Mamata proposes, Bimal disposes

SNS, 12 September 2017, Siliguri: Though Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today claimed that the second meeting with five political parties of the Hills at Uttarkanya here was 'fruitful', the chief of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) Bimal Gurung quickly announced that the indefinite shutdown in the Hills would go on.

In the meeting, also attend­ed by the Gurung faction of the GJMM, no resolution was adopted to call off the indef­inite shutdown that has been in place in the Hills for the past 90 days. Even as the CM agr­eed to "consider" the several demands tabled by rebel GJMM leader Binay Tamang, she was against the idea of a tripartite meeting involving the Centre.

Mr Gurung said the strike would go on as the meeting today did not discuss Gorkhaland, while no decision was taken for tripartite talks.

Mr Tamang and his team, two MLAs from Darjeeling and Kalimpong belonging to the GJMM's Bimal faction, All India Gorkha League (AIGL) president Bharati Tamang, a Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) team led by president Mann Ghising and Jan Andolan Party (JAP) president Dr Harka Bahadur Chettri were present in the meeting, as were Hill Trina­mul leaders.

The chief minister annou­nced that the third bipartite meeting will be held at Naban­naon on 15 October and appealed to Hill leaders to call off the strike before the festivals so that people from both Hills and plains can get some relief.

Briefing reporters, Miss Banerjee said the state would not make arrangements for a tripartite meeting right now."

"As the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) is not functioning properly and it is under the control of the administrator, it is not possible to make arrangements for the tripartite meeting under the provisions of the GTA," she said, adding, "But, following requests from political parties, I will study whether there is any constitutional provision to call such a tripartite meeting in the future."

Mr Tamang said: "The GJMM would like to demand that the tripartite talks on Gorkhaland must be initiated by the West Bengal government at the earliest."

JAP president Dr Chettri said that the proposal for tripartite meeting was for discussion of a separate state. The proposal for the tripartite meeting was not for the GTA," he said.

Mr Tamang, who has been expelled from the party but still claims that he was the chief coordinator of the GJMM, said he would appeal to the people again to call off the strike. On the other hand, Darjeeling MLA Amar Singh Rai, who discussed the Hill problems and how people suffered during the indefinite strike, said he would discuss with his party members about calling off the shutdown_

In the meeting Miss Banerjee also assured that she would look into the issues mentioned in the 17-point memorandum submitted by Mr Tamang and said that the state government has agreed to consider a high level inquiry into the deaths caused by alleged police firing and compensation and other issues.