`GTA talks' postponed; leaders fight for credit

REZA PRADHAN, SNS, DARJEELING, 1 AUGUST 2020: A review meeting for the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) called by the Centre for 7 August in Delhi has been postponed, following criticism on the same from various quarters.

A letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs that came today said that the " Meeting to review the issues related to GTA" stands postponed. It, however, does not elaborate.

While Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha leader BinoyTamang claimed that the Centre backtracked on the talks proposal after he decided not to attend such a meeting yesterday and after he demanded talks for Gorkhaland, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista said such a claim by Mr Tamang was "funny."

Maintaining that it was the real face of the BJP, Mr Tamang said in his Facebook page today, "As soon as our party said the meeting should be on Gorkhaland, they postponed the (GTA) meeting.We demand that the agenda of the meeting be changed and the meeting not postponed."

Adding to this, Morcha (BinoyTamang camp) leader Keshav Raj Pokhrel said, "The main agenda should be the issue of Gorkhaland and we want that all political and apolitical parties from the hills and other places in India is related to this issue be called in the meeting."

Likewise, the other camp of the Morcha also tried to take credit for the postponement of the meeting.

"A three-member delegation of our party met BJP leader Bhupendra Yadav yesterday regarding the letter issued by the Home Ministry on 27 July. The letter had created uncertainty in Darjeeling, Dooars and theTerai areas, and our delegation made it clear to the minister that we were against the letter," Morcha (Bimal Gumng camp) leader Roshan Giri said in a release.

"The leader took up the issue with the Home ministry then and there. It was the initiative of our party that made the Home ministry cancel the meeting," he added.

On the other hand, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista said that a few unelected individuals are spreading lies as if the meeting was postponed on their request. "Their statement is absurd as they do not have any legitimacy to represent the people. In a democracy, unelected individuals do not matter, especially those who have lost from their own booths," he said.

Mr Bista, without naming anyone, was referring to Morcha leader Binoy Tamang.

"I once again reassure my constituents that our party is committed to fulfilling the two main Sankalp Patra promises--finding a Permanent Political Solution to the long-pending demands of the people from Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars, including the 11 left-out Gorkha community as Schedule Tribes," said Mr Bista adding.

On the other hand, Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh, an apolitical body, said in a virtual press conference that they have been against the GTA as it was an obstacle to the formation of a separate state. "Most stakeholders in their reaction to the letter showed that they were against the GTA. No one willing to go to the meeting is also a good sign. The GTA will not fulfill the aspirations of the people," said BGP working president Munish Tamang. He maintained that the permanent political solution could only be Gorkhaland and that a separate state can be granted if the Centre had the willpower.

(Courtesy & source- The Statesman- https://epaper.thestatesman.com/2771205/Siliguri-The-Statesman/2ND-AUGUST-2020#page/2/2)