GJMM move draws mixed reaction

MANAS R BANNERJEE, SNS, SILIGURI, 27 JANUARY 2023: At a time when the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM), one of the signatories of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), has withdrawn all support from the MoA by sending a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah today, many have expressed many minds on the move.

According to MP's Darjeeling MP Raju Bista, he was not surprised that the GJMM has pulled out of the GTA agreement. On the other hand, former registrar of North Bengal University (NBU) Tapas Chatterjee said that being a signatory to an official MoA involving the Government of India and subsequently withdrawing all commitments is not only a "juvenile disorder by a band of frustrated agitators but it rather seems preposterous."

"It is not like doing and undoing a draft of personal choice. If the GJMM has a reappraisal of its political perspective or plan and programmes, the only way out, perhaps, is to reformulate itself in the public domain with precise objectives having the people at the centre. Otherwise, the present actions of Bimal Gurung and Roshan Girt create grave concerns because we know how this model of DGHC (Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council) and later GTA have ultimately become tools to grab and loot public money released by the Government," Mr Chatterjee said.

Similarly, Mr Bista talked about the reasons behind the GJMM's decision to withdraw from the GTA agreement.

"It is perhaps because of the West Bengal Government that has refused to participate in the GTA review meetings that had been called by the Central Government, as they must have anticipated that even the Centre would pull out of the GTA Agreement, since it had failed to address the aspirations of the people from our region," he said.

In the letter to the Union Home Minister, GJMM General Secretary Roshan Giri also mentions that taking into consideration the aspirations of Darjeeling-Kalimpong Hills, Siliguri, Terai and Dooars region, the decision was taken to withdraw all support from the MoA.

Mr Bista said, "The Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed between the Union Government, WB Government and Gorkha representatives in 2011 was done in good faith, with the WB Government assuring autonomy for the Darjeeling Hills, Terai and Dooars region. However, the TMC-led Government reneged on their side of the agreement and has refused to uphold the agreement in letter and spirit."

"The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration which was an outcome of this MoA was designed to fail from day one, as the GTA Act does not reflect the assurances given in the 2011 MoA. Immediately since its establishment, GTA has had to file over 50 cases against the WB Government refusing to hand over the administrative and functional powers of various departments that were handed over to the GTA. These cases are still pending with the

Hon'ble Calcutta High Court,"

Mr Bista said, adding, "Fact of the matter is that, West Bengal only implemented those selective portions of the agreement that were beneficial to them, instead of the citizens living in the GTA region. For instance, the WB Government has till date refused to implement the three- tier panchayat polls in the districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, while this is one of the central tenants of the 2011 MoA."

"Despite the formation of the GTA, the TMC Government has continued to run a parallel administration via the office of the DM, SR SDO and BDOs which greatly undermines the authority of the GTA to govern over the areas demarcated to be governed under it. We have seen how the TMC Government took over GTA after the 2017 agitation and ran GTA without elections for over five years. They are now running GTA via remote control," the Darjeeling MP claimed.