Anit Thapa announces jobs for family members of martyrs of statehood agitation Chief

EOI CORRESPONDENTDARJEELING, JULY 26, 2022: On the eve of the Martyrs' Day, the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha announced on Tuesday jobs for family members of those killed during the statehood agitations in the hills from 2007 to 2017.

The BGPM won the recent Gorkhaland Territorial Administration election in June and formed the council board after a gap of a decade. BGPM president and now the GTA chief executive, Anit Thapa had already announced jobs for family members of the Gorkhaland martyrs in the council body, a few days ago.

On Wednesday, the BGPM will observe Martyrs' Day across the hills to remember and pay homage to the people killed in the different phases of the statehood agitations from1986 to 2017.Chief coordinator of the organizing committee Passang Agarwal on Tuesday said, "The GTA will provide jobs to one family member of the shaheeds (martyrs).

An official announcement will be made by the GTA chief executive and appointments will also be given during the Shaheed Diwas programme." Agarwal said jobs will be provided to the family members of the martyrs according to their qualifications and criteria.

The Martyrs' Day was first observed and organized by the Subash Ghisingh- led Gorkha National Liberation Front, to mark the killing of more than 1,200 people during the Gorkhaland agitation of1986. During the separate state agitation spearheaded by Bimal Gurung's Gorkha Janmukti Morcha from 2007 to 2017, a total of 17 people died. They are also considered as martyr. "We have invited the family members of the people who died during the agitation from 1986 to 2017.Our party will observe the Shaheed Diwas constituency wise, instead of a centralized program," said Agarwal. On July 21, the GTA chief executive and BGPM president attended the martyrs' day event of Trinamool Congress in Kolkata. Other political parties of the hills, including the GNLF and the GJM will also be organizing Martyrs' Day programme