Tripartite Darjeeling pact to be signed on July 18

15 Jul 2011, 1632 hrs IST, AGENCIES

The much-awaited tripartite agreement on the vexed Darjeeling issue would be signed at Sukna, near the hill station, on July 18 in the presence of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said. Banerjee said at the state secretariat that she would be present during the signing of the agreement between the Centre, state government and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. The state's chief secretary and other officials would also be present representing the state. Sukna, which is within the Darjeeling jurisdiction, was chosen as the venue because of 'uncertain weather' condition in the hills, she told reporters.

Asked to comment on objections from several quarters over the use of the word 'Gorkhaland' in the name of the proposed hill authority (Gorkhaland Territorial Administration), Banerjee said, ''It hardly matters with change in a word. Some people are doing politics on the issue.''

Banerjee dismissed suggestion that the agreement would pave the way for ultimate separation of Darjeeling from West Bengal, saying, ''Darjeeling would rather be more strongly integrated with the state.''

In a veiled reference to the erstwhile Left Front government, the chief minister said, ''Failure on some people's part to restore peace in the hills does not mean that others cannot achieve it.''

She said several 'unauthorised organisations' and 'vested interest groups' were spreading falsehood to disrupt the peace process in Darjeeling.

''They are against signing of the pact, development in the Darjeeling hills and solution of the crisis.''

Banerjee expressed hope that the signing of the agreement would usher in peace in the hills and plains. ''Let the people of the hills and the plains, Dooars and Terai, live in peace.''

Visibly in a very happy mood, Banerjee said, ''I want Kanchenjunga to shine even during cloud-filled rainy season.''

The chief minister said that the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Surjya Kanta Mishra would also be invited, besides members of the North Bengal Development Council (NBDC) and ministers and MLAs from North Bengal.

Normal life was partially affected in Siliguri, Terai and Dooars after nine anti-Gorkha organisations called a 24-hour North Bengal bandh in protest against the scheduled signing of the hill treaty, police said.

Claiming the bandh to be a "total" success, Dooars-Terai Ngarik Manch president Lari Bose said no berth was given to the Adivasi community in the nine-member assessment committee formed to assess the demand for inclusion of 196 moujas of Terai and Dooars in the proposed Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.

He said that the bandh in the two regions should be treated as a "people's mandate against the treaty".

Another organisation Adivasi Vikash Parisad has called for a 48-hour bandh beginning tomorrow in the two regions, while Bangla-o-Bangla Bhasa Bachaon Committee president Mukunda Majumder demanded that the word 'Gorkhaland' be dropped first.