Amit Shah mentions Gorkhaland in letter to Darjeeling MP, TMC fumes

TNN, 13 august 2019, KOLKATA: A day after Union home minister Amit Shah’s letter to BJP’s  Darjeeling MP Raju Bista on Sunday in which the BJP president said the concerns over the people of “Gorkhaland and Ladakh area” are being looked at, the MP has appealed to Hills parties to work together for Union territory status.  

“We can achieve many things together. If J&K and Ladakh can achieve it, so can we. Backbiting won’t do us any good,” Bista said on Monday.  

It triggered an immediate response from the plains, with  Trinamool congress", " Congress seeing it as a “plot” to divide Bengal. 

“Why did he use the word Gorkhaland? There is no place called " Gorkhaland"  in the entire area. It seems after dividing Jammu and Kashmir, BJP is planning to bifurcate Bengal. But as long the TMC is here, nobody can break the state,” senior TMC minister Gautam Deb said.  

Shah’s response was in reply to Bista’s letter in July where he voiced concern over Gorkhas being left out of the purview of the special cell formed by Delhi Police to counter acts of racism, particularly against people from the Northeast.  

Bista also came down heavily on GJM’s Binoy Tamang faction that has been questioning BJP’s sincerity in addressing the genuine demands of the Gorkhas. 

“Why question our (BJP’s) sincerity. You (Tamang faction) are working with the money given by Mamata Banerjee. If you are sincere, dissolve Gorkhaland Territorial Administration and work with us for the community,” he said. 

The Darjeeling MP didn’t see anything wrong in the Union home minister’s mention of Gorkhaland. The word has been included in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration that stands integral to the tripartite agreement signed in 2011 in presence of then home minister P Chidambaram, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and GJM president Bimal Gurung,” Bista said. 

The BJP MP alleged that rumours were being spread by GJM’s (Tamang camp) and Trinamool to confuse the Hills people over Jammu and Kashmir. “I represent the Gorkha community in Delhi. How can I betray my own community? The Hills people have put their faith on BJP knowing that only our party will deliver.” 

Bista also allayed fears on BJP’s promise to chalk out a permanent political solution for the Hills region and said the process to achieve it would start very soon. “The process to find a solution will start soon. I can only say that it (solution) will be something that the Gorkha community aspires and wants,” he said. 

The MP also pointed to issues such as appointing administrator in the Darjeeling civic body, not holding panchayat election in the Hills, threat to rebel councillors who joined BJP in Delhi and hundreds of youths forced into the jungles after the statehood agitation in 2017.  BJP Bengal president Dilip Ghosh stopped short of raising the Union territory demand for the Hills. “Our party manifesto talks about finding a permanent solution for the Gorkha community. Our Darjeeling MP has taken up the plight of hundreds of Gorkha families who had to leave their homes and many who were put behind bars during the 2017 agitation,” Ghosh said.