Forums in plains reject plea to call off protest

Gautam Deb at the meeting with the representatives of the 16 plains outfits in Siliguri on Wednesday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo Siliguri, March 28: More than 15 outfits in the plains today turned down minister Gautam Deb’s request to call off the agitation scheduled for next month to protest the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s demand to include certain mouzas in the hill set-up. Deb, who acted as an emissary of chief minister Mamata Banerjee and met the representatives of 16 organisations including the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad, urged them to withdraw the strike and other protest programmes scheduled to start on April 1. “We have requested the Adivasi Vikas Parishad and other organisations to refrain from holding any agitation or strike in the Terai and the Dooars. Such activities will hamper development work and create tension in the region,” the minister said. “The chief minister has resolved the problem in the hills through consistent discussion. She is equally concerned and sincere about the problems in the Terai and Dooars. The state government has elaborate plans for development of these areas which would be hindered if such agitations are not withdrawn,” he said. The Parishad and the other associations turned down Deb’s appeal, asserting that the government should make it clear that not a single mouza from the Terai and Dooars would be brought under the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. “The minister told us to withdraw the 48-hour strike scheduled for April 10 and 11 and also the agitation planned from April 1. We told him about our inability, as there are no indications from the state that it would not allow any mouza to be made part of the GTA. The government should keep in mind the interest of the people living here, specially the adivasis,” said Tezkumar Toppo, the general secretary of the Parishad. Some of the other outfits have sought an appointment with the chief minister. “We have asked the minister (Deb) to fix an appointment with Mamata Banerjee in the first week of April. We have to know what the government is planning,” said a Kamtapur Progressive Party leader. A memorandum with a list of demands related to the development of the Terai and Dooars and a request not to bring the plains mouzas under the GTA has been sent to Mamata through Deb. The minister, who did not clarify his party’s stand on territory, criticised a section of the organisations. “There are some people and organisations in north Bengal which stand against any development process that is undertaken in the region. They are trying to create confusion. We condemn such attempts and want to make it clear that the government wants peaceful solution to any issue. Any attempt to destabilise harmony will not be tolerated,” Deb said. Asked if the government would give a second thought to the territory issue, Deb said: “The representatives shared their opinions. We have taken note of their assertions and will apprise the chief minister,” Deb said. The government has appointed a committee to look into the Morcha demand. Both the government and the Morcha have agreed to abide by the recommendations of the panel that had been requested to submit its report by June.(The Telegraph)