Anti-Morcha forum called to talks table - 96-hour strike calls spurs govt invite

AVIJIT SINHA & SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE

Partha Chatterjee: the mediator April 6: The state government has for the first time invited a forum of outfits opposed to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha to the talks table next week after the two rival camps called a almost back-to-back 96-hour strikes to counter each other’s demand on added hill territory. The proposed meeting of the Terai Dooars Joint Action Committee, the forum for 19 organisations, with ministers Partha Chatterjee and Gautam Deb will be in Siliguri on April 8. Tour operators are looking forward to the government intervention, for any form of agitation may hit the number of summer visitors to the Dooars and Terai. But the anti-Morcha committee said it was determined to go ahead with its 48-hour strike starting April 10 and subsequent agitation if the government did not assure in writing that the jurisdiction of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration would not extend to the plains. The invitation to the talks was sent to forum convener, the KPP’s Atul Roy, by the north Bengal development department headed by Deb. The rival camp led by the Morcha has called a two-day strike from April 18. “The letter, signed by an assistant secretary of the north Bengal development department reached Atul Roy (KPP president and convener of the committee) yesterday. This is the first time that the government has called us to the talks table. State ministers Partha Chatterjee and Gautam Deb will hold a meeting with us at the office of the north Bengal development department in Siliguri on April 8,” said Rajesh Lakra, general secretary of Terai Dooars Regional Unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Parishad. “Although no agenda has been fixed, it seems the state representatives will ask us to withdraw the 48-hour strike from April 10 and the agitation that we had planned.” The forum held a meeting of its constituent organisations at Jalpaiguri’s Nagrakata today to decide on the next course of action. “Unless the state gives us in writing that not an inch of the Terai and Dooars will be made part of the GTA, there is no question of withdrawing,” said Lakra. Minister Deb has confirmed the meeting with the forum. “Yes, Partha Chatterjee will be travelling to Siliguri on Sunday to meet members of the Adivasi Vikas Parishad. We believe that in a democracy, talks are the only way to find solutions to problems. He has some other meetings lined up as well.” To counter the move of the forum, the Morcha along with the rebel faction of the Parishad led by John Barla has formed another joint action committee, which has announced a 48-hour strike from April 18 and has lined up rallies and meetings till May 31. To mount pressure on the forum, the Morcha-led committee has demanded that 40 more mouzas of the Terai and Dooars must be added to the GTA. “Recently, we had written to the high-powered (Justice Sen) committee with a list of these 40 mouzas where tribals are the majority. These areas should come under the GTA along with the 399 mouzas for which we had made the initial demand, otherwise we will launch a movement,” said Barla today. The government has appointed a committee led by retired Justice Shyamal Sen to look into the Morcha demand that Gorkha-dominated areas of the Dooars and Terai be brought under the GTA. Tour and travel operators fear that business may be hit like in 2007 when the statehood agitation had engulfed the hills. “For the past one year, tourist movement has shown steady rise in all seasons. But now that organisations and political parties are planning agitation again, we fear a huge loss. An air of uncertainty always pushes away tourists,” said Deepak Gupta, general secretary of Eastern Himalaya Travel & Tour Operators’ Association (EHTTOA). Asked about the footfall in the region at this time, Gupta said it was difficult to give any number. “The concept now is touring in circuits. No one comes to Dooars or Terai or Darjeeling separately. They tour an entire circuit like the Dooars-Terai-Darjeeling-Sikkim.” Nearly 3.5 lakh tourists visit Darjeeling annually and 60 per cent of them prefer the March-June season. Raj Basu, the chairman of the EHTTOA advisory board, said even party meetings and rallies hit businesses. “We will face problems transporting tourists as all vehicles will be booked by the parties,” he said.(The Telegraph)