decision to field candidates for the upcoming Assembly election in the three hill sub-divisions, but has refused to commit whether it was mulling an alliance with the TMC.  “We will definitely contest the Assembly election. However, any political alliance will be decided later,” said Chhetri.