
Gurung 'ready' for talks ....Surfacing in Delhi, Morcha chief signals willingness to engage with Bengal govt
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The photograph of Bimal Gurung (extreme left) released by Morcha leader Roshan Giri |
J. P. YADAV and VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, Jan 11, 2018, New Delhi/Darjeeling: Bimal Gurung surfaced in Delhi on Thursday and said he was willing to hold talks with chief minister Mamata Banerjee, the declaration assuming significance as it means that the absconding Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader has substantially scaled down his demand for a separate state.
Gurung met a group of reporters at an undisclosed location in the capital and issued a statement stressing his fight was for the identity of the Gorkhas.
"I am ready for dialogue. Dialogue is the way ahead," Gurung said in a statement. In the statement, issued in Hindi, Gurung added: "Our agitation is for identity of the Gorkhas. The people of Bengal are our brothers and sisters. The statement refrained from any direct demand for a separate state.
The shift in Gurung's stand has left a section of political observers and even some of his party leaders startled because Gurung had earlier come in the way of bipartite talks initiated by the state. "It was because of his strict stance against the state that the party split into two lobbies and Binay Tamang gained prominence. He had even expelled Tamang and Anit Thapa from the party for attending such talks," said a Morcha leader.
Observers in the hills said that Gurung's stand could be the result of his realisation that he cannot simply avoid the state. "Under the Supreme Court's directive, he cannot be arrested. But even to hold a public meeting in the hills, he needs permission from the state. Also, he cannot make much progress with his statehood demand by dodging the state and banking only on the Centre," said an observer.
Gurung's statement said that "whatever" they were demanding was within the Constitution. " Hum jo bhi maang rahe hai, wo bharatiya sambidhan ke tahat maang rahe hai aur Bharat ke andar hi maang rahe hai. Hum bharat ke ang hai (Whatever we are demanding, we are demanding under the ambit of the Indian constitution and inside the country. We are part of India)," reads the statement signed by Gurung on the party's letterhead. He, however, said the language and culture of Gorkhas are distinct from rest of Bengal.
In the statement - released by Morcha leader Roshan Giri along with a purported photo of the interaction with the journalists - Gurung rejected the state's charge that he is a separatist and claimed the police had implicated him and his supporters in false cases.
Some felt Gurung seemed to be enjoying the BJP's support. "The content of the release, the way his photo was clicked in Delhi and released, and most importantly, issuing a press release in Hindi, are indications that he has the support of the BJP. All these appear a planned strategy to help Gurung resurface and try and gain control over the hills," an analyst said.
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