The Hindu : National : Demand for Gorkhaland raised again

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Friday, Nov 16, 2007
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Demand for Gorkhaland raised again

Special Correspondent

KOLKATA: Supporters of the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland on Thursday came out onto the streets and burnt copies of the memorandum of settlement (MOS) for Sixth Schedule status to the region, thus giving a new twist to political developments there.

The programme coincided with the beginning of the winter session of Parliament during which the amendment bill for the granting Sixth Schedule status and greater powers to the autonomous council to be set up to replace the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) is to be introduced.

The MOS was signed by the Centre, the State Government and Subash Ghisingh, administrator of DGHC, on December 6, 2005. The Union Cabinet decided on the creation of a council to replace the DGHC and confer on it Sixth Schedule status in October.

The recently-formed Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha (GJMM) that is demanding a separate State in the Darjeeling hills has launched a movement against the granting of Sixth Schedule status to the region.

Its president, Bimal Gurung, has described the move as a betrayal of the aspirations of the people.

The spokesman of the GJMM told The Hindu from Darjeeling that the public burning of the MOS in the hills was an “open display of the people’s support for a Gorkhaland state and separation from West Bengal.”

The GJMM had convened an all-party meeting recently where local leaders of nine parties including those of the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party had extended their support to the Gorkhaland demand.

“The only two parties who are not extending support to the statehood cause are the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), of which Mr. Ghisingh is president,” he said.

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