Interim-setup is dropped-GJMM..Statehood cry with gesture to Adivasis

KalimNews: The only demand of GJMM will now be Gorkhaland and the matter of Interim-setup is dropped , Bimal Gurung amidst a crowd of GJMM supporters in North Point Ground at Darjeeling announced. (Photo-Darjeeling Times)

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, May 30: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to discuss nothing less than the demand for a separate state with the Bengal government and the Centre, putting an end to talks on an “interim set-up”.

Morcha leader Bimal Gurung said today at a large gathering at the St Joseph’s School (North Point) grounds: “The interim set-up is now a closed chapter.” The Morcha has rechristened Gorkhaland as Gorkha-Adivasi Pradesh to make the demand palatable to the Adivasis living in the Dooars and the Terai.

Gurung announced that the plan for a 10-day shutdown from June 12 had been dropped and the strike in government offices would be withdrawn from June 2.

Today’s rally had been touted as a “show of strength” following the act of defiance by residents of Darjeeling during the funeral of the slain Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League leader, Madan Tamang, on May 24. People had then shouted anti-Morcha slogans, blaming Gurung for the killing, and tore down the party’s posters and flags. A defiant Gurung returned to Darjeeling leading a cavalcade of a hundred cars the very next day and announced today’s rally.

Tamang was hacked to death at the Clubside motor stand in the heart of the town on the morning of May 21.

Gurung today expressed his displeasure over the state and the Centre’s refusal to include areas in the Dooars and the Terai in the proposed set-up that was under discussion. “They are talking about granting only 22-23 mouzas from the Dooars. We were not asking for Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s and (urban development minister) Asok Bhattacharya’s personal land. We are asking for areas where our people are in the majority but now the issue of interim set-up is over,” said Gurung.

He said that since there was opposition from the Adivasi community to the nomenclature of Gorkhaland, “We will name the state Gorkha-Adivasi Pradesh. Both the communities have been deprived and we will fight together to create a state.”

The term Gorkhaland had been coined by Subash Ghisingh, who had led a bloody 28-month agitation from April 1986. Other names conceived by protagonists of a separate state in the past were North-East Frontier State, Uttarkhand Pradesh and Gorkha Pranta but none gained the currency of Gorkhaland.

Gurung urged the leaders of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad to sit for a meeting. “They must also hold a meeting with us now since we have changed the name of our proposed state to accommodate them. After meeting the Parishad leaders we will hold three meetings.”

The party has decided to suspend its agitation, which included the closure of government offices from June 2 and a 10-day general strike from June 12, till a party meeting on June 14. “We will look at the response from the state and Centre on the statehood demand and will announce our programme on June 14,” Gurung said.

The Morcha’s announcement, rejecting the interim set-up and changing the nomenclature of the state it is demanding, is being seen as a strategy to silence the voices that have opposed it. Since all Darjeeling-based political parties are also demanding a separate state, the Morcha had come under criticism only after it started talking about a “secret proposal” it had sent to the Centre last January.

“It must be understood that the interim set-up was offered to us by the Centre. However, since we did not agree to what they sent us, we had merely sent our own proposal for the set up to Delhi,” said Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the party.

The Morcha leadership had revealed the “secret proposal” on March 15 in the form of the interim set-up that would last till December 31, 2011. The talks, however, fell through with the state and the Centre not accepting the territory being demanded by the Morcha.

The change in nomenclature is also a clear indicator that the Morcha is aware that it needs the support of the dominant tribal community in the Terai and the Dooars even if it wants only those areas in the region where Nepali-speaking people are in the majority.

Jaswant Singh, the Darjeeling MP, said at the meeting that he would always work for the creation of a separate state. “One must however be patient and must always maintain peace.”

Photos Rabin Rai, Source: Darjeeling Times

SNS, DARJEELING, 30 MAY: In a significant change of tack, GJMM president, Mr Bimal Gurung proposed a change in the nomenclature of the proposed Gorkhaland state, in an obvious bid to placate the estranged Adivasis inhabiting the Dooars and Terai regrions. “From today the proposed state would be known as Gorkha Adivasi Pradesh,” he said while addressing a massive  GJMM show of strength in Darjeeling today.
Mr Gurung also said the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha would no longer press for an interim set-up which the Bengal government and the Centre were insisting upon.
Testifying to the barely-diminished support for the hill-based party despite the shadow of dissent in the wake of All India Gorkha League chief Madan Tamang's assassination, the GJMM mobilized a mammoth gathering at North Point School ground in Darjeeling today.
GJMM supporters in their thousands from several parts of the Darjeeling Hills, Terai and Dooars congregated at the meeting venue shouting pro-Gorkhaland slogans. The speakers castigated the Bengal government for hatching a ‘conspiracy’ to derail the statehood movement in the hills. Addressing the gathering, Darjeeling MP Mr Jaswant Singh said the hill people should not lose patience and maintain law and order while carrying on the movement. “We would get to the goal faster if we keep patience in the emotion-charged atmosphere,” he said. Mr Singh demanded a CBI probe into the Tamang murder.
Asking the Adivasi leadership to join hands with them, Mr Gurung said that they would invite the ABAVP to participate in a joint movement for the proposed state. He also told the rally that the GJMM's proposed 10-day Darjeeling bandh from 12 June had been withdrawn.  

GJM's no to interim set-up, demnads separate state 

PTI,  Darjeeling (WB): In a U-turn, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha on Sunday said it was withdrawing its proposal for an interim set-up, scheduled to be taken up at the next tripartite meeting, and wanted a separate state.
GJM chief Bimal Gurung told a rally at a school campus, five km from here, that they would henceforward carry on movement for a separate state which would be known as the 'Gorkha-Adivasi Parishad' and not Gorkhaland.

In an obvious attempt to enlist support of the estranged adivasis who are opposed to the creation of a separate state encompassing Dooars and Terai where they are a majority, Gurung said they would no longer press for an interim set-up which the West Bengal government and the Centre were insisting upon.
GJM-supported Darjeeling MP Jaswant Singh said that the hill people's long-standing dream of a separate state was nearing fulfilment.

"Ever since I became an MP from the region, I have taken the hill people's dream to Parliament," Singh said.
He, however, appealed to the people to keep their movement peaceful.
Gurung also told the rally that the GJM's proposed 10-day Darjeeling bandh from June 12 had been withdrawn.
GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said his organisation had no hand, direct or indirect, in the murder of All India Gorkha League chief Madan Tamang and demanded a CBI inquiry to find out.
Darjeeling Times, Darjeeling, May 30: Darjeeling town witnessed the massive inundation of people today, right from the morning people started flooding in Darjeeling town, which clearly indicated that GJM used its ultimate influence to clean its recent damaged image following the killings of Madan Tamang.  Section of its supporters could not reach at the GJM program venue due to severe traffic jam, some were marched all the way from Ghoom to Singamari.

There were well arrangements of water, medical facilities, foods for the visiting supporters from the distant places. Gymkhana hall has been well utilized as the eating place for the visiting supporters and shelter for volunteers. However, Darjeeling observed bandh today apart from restaurants and local eating places. People were seen enjoying their meals at the streets and public places.
“Jai Gorkha, Jai Gorkhaland”, was the opening speech of Jaswant Singh. Friend in need is friend indeed - Jaswant truly implied the ally of GJMM by visiting Darjeeling, setting aside conciliation on his way back to BJP fold.
Bimal Gurung clearly stated that there will be no Tripartite Talk for the Interim-Setup. He however, calls for a separation from Bengal as ‘Gorkha Adhibashi Pradesh’. Extensive discussion with the Tribal representatives of Dooars will be held on the first week of June, said Bimal Gurung at the North Point ground today.
The GJMM has suspended its 10 days strike scheduled to be held on June 12 to 21 .

Photos-Darjeeling Times (www.darjeelingtimes.com)

 

Photo by: Chendup Lepcha   

Parliamentary team to visit Finger Tip area today

Prabin Khaling, GANGTOK, May 30: A four member Rajya Sabha team led by former Uttarakhand chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari today landed at Chungthang in North Sikkim for a three day trip of Sikkim.  

BJP national spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Nirmal Singh and Tetir Gau are the other members of this Rajya Sabha team which landed at Chungthang helipad on a chopper from Bagdogra at around 4 pm.

The Parliamentary team then left for Lachen, informed State BJP president Padam Chettri who was present at Chungthang to welcome the MPs.

The Parliamentary team would be visiting the Finger tip area along the Indo-China border tomorrow which had been reported last year as an area where Chinese intrusions took place. They would be focusing on understanding the ground realities in this controversial border area during their daylong visit.

The MP delegation will be leaving Sikkim on June 1, it is informed.

Chettri expressed his happiness over the interest shown by Centre to the issues of Sikkim. It is good for the State, he said.