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| Roshan Giri, Madan Tamang: To share the table soon? |
May 6: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today accused the Bengal government of trying to derail the tripartite talks by suggesting that all stakeholders in the Darjeeling hills and the Dooars and Terai should be invited to the meeting. Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said: “The Bengal government is trying to derail the talks by these suggestions. Only the Centre, the state government and the Morcha were stakeholders during the last five rounds and the same must continue.” Giri refused to reveal whether the Morcha would refrain from attending the meeting if other parties were invited. “We are discussing every aspect. We have a meeting scheduled at Sukna on May 8,” he said, indicating that the party could announce its decision then. The Morcha trade union has asked the workers in tea gardens in the Terai to attend the Sukna rally and not to work on that day. Observers believe that the Morcha might even take drastic steps if other parties are invited, resulting in the discussions getting derailed. “Given the conflicting stand of the state government and the Morcha on territorial issues, there is a strong possibility of the entire talks on the set-up getting derailed,” an observer said. The Morcha has been demanding that not only the entire Darjeeling district, including Siliguri with its predominantly Bengali population, but also the Terai and parts of the Dooars where the Gorkhas are in a majority be included in the interim set-up. The geographical boundary of the interim set-up would define the shape of Gorkhaland, the Morcha had said. According to sources in the state government, there are other political formations and groups that have a significant presence in the hills and in the Dooars and Terai, and it is only fair that their views be factored in. During the first round of secretary-level talks, the Morcha had taken an all-party delegation to Delhi. However, the party was unhappy with the “behaviour” of the delegates, particularly the ABGL’s charge that it was not consulted while preparing a document which was submitted then. Following the ABGL allegation, Gurung had publicly said that “the chapter of the all-party delegation has been closed”. Madan Tamang, the ABGL president, today said it was right on the part of the government to invite all political parties. “ The Centre and the state had once made the mistake of ignoring the other parties before inking the Sixth Schedule bill and the result is there for every one to see.” Tamang, however, said the ABGL could not publicly announce the stand that it would take in the tripartite meeting unless “a written invitation is issued”. However, all parties in the hills are against the Morcha decision to accept the new set-up. They have alleged that the Morcha has betrayed the Gorkhaland cause by accepting the interim set-up. Gobind Chhetri, the organisational head of the CPRM that has the second largest following in the hills after the Morcha, said his outfit would insist only on Gorkhaland. “We want the Centre to listen to our demands and any other decision might trigger off unrest in the area,” Chhetri said. Other stakeholders like the GNLF and the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad refused to disclose much, saying they had not been approached formally yet (by the state). “But we will not budge from our stand. Parts of the Dooars and the Terai cannot be included in the interim set- up proposed by the Morcha,” said the state president of the Parishad, Birsa Tirkey. | 
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