Centre calls Delhi, talks on 'Gorkhaland issues'

Morcha invited; other Hill parties left out; they question meeting to be held on 7 Oct

Forwarded by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (Bimal Gurung camp) leader, Roshan Giri, in his party's social media group, a letter issued by the Union Home Ministry states that the meeting will be held under the Chairmanship of G Kishan Reddy, the Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs, in New Delhi.

SNS, DARJEELING/SILIGURI 4 OCTOBER 2020: The Union Home Affairs Ministry has called a meeting to discuss "issues related to Gorkhaland" in Delhi on 7 October.

Forwarded by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (Bimal Gurung camp) leader, Roshan Giri, in his party's social media group, a letter issued by the ministry says that the meeting will be held at 11:00 AM under the Chairmanship of G Kishan Reddy, the Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The letter has been marked to the Home Secretary, Government of West Bengal, Darjeeling District Magistrate, Principal Secretary of the Gorkhaland Tetritorial Administration (GTA) and "President, Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha."

However, political parties in the Hills raised questions on the meeting. Some parties wondered why other stakeholders were not United to the same.

"We are surprised and shocked to see that no other political party has been called to the meeting, as Darjeeling MP Raju Bista, along with the Morcha (Gurung camp) had earlier said that an all-party meeting would be called for it," Gorkha National Liberation Front leaderAjoy Edwards said.

With the address of the Morcha being given as "Singamari," the letter, observers said, is most likely referring to the Gurung faction with their office there in the past. The Binoy Tamang faction of the Morcha does not have a party office there.

"Only the Gurung faction of the Morcha attending the meeting could mean they are trying to hoodwink the people, which they cannot do the people now smart. As they are called, let them attend the meeting and we will see what transpires.However, the people, along with the GNLF, will not accept anything except a permanent political solution, with our stand being that it has to be above the Sixth Schedule," Mr Edwards added.

On the other hand, a leader of the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist (CPRM), Gobind Chettri, said, "Our demand was for a tripartite meeting with all stakeholders, but it did not happen, so they could be trying to fool the people with this meeting. Anyways, we will see what happens, but we are not hoping any fruitful result from this meeting."

Incidentally, the Centre had earlier called for a 'GTA review meeting' on 7 August in Delhi,but it had to postpone it after criticism from different fronts here.

Darjeeling MP and BJP leader, Raju Bista, on the other hand said that his party was committed to work towards finding a 'Permanent Political Solution' to issues of Darjeeling Hills,Terai and Dooars region.

"In this regard, the Union Home Ministry has called for tripartite talks between West Bengal Government, Gorkha representatives and Union Government on 7 October," he said.

"I am hopeful that the Government and Gorkha representatives will participate the talks with an open mind and together with the Union Government they can pave a way for the 'Permanent Political Solution' in the region ensuring long term peace, progress and prosperity for the place and its people," he said.

A source, meanwhile, said that central committee members of the Gurung faction the Morcha will hold discusions on the home ministry letter tomorrow and take a call after that.

According to a political observer, this fresh call of talks in Delhi is the BJP's reply to Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's "efforts to woo" the people as she has recently allotted Rs 175 crore to the GTA for various Hill development work. "The BJP in doing this could now finally start doing something about the long-pending demands the Hill people," the observer said.