Ghisingh TNN Apr 10, 2011, 12.56am IST MIRIK: What Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) chief Subash Ghisingh said at a public meeting in Mirik on Saturday, his first since his return to Darjeeling after a gap of three years, will create a flutter in the Hills. I never asked for Gorkhaland. I only used the separate state issue as a weapon to acquire citizenship for the Gorkhas of the country, said the veteran leader. Delhi and Bengal failed to understand that I was using the Gorkhaland state issue as a brahmastar (weapon) to achieve citizenship and identity for the Gorkhas of India. Instead, they misinterpreted it as a demand for division of Bengal, he explained to a modest gathering which braved the heat and humidity for more then two hours. Ghisingh asserted that his true mission of Indian citizenship for Gorkhas was achieved when the DGHC was formed. We should not use the Gorkhaland state issue as a tool to bargain for petty things. We have achieved what we wanted, he pointed out. To bear testimony to the GNLF leaders remark, Ghisingh had dropped the demand for a separate state when the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council accord was inked in 1988. In the overall interest of the nation and on the Prime Ministers personal request, the GNLF hereby agrees to drop the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland, said the very first paragraph of the accord. Significantly, Ghisingh criticized the Centre for not passing the Sixth Schedule Bill but had a word of sympathy for the state government. The central government did not pass the Sixth Schedule Bill in 2008 because their intentions were full of malice towards the Hills people. The Government must now honour the 2005 agreement, but even if they dont I will not let it go, he warned. He added: We have asked for nearly everything that Bengal could give. Now we cannot blame them anymore. On December 6, 2005, an agreement to include Darjeeling Hills under the provision of the Sixth Schedule was signed by the Centre, state and the GNLF, but which was rejected by a parliamentary standing committee in 2008. Espousing the Sixth Schedule issue, Ghisingh, said: We got the present council as a bonus which I tried to work with at the best. But the new Gorkha Hill Council (GHC) under Sixth Schedule will have constitutional guarantee and legislative powers. The GNLF president asserted that the GHC would provide protection to the customs and culture of the Hills tribes which was the last thing to be achieved. The English conferred us with the Hills Tribe status and united us. But after Independence, the communities were fragmented into various subcastes and that needs to change, he said
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 09:54:15 +0000
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