“Amit Kiran Deb did not know whom he was talking for!”
The Intelligentsia has strongly resented Amit Kiran Dey’s apathetic attitude to the aspirations of Darjeeling Hills. According to a senior and highly celebrated author and National Award winner philanthropist Amit Sahu, “the Government is misjudging the situation prevalent in Darjeeling today. It is not only the wish of the Gorkha people that Subash Ghisingh should go, it is also the wish of almost the entire population that there must be change of things from Administrative to the Social level.” This sentiment was resonated by Prof. S. K. Pradhan, when he said, “The West Bengal Government invited GJM and made assurances that the decision [removal of Subash Ghisingh from the post of the Caretaker Administrator] will be taken by the end of 15th Feb and then announced on the 16th. There were also positive statements made from all the rungs of the Government including the Writers Building that Subash Ghisingh had agreed to resign but now after 16th a statement by the District Magistrate that the Government had instead asked for more time and that it could not remove Subash Ghisingh before the 24th of March is matter of great concern to the people in the hills. The question now arises that whether the State Government is really concerned about the things happening in Darjeeling or not! If the Government can offer extensions after extensions to Subash Ghisingh why can’t he be removed. Is there such thing as the wish of the people prevalent in this nation.” However, a source at the State Government confirmed that there were assertions that Subash Ghisingh would indeed resign and that the State Government had successfully forced him into it, but Subash Ghisingh had possibly been able to convince the Central Politburo of the Communist Party in New Delhi, Karat himself to ask the State Government to once more side with him. Amit Kiran Deb had indeed made promises which were politically impossible for the State Government to Keep.
Will Subash Ghisingh ever resign?
“Subash Ghisingh will not resign because this will be the one thing that would completely destroy the GNLF,” an insider in the GNLF party said. “No, one knows what he is doing or intends to do. His visit to the New Delhi could have ultimately paid up with the Government at the Central and the State level striving towards the Sixth Schedule Amendment. The failure of the Parliamentary Standing Committee in visiting Darjeeling could have also gone into his favour with the members of the PSC now been made to believe that the further postponement of the Sixth Schedule Amendment Bill could lead to the infiltration of the Maoist Forces in to the Darjeeling Hills. And the Greater Nepal movement gaining ground in the Hills. So much so now that the BJP could end up endorsing the Sixth Schedule Amendment Bill. The reality is that all these anti-Sixth Schedule Movement could only confirm the Sixth Schedule implementation in the Hills. ” But asked whether the GNLF would win the Sixth Schedule Election, he said, “The question is not that who will win. The possibility is that GJM though riding high on its anti-Sixth Schedule campaign may lose a great deal of respectability among its followers by contesting the Sixth Schedule Bill. Still, their win will strengthen the GNLF. Ultimately, there will a greater bifurcation of opinions in the hills and the weaking of the people’s voice. We will all be the losers.” But when asked if this was so why was the GNLF playing along with the State Government vis-a-vis the Sixth Schedule, the source said, “This is a matter of survivable for GNLF and essentially for the Chairman himself. If he were to come out openly in favour of the Gorkhaland movement there would be chaos. In fact when he was being forced by the State Government to step down all he said was that he was trying to maintain peace in the hills and if he was forced to step down he would come out openly in favour of Gorkhaland and launch the movement for statehood. The statement was enough to send the Government into panic… But the thing is he [Subash Ghisingh] strongly believes in Sixth Schedule. He thinks that with the implementation of Sixth Schedule will change Darjeeling Hills for the better. He believes that the issue of Statehood will be realized within five to ten years after the implementation of the Sixth Schedule. He is so sure about this that he does not even care about his own party. He does not even ask anyone or tell anyone to do anything. He thinks that he has checkmated the State and the Central Government by forcing them into signing the Sixth Schedule. Indeed the Sixth Schedule Bill which is an Official Bill now cannot lose because then the Central Government itself would crumble down. I think this is a great achievement for Subash Ghisingh. At the same instance, the State Government still believes that without Subash Ghisingh it cannot rule Darjeeling Hills. The Central Government which essentially is under short CPI-M leash will go the way the State Government wants. All in all, Sixth Schedule will be a reality, there is no doubt to it, whether Subash Ghisingh would want to come to Darjeeling Hills before that or not is his wish. And for the GJM blockading him, he could simply fly over to Lebong on a Military Helicopter and live under army security.”
The GJM Reaction!
This reporter made up with the President of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha who had this to say on the whole issue. “I am dedicated to Gorkhaland. I rejected Sixth Schedule and will till the end. If the Sixth Schedule is enforced upon us, we will contest it and I will have every idiot in the Hills contest it on the GJM ticket and as soon as the election is won make them resign, keeping the Gorkha Hill Council Darjeeling (A Sixth Schedule Council) in limbo. Every time they declare for the election, we will contest and resign. And in this time continue with our agitation for Gorkhaland.” Asked if is the Central Government declared Governor’s rule in case of constant disruption to the functioning of the Gorkha Hill Council Darjeeling and the presumption that the Governor of the West Bengal could be in the chair ‘advised and helped by the West Bengal Government’, the GJM President had this to say, “Whatever happens is for the future to say and we will react to it accordingly when it happens. But as of now, we will force the State Government to remove Subash Ghisingh from the post of the caretaker administrator of the DGHC and when that happens the Memorandum of Settlement that lead to the Sixth Schedule Amendment Bill will lose its legality.
The nexus between Subash Ghisingh and Buddhadeb Bhattacharya will be led bare and the nation and the world will know that the aspirations and wishes of the people have been held hostage by this man [Subash Ghisingh] who by all means wants to remain in power. Will Subash Ghisingh survive without power, I don’t think so. My objective is Gorkhaland and if indeed the Sixth Schedule status is forcefully implemented upon us, I will have every village idiot in the hill contest the election and once they have contested and won I would have them resign. Every time the election for the Sixth Schedule Council is called I will make a mockery of it. Let these people understand that in democracy the people is the real and the ultimate power, no one can keep the people in their pockets. It is better that Subash Ghisingh remains out of the Hills because this time he will have to bear the wrath of the people which might be overwhelming for him. I have asked all our people not to allow Ghisingh to enter into the hills, there are even rumours that he might just as well fly over to the Hills but then again he will have to land and land in our hills, among our people, where will he go? I don’t want to talk about strategies or political equations, we have only one goal and that is Gorkhaland. We are not interested in any alternatives. The State Government must understand that by backing Subash Ghisingh they are only making a political blunder, if Buddhadeb Bhattacharya things he cannot rule Darjeeling Hills without Subash Ghisingh he is grossly wrong, he should have instead thought of making an ally of the hard working, innocent people of the Hills instead of a man who thinks of himself as the King of the Gorkhas. The State Government and the general think tank at the Writer’s Building must also let go of their Colonial mentality. Why do they think so negatively when all we want is our God gifted and Constitutionally guaranteed right of self determination. Why do they have to act as if they are the British and we are the Indians fighting for independence? Isn’t it the basis of democracy where in the event of the maturing of the communities they are given the right to self determination? This is how the democracy will grow and prosper. Bengal does not own Darjeeling Hills neither do Sikkim, this land is owned by the people who live in it, to deny them the right of self betterment is to deny them democracy. We are not the Colony of Bengal, we are the rightful citizens of India and Darjeeling Hills and the Terai and the Dooars have as much of a claim over the Constitution and Parliament of India as Bengal, Orrisa, Maharastra, Punjab or other states.
Gorkha Janmukti Morcha ‘Fast unto Death’ begins today
Economic Blockade begins today
Not a single inch of construction to be allowed at NHPC from Today – Bimal Gurung
NHPC building tunnels to divert the teesta for the “run of the river” project
People braces for hardship
One on one with Roshan Giri, the General Secretary, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha
Why did you go to Kolkata?
We were invited for talk by the Government of West Bengal in lieu of us resorting to hunger strike for making our demands heard. Our demands had been firstly, the annulment of the Sixth Schedule Amendment Bill, secondly, the immediate removal of Subash Ghisingh from the post of the Caretaker Administrator of the DGHC, and the third the visit of the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Home Affairs. We talked with the Chief Secretary for one hour and 45 minutes. We tried to convince him that the MoS signed between Subash Ghisingh the State and the Central Government has been rejected by the people. We also told him that the people do not support Subash Ghisingh any more and the people have come out to the streets against the implementation of Sixth Schedule. The Chief Secretary asked us for time till 15th of Feb but the Government ultimately declared on the 16th that it will not remove Subash Ghisingh until the end of his term. What they should understand is that Subash Ghisingh is no longer holding an elected office, he was nominated and the Government should have removed him.
Why did GJM then withdrew its ‘fast unto death’ on the mere ‘Hello’ of the State Government?
No, we did not withdraw our ‘fast unto death’ on the mere ‘Hello’ of the State Government. We withdrew when the State Government asked us for three days times. We respected the Government and postponed our ‘fast unto death.’ We will continue the ‘fast unto death’ with 11 people first and then increase the numbers as we go along. Not just that we will now pursue economic blockade by not allowing the sale and the movement of timber from the hills to the plains. Projects like NHPC (National Hydel Power Corporation), NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation) and Nippon will be brought to standstill. The Government and the private enterprises have been using our resources and diverting them to the plains earning crores of Rupees. This will be stopped.
When will these programs of economic blockade commence?
Tomorrow and it will reach its peak within days. We have declared this all over the Hills.
Your President has declared that Subash Ghisingh will not be allowed to enter in to Darjeeling Hills, how will you achieve that?
We have requested the people not to allow Subash Ghisingh to enter into Darjeeling Hills for it is the people who have been persecuted by Ghisingh. Subash Ghisingh sucked Darjeeling Hills dry in these 20 years of misrule. It is the people who will not allow Subash Ghisingh to enter into Darjeeling Hills.
Your party has been saying that the DGHC should be administrated by IAS officers. Can you explain that?
DGHC should be given to a senior most IAS officer. Nothing more.
You had kept Essential Services Sector such as Banking and Food and Supply Corporation out of the purview of closure but now there is a talk of alternative days strike for this sector too.
We have been forced to do so due to the apathy shown by the State Government. What do the Ministers from the plains ever understand about Darjeeling Hills? Why can’t we be given Gorkhaland?
Has the GJM delegation to the State Government been a failure?
No, it is the West Bengal Government which is trying to make the talk a failure. We went with good hopes and gave our opinions on the issues concerning Darjeeling Hills, they did not except it, which is their mistake.
But had the State Government instead not said that they had wanted to make things clear by 18th or 19th of this month?
This is not true, Amit Kiran Deb had said 15th of Feb, it is now that we read in the newspapers that the District Magistrate has said such a thing. Was the District Magistrate present in the meeting? This surely must again be an attempt by the State Government to put us off-track.
Now what about this agitation that has seemingly engulfed the Darjeeling Municipality?
We had called for the closure of all government offices as per the schedule of our programme, why did they had to elect their Chairman and their Board of Commissioners at such a period and more so entering the Municipal Office at the dead of the night when they knew we would be closing down government offices. These Municipal Commissioners further no longer have the mandate of the people.
When are they supposed to have entered the offices of the Municipality?
They have entered the Municipality between 1 – 2 am, can you believe it? They were 15 of them. They entered and locked the doors from inside. We have 13 commissioners with allegiance to our party. They were notified only at around 10 am this morning and they arrived here in time. There was also a Senior Magistrate Mr. Prem Bardewa as an Observer. None of them were not allowed to enter.
Who did not allow them to enter?
The fifteen commissioners who had locked themselves up in order to elect the Chairman and the Board of Commissioners. Isn’t this undemocratic? We have thus asked for the closure of Municipality indefinitely.
It has been reported that Buddha Yolmo of the Conservancies has been elected as the Chairman. What do you have to say to that?
We do not accept this election and you can see the people outside as to how they are reacting to this election.
The agitational programmes that you will be pursuing now.
We have already declared for the resumption of the ‘fast onto death’ and the economic blockade which is in fact the stoppage of vital resources from being siphoned to the plains. We will also be closing work at the NTPC and NHPC projects.
Will the Sixth Schedule status be implemented?
This will not happen even if the GNLF is sure about it. We reject it.
