Hills on fire, state turns heat on GJM, wants it out of talks
Express India
Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay
Posted: May 25, 2010 at 0239 hrs IST
Kolkata
The spontaneous protests in Darjeeling against the killing of All India Gorkha League (AIGL) leader Madan Tamang and the growing dissension in the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha have put the state government once again at the driver’s seat in the hills with a minister involved in tripartite talks today claiming that the Morcha has lost the mandate of the people of Darjeeling and that it should no longer represent them in any meeting on the hills issue in future.
“The GJM no longer represents the people of the hills. The chief minister has endorsed this demand and it will be sent to the central government. In fact, at present, any tripartite meeting on the hills is meaningless. However, the chief minister also said we will have to wait for what the Centre does,†Ashok Bhattacharya, Minister for Urban Development, who represented the state government in the tripartite talks among the state government, the central government and the GJM in February this year, said.
Bhattacharya, who had a long meeting with the chief minister in the afternoon to discuss the situation in the hills, is also going to Darjeeling soon. “I am going to Darjeeling very soon and will visit Madan Tamang’s house,†the minister said.
No major CPM leader has ever visited the hills in the last 30 years for which the area has been disturbed.
The chief minister today sent a wreath to Darjeeling to be placed during Tamang’s funeral.
Bhattacharya also said that more special police forces will be sent to Darjeeling to ensure law and order there. “The police will see to it that all shops and offices remain open and normal life is maintained,†the minister said.
He also said the state government had all the proof of who played what role in Tamang’s killing. “Tamang laid down his life for the sake of democracy in the hills. And the people in the hills have come out on the streets against the colossal arrogance of the GJM. However, nobody will be spared if he or she is found guilty. We will also look at the role of the policemen present at the venue of the meeting during the attack,†the minister said.
Meanwhile Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) MLA Shanta Chhetri today demanded a CBI inquiry into Tamang’s killing. The GNLF MLA today met Home Secretary Samar Ghosh and DGP Bhupinder Singh and placed the demand before them.
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www.kalimpong.info
May 25th, 2010 at 10:47 am IST
Kalimpong ko junta wake up and rise against this dictator chor murderer of a neta…dont protect these gundas for they will overtake u and make your lives a living hell like they did in darjeeling….
May 25th, 2010 at 2:26 pm IST
It seems that the Madan Tamang episode has played directly into the state governments hands. Thank you for the own goal GJM – you’ve now set the entire movement back and perhaps in indefinite limbo. All you lot have behaved like mongrels squabbling for scraps and the state government now has you by the scruff. In the long term I hope that Madan did not die in vain and that his ‘sacrifice’ has bought in some sense.