GJM is trying to blackmail the Government by trying to take ABAVP with it

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is unhappy with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leadership for “trying to bite more territories in the Dooars than it should legitimately swallow”.

However, there was no official communication from the Chief Minister’s Office after Morcha chief Bimal Gurung struck a deal with Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad (ABAVP) leader John Burla.

Following the deal, Gurung dropped his demand for Gorkhaland Territorial Authority (GTA) — agreed upon in a tripartite movement signed by the Centre, State and GJM — and sought to replace it with a new arrangement called Gorkha Adivasi Territorial Authority (GATA), comprising all the 513 moujas of the Dooars.

In the earlier demand, the GJM had demanded 196 Gorkha-majority moujas and a high-powered team led by Justice Shyamal Sen was instituted to look into it.

However, Banerjee is unhappy because the new deal would stir a hornet’s nest in an already volatile area vexed by multiplicity of sub-national interests. Groups like Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association, Kamtapuri People’s Party and Madesias are already asking for their pounds of flesh.

“The GJM is trying to blackmail the Government by trying to take ABAVP with it,” said a Trinamool Minister.

If the Government allows this, the 29 per cent-plus Bengali population — a majority of which voted for the Trinamool — would be alienated from the party. “Didi would never concede to the demand and the GJM will have to look to work within what it had earlier demanded,” the Minister added.

While the GJM refused to comment on the issue, a party MLA said the Government would have to assuage feelings of the Gorkhas of the plains to get permanent peace in the region.

Meanwhile, John Burla rushed to Kolkata on Thursday to hold talks with ABAVP president Birsa Tirkey, who earlier rejected the new deal with the GJM and demoted the former from his post of a district president.

Tirkey said “Burla was not within his jurisdiction to sign any pact with any outfit while rejecting the deal” calling it “unacceptable and impractical agreement which has no basis.”

Tirkey conceded that the GATA agreement would obviously drive a wedge in the Adivasi organisation and finally help Gurung.



GJM is trying to blackmail the Government by trying to take ABAVP with it

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is unhappy with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leadership for “trying to bite more territories in the Dooars than it should legitimately swallow”.

However, there was no official communication from the Chief Minister’s Office after Morcha chief Bimal Gurung struck a deal with Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad (ABAVP) leader John Burla.

Following the d...eal, Gurung dropped his demand for Gorkhaland Territorial Authority (GTA) — agreed upon in a tripartite movement signed by the Centre, State and GJM — and sought to replace it with a new arrangement called Gorkha Adivasi Territorial Authority (GATA), comprising all the 513 moujas of the Dooars.

In the earlier demand, the GJM had demanded 196 Gorkha-majority moujas and a high-powered team led by Justice Shyamal Sen was instituted to look into it.

However, Banerjee is unhappy because the new deal would stir a hornet’s nest in an already volatile area vexed by multiplicity of sub-national interests. Groups like Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association, Kamtapuri People’s Party and Madesias are already asking for their pounds of flesh.

“The GJM is trying to blackmail the Government by trying to take ABAVP with it,” said a Trinamool Minister.

If the Government allows this, the 29 per cent-plus Bengali population — a majority of which voted for the Trinamool — would be alienated from the party. “Didi would never concede to the demand and the GJM will have to look to work within what it had earlier demanded,” the Minister added.

While the GJM refused to comment on the issue, a party MLA said the Government would have to assuage feelings of the Gorkhas of the plains to get permanent peace in the region.

Meanwhile, John Burla rushed to Kolkata on Thursday to hold talks with ABAVP president Birsa Tirkey, who earlier rejected the new deal with the GJM and demoted the former from his post of a district president.

Tirkey said “Burla was not within his jurisdiction to sign any pact with any outfit while rejecting the deal” calling it “unacceptable and impractical agreement which has no basis.”

Tirkey conceded that the GATA agreement would obviously drive a wedge in the Adivasi organisation and finally help Gurung.

Courtsey : The PIONEER

Mamata brokered territory deal: CPM, CM and Deb to come clean on GTA DEAL

Siliguri, Nov. 1: The CPM today alleged that the deal between the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad on territory had been brokered by minister Gautam Deb with the blessings of Mamata Banerjee.

Former minister and CPM leader Asok Bhattacharya asked the chief minister to come clean about her government’s stand on the inclusion of the Dooars and the Terai in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.

“The chief minister had time and again claimed that her government had resolved the Darjeeling hill issue with the GTA agreement. She should take responsibility for the new situation arising from the Parishad’s consent to the transfer of the Terai and the Dooars to the GTA. The government should say loud and clear if its wants the two regions to be brought under the ambit of the GTA,” said Bhattacharya.

The Parishad’s units in the Dooars and the Terai had announced on Sunday that they were backing the inclusion of the regions in the GTA. Earlier, the Parishad had been opposing tooth and nail the Morcha’s claim to 199 mouzas in the plains and there were frequent skirmishes between the supporters of both the outfits.

The CPM leader said the silence maintained by Mamata and north Bengal development minister Deb raised suspicion that both were privy to the parleys between the Parishad and the Morcha.

Asok Bhattacharya  :

“Mamata’s silence and her cabinet colleagues’ refusal to speak on the deal make us suspect the entire development has taken place with her knowledge. We strongly feel that Mamata Banerjee had prior information on the Parishad-Morcha tie-up and Gautam Deb played the role of interlocutor in the parleys between the two sides. In fact, Deb had met leaders of the Parishad and the Morcha many times,” said Bhattacharya.

“(Morcha president) Bimal Gurung’s confidence during the joint news conference with Parishad leaders on Sunday that they would achieve the goal (inclusion of the Terai and the Dooars in the GTA) also strengthens our suspicions,” he added.

Deb refused comment yesterday when The Telegraph asked him about the deal between the hill and the tribal outfits.

Bhattacharya said he feared that the tie-up between the Morcha and the Parishad would embolden other outfits seeking statehood to up their ante.

“The deal will have ramification for the entire north Bengal and an uncertainty looms over the formation of the GTA now.”

Deb was reticent about the deal today too. “We have not received any formal proposal and it is not possible for me to make comments based on media reports. Nonetheless, the government wants to make it very clear that it is sincere in maintaining the integrity of north Bengal,” he said.

Told about Bhattacharya’s charges, Deb said: “He is making desperate attempts to grab media attention. I would prefer to ignore such statements.”

Courtsey : The Telegraph