With the Centre looking the other way when he is under immense pressure from the Bengal Government to withdraw his agitation for a separate State, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung has pinned his hopes on Governor MK Narayanan to mediate and defuse the tension fanned by his party in Darjeeling.
In what seemed to be a roar trimming down into a grumble, Gurung on Wednesday welcomed Narayanan’s offer to mediate between the two sides.
“We welcome the Governor’s offer to mediate” to ease the tension, Gurung said, adding “no amount of repressive tactic and arrest of the GJM supporters” could wipe off the aspirations of a separate Gorkhaland from the people’s hearts.
Curiously, Gurung had earlier said his party would speak to none except the Central Government as “only the Centre can give a separate State”, adding the GTA agreement was an outdated agreement.
The GJM chief’s statements came close on the heels of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision to visit Darjeeling to attend a function of the lepcha community — which is the second largest yet the oldest ethnic group of Darjeeling before the Gorkhas colonised the area.
Gurung, who felt Banerjee’s ploy to draw a line between the Gorkhas and lepchas amounted to “divide-and-rule”, said Gorkhaland was what the people of Darjeeling aspired and instead of respecting that sentiment she was “talking of being rough and tough.”
The GJM got the taste of Banerjee’s toughness with hundreds of its supporters including close aides of the party chief getting arrested in the fortnight. “They have arrested more than 600 of our supporters,” he said, wondering whether that was the way how the Chief Minister showed respect towards a non-violent movement.
lambasting CM Mamata Banerjee, he said Banerjee “had never let the GTA function in an autonomous manner.”
He also questioned the Government’s refusal to withdraw the old cases against the Morcha. “The Government has violated the agreement by not withdrawing the old cases,” he said reminding how the GTA had to face intervention at every step while running the day-to-day business in Darjeeling.
Though he welcomed the Governor’s offer to mediate, he also said no amount of arrest could take the genuine feeling from people’s hearts. “This is a question of identity crisis and not one of development only. More the Government would employ repressive tactic, the more the people’s sense of alienation and aspiration for a separate State would increase,” he maintained.
Meanwhile, the GJM-led all-party Darjeeling Joint Gorkhaland Action Committee had decided to restart its movement after two days’ suspension from Thursday. The people would come down to streets and form human chains in support of a separate State.