Barla to bat with Morcha on territory

AVIJIT SINHA

Siliguri, Feb. 23: Ousted president of the Dooars-Terai regional committee of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad John Barla will speak along with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders for the inclusion of the Dooars and the Terai in the hill set up at the all-party meeting in Calcutta tomorrow. Barla’s presence would help the hill party to prove before the high power committee led by former Justice Shyamal Sen that the tribal population of the Dooars and the Terai are backing them on the issue of inclusion. “Even today Barla is the principal and the most popular leader in the Terai and the Dooars. We have confidence in him. Tomorrow he will be present at the meeting and speak with us in favour of including the mouzas of the Terai and the Dooars in the GTA,” Giri said before leaving for Calcutta today. The Morcha has asked for the inclusion of 399 mouzas — 199 from the Terai, 196 from the Dooars and four in Rajganj block of Jalpaiguri district— in the hill set up. “I will surely attend tomorrow’s meeting because the entire tribal population of the Terai and the Dooars is in favour of inclusion in the GTA and the formation of GATA (Gorkhaland Adivasi Territorial Administration). Some other like-minded Parishad leaders will accompany me and we would, along with Morcha representatives, speak in favour of the demand,” Barla told The Telegraph over the phone from Calcutta. Barla had been expelled from the Parishad in December. “I am very much with the Parishad and I do not accept the decision of the state committee or the president. We are still working for the organisation,” he said. The state leaders of the Parishad, however, said Barla would be denied entry to the meeting if he tried to “pose” as a tribal leader. “We met the chairperson (former Justice Shyamal Sen) yesterday and submitted detailed documents to prove that Barla is no longer in the Parishad now. His primary membership has been cancelled,” said Birsa Tirkey, the state president of the Parishad.(Telegraph)