Gurung floats ‘something’ other than state - Morcha leader scales down expectations of Gorkhaland, confused ranks seek clarity Gurung helps children collect donations for the agitation after a rally by students in Darjeeling on Tuesday. Picture by Suman Tamang Darjeeling, Aug. 27: Gorkha leader Bimal Gurung has said he will not ask for Gorkhaland but “something else” if the Centre does not intervene soon, fuelling suggestions that he is venting frustration at Delhi’s perceived nonchalance as well as using the chance to float a trial balloon. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader’s enigmatic statement at a time the Mamata Banerjee government has refused to appease him has left his party colleagues wondering what he meant, especially since he had said minutes earlier that Gorkhaland was his aim. Asked today why Delhi was not responding to the hill agitation, Gurung said: “Dekhiye, Centre ko intervene karna hoga. Yeh state ka matter nahi hai. Yeh (Darjeeling) Bengal ka kabhi bhi nahin tha (See, the Centre has to intervene. This is not a state matter. Darjeeling was never Bengal’s).” Then Gurung added: “Abhi hum chahta hai, ab Gorkhaland nahi mangengey. Abhi Gorkhaland nahi mangengey. Aur kuch mangengey, samay ayega…. Ab Gorkhaland nahi hoga (Now we are thinking we will not demand Gorkhaland. We will ask for something else and the time will come for it. Gorkhaland will not happen for now).” But moments before he had asserted: “Mera maksad Gorkhaland hai (My aim is Gorkhaland).” Asked what he meant by saying he would not demand Gorkhaland, Gurung said: “I will not repeat what I have said.” Later in the evening, a source close to Gurung said: “Gurung is aware of the controversy his statement has created. His statement could be interpreted as meaning that he is willing to accept any arrangement that is outside of Bengal’s control.” A Morcha leader said it was possible Gurung was toying with the idea of scaling down his statehood demand to one of Union territory. “We feel that maybe he realises that it may not be possible for the Centre to grant statehood for Darjeeling now and that a demand for Union territory status would be a more acceptable one,” a Morcha leader said. But he clarified that “in all probability” such a scaling down would not happen immediately. “The matter would first have to be discussed at different party fora before the final decision can be taken. Delhi’s views will also have to be sought,” the leader said. However, many Morcha leaders feel that Gurung was “infuriated” that Delhi had not reacted in any way to the month-long statehood agitation and attributed today’s statement to his “frustration and anger”. “We think that he was giving vent to his frustration,” a Morcha leader said. “Maybe the fact that Delhi has not responded to the agitation has prompted him to explore other options like Union territory status.” Many in the Morcha admitted that they were disappointed at the lack of response from Delhi. “In the past, our demands had been viewed very sympathetically by the Centre,” a Morcha leader said. “This is what led to the creation of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.” In Calcutta, north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb, too, said the Centre was not “fulfilling its responsibility”. “The tripartite agreement was among the state, the Centre and the agitators. The Centre certainly has a responsibility. One could say that it is not fulfilling its responsibility,” Deb said on his way out of Writers’ Buildings this evening after a meeting with the chief minister on the hills. Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri left for Delhi today. “I have come to Delhi on party work and not to meet any government officials or ministers,” Giri said. Sources in Delhi said the Centre and the Bengal government were on the same page on Darjeeling. “The Morcha was told in no uncertain terms during an earlier meeting with the minister of state for home that it should first run the GTA,” a source in the Union government said today. The Centre’s stand was articulated in the Lok Sabha today when the minister of state for home, R.P.N. Singh, said in reply to a question that there was no intention of declaring any other new state except Telangana. “No, there are no such proposals under consideration of the Government of India at the moment,” Singh said in a written reply to a question whether the government proposes to create states such as Bodoland, Gorkhaland, Vidarbha, Bundelkhand and others on the lines of Telangana. The Centre also virtually ruled out a Second State Reorganisation Commission. Some Morcha leaders said they expected Gurung to shed light on his statement at a party meeting that has been convened tomorrow. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY NISHIT DHOLABHAI IN NEW DELHI VIVEK CHHETRI
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 05:36:31 +0000
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