Congress and Central Government hatched 2-pronged conspiracy against Mamata
Asim Kumar Mitra
The Central Government at Delhi is totally responsible for the latest movement of Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) for creating a separate Gorkha State. After dilly-dallying for so long a period when the Central Government has agreed to create a separate State bifurcating the Andhra State, called Telengana, GJM with new zeal and vigour jumped into the political arena to achieve the goal. Bimal Gurung, leader of GJM, has said in an interview given to the Times of India, “If the government can create a 29th State, why not a 30th?” This mentality of the GJM and its leader has sparked off the latest spate of virulent Gorkha movement.
In fact the demand for a separate Gorkhaland State is 107 years old –according to the Morcha leaders. During the British regime this kind of so many demands used to come. But fact remained that the fate of those demands, used to find their place in waste-paper basket. What is the legitimacy of this demand? Firstly, Gorkhas are not the sons of the soil of Darjeeling. Secondly, can there any full fledged State with only three sub-division? Thirdly, separate Telengana State has got 119 Assembly seats and 17 Parliamentary seats whereas proposed Gorkhaland State has got only one Parliamentary seat and three Assembly seats. Can it make a State?
Even the yearly revenue of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration is only one third of the total expenditure. The government of West Bengal gives them the remaining two third fund to run the show apart from all other expenses on developmental projects. Government of India or for that matter the Congress Party knew this fact very well. Still they hatched a conspiracy against Mamata-government. Is it just to disturb her or there is a long term hidden plan? Nobody, except the henchmen at New Delhi know it in detail as they know it very well that they had created Telangana State with a view to capture at least 12 parliamentary seats out of 17 seats. Second part of their conspiracy was to instigate GJM to start a new movement so that Mamata could feel their pressure and come to for some reason or other. Apparently it is felt—they are successful in initial stage.
Gorkhas are again on the war path as frustration has already started tightening its grip on the psychology of GJM (Gorkha Janamukti Morcha). The testimony of this fact has been the latest incidents of loot, arson and destruction of government and private properties by a group of so-called ‘unknown’ people. To give it an extraordinary turn even one person named — Mangal Singh Rajput has adopted the path of self-immolation.. Many people assembled there in Kalimpong had tried to stop him, but they failed. Ultimately Mangal Singh Rajput was succumbed to his burn injuries.
These incidents started taking place since August 1. On August 5, thirteen members of the Gorkhaland Personnel (GLP), a youth wing of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) said to be regrouping here, were arrested for arson attacks on State Government properties. Groups of masked people had torched several State Government properties on the night of August 1, among them a State forest guest house in Takdah, about 35 kilometres from Darjeeling, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had stayed last year.
Taking the Gorkhaland stir to the next level may revolve round the controversial Gorkha Land Personnel (GLP) which the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) had raised in 2009-10, disbanded it after the signing of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in 2011 and which Bimal Gurung is seeking to revive. A nervous State government is equally determined to crush the GLP.
The GLP — around 5,000 personnel — was raised by the GJM during the agitation in 2009-10, a substitute for the State police. Local youths were trained by ex-army men to takeover law and order maintenance in the Hills. Although they have claimed that their movement for achieving Gorkhaland will be operated on democratic and peaceful line but at the same time, Bimal Gurung, chief of Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, has refused to talk with Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal and he has put his total faith in the Central Government and national and regional parties. He hoped that he would be successful in generating support from other parties. But almost all parties have declined to support the proposal for making a separate Gorkhaland. This way or that way they all have avoided committing anything in definite terms.
In the case of BJP, nothing different has happened. The GJM delegation in Delhi met BJP leaders including party president Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj. “Both have agreed to place the Gorkhaland case in front of the BJP Parliamentary committee,” said GJM general secretary Roshan Giri. But no specific commitment was made by the BJP leadership on creation of Gorkhaland. This is significant.
