Any Central move to create Telangana State by slicing Andhra Pradesh would once again kick-start fresh agitation for a separate Gorkhaland in Darjeeling, the Hill pressure group Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has warned.
With reports that the UPA-II Government was on the verge of creating a new Telangana State by breaking Andhra Pradesh, the Central committee of the GJM has taken the decision to launch a fresh movement, party general secretary Roshan Giri said on Sunday.
“There are reports that the Centre may take the decision on a separate Telangana, may be on Monday, and if that happens then there would be no other choice left for our party but to launch our own movement for a separate Gorkhaland,” Giri said, hoping his party’s compulsion would not be misconstrued by the people of Bengal.
“A decision to this effect has been taken by our party chief Bimal Gurung after the Central committee gave a go-ahead on the issue,” Giri said, adding the GJM was sending a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister Sushil Shinde.
On the future of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration that came into being after the tripartite pact between the GJM, Centre and the Bengal Government, Giri said time would decide the fate of the GTA.
“Everything cannot be decided in one go. Decisions are taken at the appropriate moment. Currently, it is the time to take the decision on when to start the new movement and rest will depend upon time.”
The GTA was created in 2011 by replacing Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council after the Mamata Banerjee Government came to power bringing peace back to Darjeeling Hills.
In fact, the GTA accord and the elimination of the Maoists from Jangalmahal has been her Government’s USPs, the Chief Minister has repeatedly claimed in her public rallies.
Any fresh disturbance in Darjeeling could allow a political weapon to pass on to the hands of the Opposition left who had from the beginning opposed what they called a “faulty” GTA accord.
While the Trinamool Congress leadership refused comments on the issue with senior leader Subroto Mukherjee saying his party was busy with the panchayat elections, the Marxists claimed the peace in Darjeeling was bound to give way as its fragility was hidden in the very nature of the accord.
“The old agreement —between then Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and GNlF chief Subas Ghishing in 1988 — had not been officially replaced by the new agreement through an appropriate parliamentary process. Besides, in the new accord, the GJM has kept alive the separate Gorkhaland clause. They have not given up their demand. Hence in the new accord itself lies the seed of a fresh movement,” said CPI(M) leader and former Minister Ashok Bhattacharya.