Gurung rejects merger

TT, Calcutta, Aug. 17: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung today said his party was against the merger of the Darjeeling hills with Sikkim, two days after Sikkim chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling had publicly spoken on similar lines.

Even though there is no official communication on the Darjeeling-Sikkim merger theory, the debate was triggered by a recent statement by a leader purportedly close to the RSS that the Himalayan state's geographic area should be expanded.

The statement was construed as a proposal for the unification of Sikkim and Darjeeling. Subsequently, on August 12, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, the principal opposition party in Sikkim, convened a meeting in Gangtok and it was attended by Sikkim Pradesh Congress and other local organisations. The meeting asked Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling to come out clean on the issue.

While delivering his Independence Day speech in Gangtok, Chamling said his party (Sikkim Democratic Front) would never allow the Himalayan state to merge with Darjeeling.

Gurung today sought to make clear the Morcha's stand on the issue. "We are against the merger of Darjeeling with Sikkim. We had started the agitation only for Gorkhaland. We do not want to interfere with Sikkim, which is supporting our demand for statehood," said Gurung.

Asked whether he had received any communication that had prompted him to clarify the party's stand on the issue, Gurung said: "I think whoever is talking about this is trying to drive a wedge between Darjeeling and Sikkim and put the chief minister (of Sikkim) in a spot. We have a clearly demarcated area and will never interfere in the affairs of Sikkim."

Almost everyone in Sikkim, the population of which is less than Darjeeling district, is opposed to the merger.

A section of people in Darjeeling, however, backs the merger. The Gorkha Rashtriya Congress, which is based in Darjeeling, was formed with the Darjeeling-Sikkim merger as its primary objective. Another organisation, Sikkim Darjeeling Ekikarna Mancha, too, supports the merger.

These two pro-merge organisations believe the unified Darjeeling and Sikkim is a more acceptable option for the Centre as both the regions have historical and cultural ties.

The present day Darjeeling subdivision was part of Sikkim, before it was granted to the British to set up a health sanatorium in 1835.