Anit Thapa demands land documents for hill people, not boards to stop encroachments :First sign of fissure between GTA and Bengal government

EOI, DARJEELING, JULY 25, 2024: In the first instance of fissure between the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morch and the West Bengal Government, BGPM President Anit Thapa on Thursday warned the State Government that things could take a bad turn if the latter continued to provoke the hill people. 

This was the first time that Anit Thapa had spoken in a tough language against the State Government since the statehood agitation of 2017 when the BGPM and the ruling Trinamool Congress in Bengal reached a political understanding. 

The provocation was various social media platforms highlighting signboards put up at different places in the hills, proclaiming: “This land belongs to the West Bengal Government.” Thapa said the District Magistrates of Darjeeling and Kalimpong had not taken the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, a self-governing body, into confidence while taking the decision to put up the signboards. "We will not accept autocratic decisions and monopoly of the District Magistrates. The GTA has to be consulted because it has been empowered to govern the hills comprising the districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong as per the 2011 GTA Act and Agreement, signed by the Centre and the State Government," the BGPM president said. 

The BGPM runs the GTA and is also in alliance with the Trinamool.

"I request the DMs of Darjeeling and Kalimpong district to consult the GTA before taking any administrative and developmental decisions. The District Magistrates will have to take the responsibility if any untoward incident happens or trouble starts in the hills," Thapa warned, adding he would also write to the West Bengal Chief Minister on this issue. 

The signboards had been noticed in various places in the Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts and after it was shared on social media, they have now become viral.

"We will not accept instigation and provocation. We have pledged to work closely with the Bengal government. But if the state government does something wrong then we will oppose and raise our voice for the welfare of the hill people," Thapa said. Sources within the district administration said the signboards had been put up on vested land belonging to the State Government on the direction of the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, ostensibly to stop encroachment.

The GTA chairman though had a different perspective on the issue of encroachment. "Our people toiled for years, did agricultural activities and looked after the land. Instead of putting up signboards, the district officials should talk with the State Government to provide land right documents to our people. We will extend support in this," Thapa said. 

Thapa, however, urged the hill people to refrain from encroaching on public roads in the urban areas. 

"I will work to protect the land of our people. But I will not tolerate people encroaching public spaces and roads. I have asked the Darjeeling Municipality to evict people who have encroached public roads," the GTA chairman said.

Hamro Party president, Ajoy Edwards, who first flagged the issue, warned if this continued then people would become homeless in the future. 

"If the signboard had mentioned GTA instead of State Government, then we would have accepted it. But, this (the signboards) smacks of wrong intentions. If we don't speak up and oppose now then very soon we will not even be able to step inside our own homes," he said. BJP MP from Darjeeling Raju Bista alleged the West Bengal government was trying to undermine and interfere with the functioning of the hill council body which was against the GTA Act. "Land is a transferred subject. Therefore, the State Government should not intervene and interfere within the jurisdiction of the GTA. People have undergone two agitations for separate states demanding the right to their land. Even though we don't support the GTA, when it comes to land and people, we will stand in defense," Bista said. 

Without taking names, Bista also urged the BGPM to give a second thought to their alliance with the Trinamool Congress. "This is a strong reminder to those who think they can work hand in hand with the Trinamool Congress government. They will only use you as a tool against your own people. It is high time you wake up from the cozy agreement to the harsh realities of the State Government taking over the day-to-day functioning of our region," the BJP leader said. Interestingly, the statehood agitation of 2017 started following the decision of the West Bengal government to impose Bengali language in schools in the hills, leading to the record 104 days’ strike.