GNLF against forcing normality in Hills

Mahendra Chhetri

SNS, SILIGURI, 25 SEPTEMBER 2017: The Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) leadership has said the state government should not try to force normality in the Hills.

"The state should not try to bring about normality forcibly. If the state does this, it will go against the overall sentiments of the Hill people. The Hill people may strike back if the state fails to feel the sentiments of the people by heart," senior GNLF leader Mahendra Chhetri said today

"When the cause of the present Hill unrest has been diagnosed, the state should not prescribe antibiotics or steroids by using state machineries and applying force in its hid to restore normality.People may fight back against it,' he added.

According to him, such attempts made by the state government are not in favour of a "permanent political solution" as demanded by the GNLF. "The GNLF's view is clear.The 1.5 crore Gorkha people demand constitutional protection based on their traditional culture," he said.

The GNLF leadership has also criticised the state government's decision to constitute an interim board to run the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), which has been rejected by political parties as well as the people.

The GNLF leadership also claimed that the party had filed a case against the GTA in the Calcutta High Court in 2012.The Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha also filed a case in the Apex Court against the state over the issue of transfer of departments as per the GTA agreement.

"The fresh Gorkhaland movement is a people's movement and a total of 12 people lost their lives, demanding separate statehood. As a result, people will not gladly accept the present system,' Mr Chhetri added.

Citing an example, Mr Chhetri said that following a tripartite meeting on 21 September on the settlement of bonus and the decision on to pay 19.75 percent bonus among tea workers in the Hills had no impact in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Mirik sub-divisions. "A few tea plantations have started functioning partly. But we do not find spontaneous acceptance to the same by the workforce, though it was decided that 50 percent of 19.75 would be disbursed within seven days if normality is restored," he added.