A Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) delegation met the West Bengal government for the first time in Kolkata after the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) called off the indefinite strike in Darjeeling. It demanded absolute autonomy and said that though the agreement was signed two years ago, it faced difficulty in implementing it. The departments had not been transferred and the backward regions were still starved of funds. Moreover, the GTA asked for the release of two thousand GJM men arrested during the strike and the ten GTA members who were in jail. Demand was also made for the creation of a fact-verification committee to determine the GTA territory. The delegation wanted some of the mouzas of the Terai and Dooars to be included in the GTA territory. A Commission led by Justice Shyamal Sen had submitted a report stating that only five mouzas should be included in the GTA which the latter had rejected.
The delegation urged the state government to release to the GTA a corpus of Rs. 119 crore which was with the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) before it was scrapped. Besides, the delegation requested a tax-waiver and incentives for private investment. It would also like some of the youth in the GTA area to be recruited in the police and paramilitary forces like it has been done with surrendered Maoists in Jangalmahal. These demands are a far cry from the insistence on the creation of a separate state of Gorkhaland. The attitude of GJM leader Bimal Gurung is still unclear. He has had friendly talks with President Pranab Mukherjee but has not yet acceded to his request to join the GTA. Admittedly, peace prevails in Darjeeling with the tourist season in full swing till the New Year. The future of Darjeeling depends on a tripartite decision. The Centre’s attitude to Telengana may harden the GJM’s stand. The West Bengal government will do well to comply with the GTA’s administrative demands. The release of prisoners may be a law and order issue. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had already agreed to the setting up of a committee to examine the Shyamal Sen Commission’s recommendations.
