Gurung to attend talks in Delhi, risking arrest

TNN | Oct 4, 2017, DARJEELING: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung, now accused under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), will head for talks to New Delhi risking his arrest by the Mamata Banerjee government.

Gurung's assertion came a day ahead of BJP state president Dilip Ghosh's visit to the Hills on Wednesday. The GJM president, now on the run because of a look-out notice against him, reposed faith on the saffron party and the central government to deliver Gorkhaland, a demand that resulted in over hundred days of strike in the Hills.

The GJM president said the party's central committee would sit for a meeting and names would be selected to attend the Delhi meeting. "The central government requested me and the GJM party to lift the strike and also attend the proposed meeting in Delhi. We will fix the names of the party delegation after our central committee sits for a meeting and only then we will make an announcement," Gurung said.

"We have been communicating with senior BJP leaders in Delhi and apprising them about the prevailing situation in the Hills. Perhaps the BJP state president's visit is a result of that, as they (BJP leaders) had not come to the hills during the strike," Gurung said over phone from an undisclosed location in a bid to spread the sense of achievement among the party ranks when some of the Hills parties, including the rebel GJM leaders Binay Tamang and Anit Thapa have started saying that the three-month long strike yielded no positive results for the people in the Hills.

Tamang on Monday warned the BJP delegation to come clear on the Gorkhaland demand to avoid public protests when they enter the Hills.

Asserting that he called off strike on the request of Union home minister Rajnath Singh, who promised a meeting within a fortnight, the GJM president said: "We have faith in the BJP and the Centre. They will certainly think about the Hills and our demand. At present things are difficult because of the state government's highhandedness. But, if required I will definitely go to Delhi. In an agitation things are sweet and sour and we will have to go along with it and not be afraid," Gurung said.

The latest bout of agitation has thrown up some surprises with tactful handling of the situation by the state government. Along with Gurung, most senior GJM leaders are in hiding, evading police arrest, while some like Binay Tamang and Anit Thapa have rebelled and formed a separate group while remaining within the party. The state government has also made Tamang and Thapa, the chairman and vice-chairman of the Board of Administrator (BoA) to run the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration(GTA), to ensure its grip on the state of affairs in the Hills.