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Buddhadeb meets adivasi leaders

Marcus Dam

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee held talks with leaders of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad (ABAVP) here on Thursday against the backdrop of tension in the Dooars of north Bengal in the wake of clashes there between supporters of ABAVP and Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) earlier this month.

Mr. Bhattacharjee also met a GJM delegation here on January 21. The Chief Minister reportedly sought the cooperation of the ABAVP leadership in ensuring peace in the Dooars region – as he had done with the GJM leaders earlier.

The ABAVP leaders reiterated their opposition to the GJM’s demand for inclusion of the Dooars and Terai areas in a separate State they were campaigning for.

The GJM’s attempts to rally support in favour of its demand had met with resistance from the ABAVP, resulting in violence in parts of Jalpaiguri district involving the two groups.

Describing the talks as fruitful, the ABAVP leaders told journalists after the meeting that it placed before the Chief Minister a charter of demands that included job reservation for tribals and more schools and colleges in the Dooars and Terai region.

As for the GJM’s plans to extend their campaign for separate State to the region – one that the ABAVP has been resisting – ABAVP leaders said it was for the administration to ensure law and order in the area. The GJM leadership resumed its stir demanding it be allowed to hold rallies in the Dooars to canvas support for its statehood campaign there.

The State government is, for the present, against the holding of rallies in the Dooars, fearing that it could incite ethnic passions and exacerbate the situation given the differences between the GJM and ABAVP over the statehood demand.

“Our supporters have begun a fast-unto-death here as the State government has failed to deliver on its assurances regarding compensation to those affected by the recent violence,” GJM general secretary Roshan Giri told The Hindu over the telephone from Gorubathan in the Kalimpong sub-division.

“We had put our stir on hold for a week following an assurance from the Chief Minister during our meeting with him on January 21 that our demands, which include the arrest of those responsible for the attacks on our supporters, will be met within seven days,” he said.

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