2009 demand revived: Gorkha Samiti wants inclusion of 398 Terai and Dooars mouzas in GTA

The demand for inclusion of the 398 mouzas was based on the need for social security and justice to the Gorkha community residing in the plains of Terai and the Dooars.

EOI, DARJEELING, FEBRUARY 27, 2024 :  The Gorkha community living in the Terai and the Dooars of West Bengal have raised the demand for the inclusion of 398mouzas of the plains under the ambit of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. 

Under the banner of Gorkha Terai Dooars Sanyukta Samiti(GTDSS), a memorandum was submitted to the GTA and various political parties of the hills with their demand during the day. In a way, this is an old demand that has been raised again; though in a different form. 

The demand for including mouzas of the Terai and the Dooars region to the hills of Darjeeling was raised during the 2009 statehood agitation by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha led by Bimal Gurung. 

A fact finding committee had also been formed by the previous Left Front government in West Bengal to evaluate the demand and give recommendations. Following the evaluation and ground verification, the committee had recommended the inclusion of only five mouzas of the plains. 

The GTDSS said the demand for inclusion of the 398 mouzas was based on the need for social security and justice to the Gorkha community residing in the plains of Terai and the Dooars.

"After the establishment of the GTA, the Gorkhas of Terai and the Dooars were experiencing the lack of social justice and political security in a bigger way. “We in the plains are deprived of basic social, economical and educational amenities. The Gorkhas of Terai and the Dooars have always been in the forefront whenever the demand and movement for Gorkhaland had been raised. However, we have been neglected even though an arrangement is there for the hill region," GTDSS President Bishal Chhetri said. 

The GTDSS demanded the GTA Sabha placed and passed a resolution for the inclusion of the398 mouzas of the Terai and the Dooars in the hill council. "The GTA must take proactive measures to provide a political solution for the Gorkha community of the Terai and Dooars regions. We want the GTA Sabha to pass a resolution for the inclusion of the mouzas in the hill council body," said Chhetri. 

The GTDSS demanded that cases filed against the Gorkhas by the police during various phases of the statehood agitation be revoked. 

"There are several innocent people from the plains regions who continue to attend court hearings because of cases slapped by the police during the statehood movement over the years. These cases are political in nature and should be withdrawn now that things are normal," said Chhetri. 

The GTDSS said the GTA should provide government jobs to the families of people who had died during the Gorkhaland agitation. 

"The GTA must give government job to at least one family member of the Gorkhaland martyrs. The Gorkhas of the Terai and Dooars have also laid their lives for the statehood demand," said Chhetri. Chhetri said like in the hills, people in the Terai and the Dooars had to suffer loss of property during the agitation which now was the responsibility of the GTA to compensate. 

The GTDSS said it would embark on an agitation if their demands were not fulfilled. 

"We will agitate democratically if our demands go unheard. We will stage a demonstration in front of Lalkothi which is the GTA headquarter. We will not resort to violent and disruptive mode and inconvenience the people," said Chhetri.