The Gorkha Rashtriya Congress (GRC) championing the merger of Darjeeling with Sikkim state has sought the Central government’s stand on the demand for creation of a separate Gorkha state.
The GRC has also decided to write and open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the union home ministry in a couple of days, seeking their clarification.
The outfit’s letter and demand comes in the wake of BJP’s Darjeeling MP S.S.Ahluwalia’s pro-Gorkhaland stand during the Independence Day speech in Kalimpong on August 15. He had said, “If a person from Punjab can say he is from Punjab…when Bengalis say they are from Bengal…Tamils say they are from Tamil Nadu…when will the Gorkhas say they are from Gorkhaland? The Gorkhas are known for their honesty, responsibility and sincerity. Their dreams and struggle for a separate Gorkha state should be fulfilled”.
Today, speaking to reporters in Darjeeling, the GRC working president Asoke Lepcha said the Prime Minister and the BJP party should make their stand clear. “On August 15, the Darjeeling MP spoke for a Gorkha state and even in 2009 the BJP had included the demand in its election manifesto. The PM himself has said the dreams of the Gorkhas are his.
So it is imperative that the Modiji and the central government clarify their stand as people in the Hills are a confused lot,” he said.
The GRC working president alleged that the BJP party using the Gorkhaland demand plank had managed to win the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 and 2014 but failed to deliver, even after all these years. “The political parties are playing with the Gorkhaland sentiments and using the people as vote banks. This is unfair and people have the right to know what their leaders and party they elected truly has to say about the statehood demand,” said Lepcha.
The GRC leader also cited the formation of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) in 1988 and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in 2012, as examples of how the Government worked to curb the statehood demand over the years.
The GRC also criticized the GTA and the Sikkim government deciding to work together to demand tribal status to the Gorkhas of the country. “It is a conspiracy of the Sikkim government with help from the GTA, to dilute our struggle for merging Darjeeling with Sikkim. We have got positive feedbacks from the central government about the merger issue,” claimed Amar Loksom, the GRC general secretary.
The GRC has already communicated with the central government to pursue the merger of Darjeeling with Sikkim. It has reasoned that Darjeeling historically belonged to Sikkim and was never a part of Bengal, case which was highlighted by former Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu who had brought a white paper in 1986 authenticating GRC’s claim.
Source EOI
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| Gorkha Rashtriya Congress (GRC) - File photo |
The outfit’s letter and demand comes in the wake of BJP’s Darjeeling MP S.S.Ahluwalia’s pro-Gorkhaland stand during the Independence Day speech in Kalimpong on August 15. He had said, “If a person from Punjab can say he is from Punjab…when Bengalis say they are from Bengal…Tamils say they are from Tamil Nadu…when will the Gorkhas say they are from Gorkhaland? The Gorkhas are known for their honesty, responsibility and sincerity. Their dreams and struggle for a separate Gorkha state should be fulfilled”.
Today, speaking to reporters in Darjeeling, the GRC working president Asoke Lepcha said the Prime Minister and the BJP party should make their stand clear. “On August 15, the Darjeeling MP spoke for a Gorkha state and even in 2009 the BJP had included the demand in its election manifesto. The PM himself has said the dreams of the Gorkhas are his.
So it is imperative that the Modiji and the central government clarify their stand as people in the Hills are a confused lot,” he said.
The GRC working president alleged that the BJP party using the Gorkhaland demand plank had managed to win the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 and 2014 but failed to deliver, even after all these years. “The political parties are playing with the Gorkhaland sentiments and using the people as vote banks. This is unfair and people have the right to know what their leaders and party they elected truly has to say about the statehood demand,” said Lepcha.
The GRC leader also cited the formation of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) in 1988 and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in 2012, as examples of how the Government worked to curb the statehood demand over the years.
The GRC also criticized the GTA and the Sikkim government deciding to work together to demand tribal status to the Gorkhas of the country. “It is a conspiracy of the Sikkim government with help from the GTA, to dilute our struggle for merging Darjeeling with Sikkim. We have got positive feedbacks from the central government about the merger issue,” claimed Amar Loksom, the GRC general secretary.
The GRC has already communicated with the central government to pursue the merger of Darjeeling with Sikkim. It has reasoned that Darjeeling historically belonged to Sikkim and was never a part of Bengal, case which was highlighted by former Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu who had brought a white paper in 1986 authenticating GRC’s claim.
Source EOI
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