GJM, which had stopped insisting on a separate statehood after agreeing on a separate administrative unit in the region, has launched a fresh stir demanding new state of Gorkhaland, starting a 72-hour long Darjeeling strike on Monday.
GJM revived its demand for a separate state after the central government of India moved closer to carving out a new state of Telangana from the present state of Andhra Pradesh. [break]
Bimal Gurung, the chairman of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (JTA), the new administrative unit in the region dominated by the people of Nepali origins, had informed that the fresh agitation would start from Saturday.
On Sunday, GJM had sent a letter to the central government demanding the new state of Gorkhaland.
In the course of the strike, a youth supporter of Gorkhaland attempted to self immolate at around 11 am at Darjeeling Chok on Monday. The strike has brought the life in Darjeeling to a standstill. The agitators set a car and motor bike on fire.
Security has been beefed up not to let the situation escalate further. According to Darjeeling police, five platoons of special striking force, seven platoons of action force, two platoons of India Reserve Battalions have been mobilized.
A special control room with hotline service has also been established, Darjeeling police informed.
Despite the warning of Darjeeling Administration Office to deduct the salary of those government staffers absent from office due to the strike, many staffers remain absent.
GJM Chairman Gurung has asked the activists and supporters to be prepared for the final battle to establish the separate state of Gorkhaland.
“GTA has already failed. It is high time for me to resign from the GTA,” Gurung twitted on Monday. Organizing a press meet in the GJM office on Monday, he said that he would not do a Volte-face now.
“I will resign form GTA after completing some pending tasks,” Gurung said, informing that further protest programs would be made public after GJM meeting on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, stating that Telangana state can to be compared with Darjeeling, West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banarjee has blamed the central government for provoking GMJ for a separate statehood.
Banarjee termed Delhi´s efforts to kick-start a fresh agitation to serve vested political interest in Darjeling as a “matter of shame”. “Delhi is insisting to disrupt peace in Darjeeling,” she posted on Facebook on Saturday.
“Darjeeling is a part and parcel of our state. We are united and we will remain united. Any conspiracy hatched by a political party and the Union Government will be defeated by the people of Darjeeling and West Bengal,” her Facebook status reads.
According to GJM, the fresh stir for a separate state was necessary as the GTA was imperfect and the central government interfered time and again. GJM also complained that it has not received the assistance from the central and state governments as per the tripartite accord signed on July 8, 2011, in the time of establishment of GTA.
“We did not receive the autonomous right as stipulated in the agreement, and the agreed-upon development programs were also not implemented,” GJM spokesperson Harka Bahadur Chhetri told Republica.
According to Chhetri, as per the agreement, GTA was to receive the autonomous right on 56 areas of various infrastructures, including road and education.
“Given the size of our population, we can press the government for a separate state on our own. We want to ensure a new state for ourselves at a time when new state of Telangana is being carved out. It´s like striking when the iron is hot,” Chhetri said.
He also informed that the Friday´s meeting of the ruling Indian National Congress Party hinted at carving out a separate state of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh.
GJM had started the struggle on November 3, 2007 for the new state of Gorkhaland for the identity of the hilly people of Nepali origin in Darjeeling and surrounding areas. Earlier, Subhash Ghising-led Gorkha Rastriya Mukti Morcha had started 26 month long stir for the Gorkhaland in 1986.
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