Centre calls for tripartite talks on Gorkhaland
Darjeeling: The Union Home Ministry has called for a tripartite meeting on October 7 "to discuss the issues related to Gorkhaland. The meeting will be chaired by G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
This is for the first time that the BJP Government has spelled out the words "Gorkhaland." The Trinamool Congress was dubbed this political development as a conspiracy by the BJP to divide Bengal.
A copy of the meeting notice was circulated in the social media group of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (Bimal Gurung faction) on Sunday afternoon from the cell phone number belonging to GJM General Secretary Roshan Giri.
The meeting notice bears F.No. 12013/01/2011-SR of the Ministry of Home Affairs, CS Division. The date bears the month and the year but no day ( October, 2020.) The letter is signed by Renu Sarin, Director (CS-II) and bears the handwritten date 2020/10/03 after the signature.
The subject of the meeting states "Meeting to discuss issues related to Gorkhaland-reg." It further states that the meeting will be held on Wednesday 7th October, 2020 at 11 am in Room No. 119, North Block, New Delhi "to discuss the issues related to Gorkhaland."
The Home Secretary, Government of West Bengal; District Magistrate, Darjeeling; Principal Secretary, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration and President, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha , Singamari, Darjeeling have been invited for the talks.
Interestingly the letter does not mention which faction of the GJM, Bimal or Binoy, has been invited for talks thereby triggering confusion.
In an interim order to a writ petition on the issue of which is the actual GJM party, the Calcutta High Court Circuit Bench during parliamentary elections in 2019 had given a nod to both, provided the faction is mentioned clearly along with the nomenclature "Gorkha Janmukti Morcha."
Bimal Gurung is absconding since 2017 charged in multiple criminal cases. Binoy Tamang is in mourning, his father having passed away on Sunday morning. The funeral will take place on Monday. Hence it is difficult to gauge as to who will attend the Delhi talks as the invitee list clearly mentions President, GJM.
The GJM leaders both Binoy faction and Bimal faction could not be contacted for comments. There was no response from the GTA regarding this issue.
"It is such a grave matter and they have not held any consultation with the State Government. They have unilaterally called a tripartite talk and invited some state government officers. Just before election this is attempt by the BJP to play with the emotions of the Hill people and to create unrest in the Hills. They want to create rifts between hill and the plains. We will oppose any attempts to divide the state tooth and nail" stated Gautam Deb, TMC leader and West Bengal Tourism Minister.
"Our party is committed to work towards finding a Permanent Political Solution to the issues of Darjeeling Hills, Terai and Dooars region. I am hopeful that the West Bengal Government and Gorkha representatives will participate in the talks called by the Union Home Ministry with an open mind so that it can pave way for the permanent political solution in the region" stated BJP MP Raju Bista.
"This would in turn allow the Union Government and the BJP to make the West Bengal Government a scapegoat for the failure of the tripartite talks. They could then find it easy to label the West Bengal Government as the cause for the failure of the emergence of a permanent political solution, thereby anti-Gorkha" predicted political pundits.
The BJP desperately looking to come to power in West Bengal will not take the risk of losing the Assembly seats in the plains for three seats in the Hills by towing the Gorkhaland demand. Till date they have been steering clear of the word "Gorkhaland," substituting it with implied phrases that have helped them win Hill seats. Even West Bengal BJP leaders have time and again washed their hands off the demand.
Political pundits opine that it is unlikely that representatives of the Government of West Bengal will attend talks with the subject of the talks being "Gorkhaland."
