Morcha plans to lie low in plains

VIVEK CHHETRI

Roshan Giri in Darjeeling on Monday. Picture by Suman Tamang

Darjeeling, May 14: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to refrain from agitation in the plains till the Shyamal Sen committee submits its report as the party fears that the Gorkhas will face a backlash if further violence breaks out in the region, sources revealed.

The decision was taken at a five-hour meeting attended by the members of the central committee and the subdivisional committees of the Morcha here today.

Officially, the Morcha said it would soon hold further discussions with other constituents of the Dooars Terai Co-ordination Committee to decide on the next leg of agitation in the plains. However, sources said the Morcha felt it would be better to wait for the committee’s recommendation rather than going in for any major agitation.

Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the Morcha, said: “The party today discussed the Terai-Dooars issue and decided to wait for the high powered committee’s recommendations. Elections to the GTA will be held after the recommendations are made… We will soon hold a meeting with the Dooars-Terai Co-ordination Committee on the future course of action (agitation).”

Party insiders said the meeting weighed the pros and cons of continuing with the agitation in the plains and concluded that more unrest in the Dooars and Terai would cause problems to the Gorkhas living in the region.

“Senior party leaders were of the opinion that the co-ordination committee was able to prove its support base in the plains and further agitation could lead to unrest in the plains. The leaders felt that the Gorkhas would be targeted if more clashes break out in the Dooars and Terai as they are the minority in the region. So, the leaders said it would be best to wait for the committee’s recommendations,” said an insider.

The plains witnessed violence recently when the co-ordination committee called a bandh after the government had denied it permission to hold a meeting at Nagrakata on April 22.

In fact, Giri today hinted that the Morcha no longer wanted to press ahead with its demand for permission to hold meetings in the plains. “Even (CPM state secretary) Biman Bose was not allowed to hold a meeting in the plains,” Giri said while replying to a query on the Morcha’s demand to allow the party to hold public meetings in the Dooars.(TT)