Centre sends out invitations for 12-Oct Hill talks- Historic step, says Bista

REZA PRADHAN, SNS, DARJEELING,. 5 OCTOBER 21 : The Home Ministry has called for a meeting on 12 October to discuss issues related to the Gorkhas.

As BJP alliance parties like the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) in the Hills welcomed a letter sent by the home ministry to Darjeeling MP Raju Bista in this regard, other political panics here raised doubts on the "sincerity" of the letter. The GNLF claimed that the Centre had sent such invitations to other stakeholders as well.

Addressing the press here, GNLF leader Y Lama said, "Our president has been in constant touch with Delhi and he got a message that a tripartite meeting has been called there by the Home Ministry to discuss a solution to the problems of the Gorkhas."

The letter to Mr Bista in Hindi states that the meeting will be held to discuss a solution to the problems of Gorkhas, where the Home minister will also be present. The letter does not mention anything else.

Maintaining that the letter had been sent to other stakeholders also and not only to the Darjeeling MP he said, "Representatives of the Dooars have also been called in the meeting, and according to the information got by our party president, the state government has also been sent this letter."

Adding to that, Darjeeling MLA Neeraj Zimba, when contacted, said, "We are thankful to the home minister and also the relentless effort of our Darjeeling MP that a high level meeting has been called. All the alliance stakeholders have been sent this letter in email, along with public representatives like John Barla, who will be attending the meeting, along with Vishal Lama."

Asked about non-alliance parties of the BJP Mr Zimba said that he too was a stakeholder and did not have any information on that.

Non-alliance parties, however, raised doubts on the letter and the meeting to he held.

General secretary of the All India Gorkha League, SP Sharma, said, "The letter is not satisfactory as we have seen only a copy sent to their MP so how can it be called a tripartite meeting? However, we will wait and see what happens further and will comment after that."

Speaking on the some lines, TMC (Hills) spokesperson NB Khawas said, "The letter does not have an outline of an official letter. This is just an eyewash."

General secretary of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha Roshan Giri said, "We do not feel that it is an official letter. Also we do not think a solution can be expected from it as there is no involvement of the state government."

On the other hand, former GNLF leader Ajoy Edwards, in a Facebook post, said, "Along with people of the Darjeeling Hills, Dooars and Terai, I ant hopeful that our long pending demands are met in the widely reported upcoming talks with the honourable Home Minister. We the people have given our all to the BJP in the last 13 years, with nothing to show for till date. We pray that our local leadership will be successful in negotiations with the Centre on the promises made in their 2019 manifesto."

SILIGURI. 5 OCTOBER 21 : Meanwhile, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista thanked PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for "inviting all stakeholders from our region for the talks."

"Inviting the Gorkha representatives for the tripartite talks is a historic step taken by the central government. This indicates the faith of the people on Modi government," he said in a note.

"It is to the credit of the unity among our Alliance Partners, and the faith in the leadership of PM Modiji shown by the people, that for the first time in the history the Central government has called for talks to resolve the problems surrounding our region, without the need for bandhs, strikes and inconveniencing the general public. What is more important is that Hon'ble Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji will be chairing the meeting himself," he added.

According to him, the talks are important for the region, and expressed hope that they will not only help address the "historic injustices and discrimination faced by our region, but they will also help set a foundation for the new beginnings towards a peaceful, progressive and prosperous future." "As for my knowledge, West Bengal Government is also one of the stakeholders invited for the talks, therefore, I am most hopeful that Mamata ji will take proactive steps to ensure the success of the talks by sending in state government representatives,' Mr Bista added.