Ghising returning to hills with new strategy, slogan: GNLF

KURSEONG/MIRIK

29 Sep 2013

The Gorkha National Liberation Front and its chief Subash Ghising will return to the hills soon with a new strategy and slogan, according to the party’s Kurseong unit spokesperson Daya Dewan.

He said Ghising’s comeback will kick-off with a public meeting in Sumeru Manch at Chowkbazar, Darjeeling. “Our president will most likely make a comeback between Dusshera and Diwali. Our demand will have a new slogan: a constitutionally protected and stable setup until Gorkhaland is achieved,” informed Dewan.

He said the GNLF was busy reorganising its cells when the GJM launched its renewed agitation for statehood from July-end in the wake of the announcement of Telangana.

“We stopped all activities and without opposing the statehood demand, we chose to remain ‘invisible’ from politics as Gorkhaland is the paramount aspiration of the hills. But now the GJM has again reverted to the GTA instead of continuing with the agitation for statehood,” said the GNLF leader.

He further said the GNLF has nothing to comment on the GTA, but the state and central governments must think of an alternative set-up that has constitutional guarantee and is stable.

When asked what the ideal alternative could be, Dewan pointed at the Sixth Schedule status, saying it is constitutionally protected and hence the best option for the hills. The Sixth Schedule status has already been discussed and passed by the State Assembly and is only awaiting Parliament’s final nod, he said.

As part of its new strategy, the GNLF plans to form sub-divisional units across the hills from the first week of October to propagate the benefits of the Sixth Schedule status, added Dewan.

A tripartite agreement was signed on December 6, 2005 between the centre, state and the GNLF to grant Sixth Schedule status to the Darjeeling hills. But this was strongly opposed by Madan Tamang, the then All India Gorkha League president, arguing the people of the hills would be divided on racial lines. Moreover, with the GJM gaining ascendance, the tripartite agreement got curtailed further and the bill that was about to get passed was deferred indefinitely by Parliament.

The Mirik unit of the Gorkha National Liberation Front has echoed the same. GNLF Mirik president Ladup Ghising, hinting of demanding the Sixth Schedule status, today said his party is preparing a blueprint to seek a constitutionally recognised setup for Darjeeling. “The central government has kept on neglecting the Darjeeling region, but now it is time for it to introduce a constitutionally recognised administrative in the larger interest of the nation,” he said. 

The GNLF leader also criticised the state government for adopting a divide and rule policy and uttered, “The government is creating a communal divide to deprive the Gorkha community of its constitutional rights. This is a predetermined policy of the government to create disorder in the hills.” The GNLF is dedicated to solving the ongoing problems in the hills, claimed Ghising.