Morcha ends hunger strike.... what next ?people wait eagerly

TT, Calcutta, Aug. 14: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung today directed 12 youths to call off their indefinite hunger strike to honour the appeal of Union home minister Rajnath Singh - the first gesture at reconciliation since a shutdown began 61 days ago and is still dragging on.

"Following yesterday's meeting where the Union home minister requested the delegation to lift the indefinite hunger strike, the delegation members today held a meeting in Delhi. They were of the opinion that the minister's request must be honoured and I have directed the Yuva Morcha to lift their hunger strike from 4.30pm today," Gurung told The Telegraph over phone.

A delegation of the hill parties - under the banner of the GMCC (Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee) - had met the Union minister in Delhi yesterday.

Besides asking the hill parties to end the hunger strike and restore normality in the hills by calling off the general strike, the home minister had urged the state government to initiate a dialogue with the Morcha and the other stakeholders.

"Whatever emanated from yesterday's meeting with the Union home minister clearly indicated that the Centre would not make any immediate move for Gorkhaland. This realisation has made the GMCC and the Morcha ask the youths to withdraw the hunger strike," an observer said.

Twelve youths - three each in Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kalimpong and Mirik - were on indefinite hunger strike from July 21. The hunger strike reached the 25th day today and all the 12 youths were in a critical condition. Following Gurung's appeal, the youths called off the fast today.

"Considering their deteriorating health conditions, if anything unfortunate had happened to any of them, the Morcha and the GMCC would have been under more pressure. They would have had to answer the hill residents and families of these youths as to why they allowed the hunger strike when they had no inkling as to when the Centre would consider the demand," a source said.

Binay Tamang, the Morcha assistant general secretary who had yesterday said that there would be no lifting of the hunger strike or the indefinite strike call, made the formal announcement that there would be "no picketing from 6am to 6pm" tomorrow.

The Morcha leaders said they would continue with the indefinite general strike. "They cannot withdraw everything at one go and lose all bargaining power.... So, they are likely to continue with the strike," the source added.

Not only did Gurung ask the youth wing to call off the hunger strike, he said he was willing to honour the other request of the Union home minister when specifically asked whether the Morcha was amenable to conducting a dialogue with the state government.

"I do not have any problems honouring his other request.... But the agenda of the talks with the state government would be only Gorkhaland and nothing else," he said.

It is too early to conclude whether the state and the hill parties would sit down for talks, but there is little doubt that the Morcha has toned down its earlier position of no talks with the state and indefinite continuation of the fast and the general strike.

Against the backdrop of the frosty ties between the chief minister and the Morcha leader and the conditions they have set for talks - Mamata Banerjee wants an end to the strike and violence while Gurung is keen on discussing only Gorkhaland - it is unclear when the dialogue would start.

Even if another round of bargaining starts for facilitating the talks, the state has an edge as Rajnath had more or less echoed Nabanna. Some hill leaders this newspaper spoke to said that the balance had tilted in favour of the state after yesterday's meeting.

"We think that our only hope lies with the Centre and it would send a wrong signal if the home minister's request was not heeded.... We wanted to send a positive message to the Centre. Without the Centre's role, we can achieve nothing," said the source.

Political observers said these were indications that the hill parties, and the Morcha in particular, were under pressure. "The state government is likely to send a communication through official channels to ensure that the hill parties come to the talks table.... It would be interesting to see how they react to the proposal," said a political observer.