Is Gorkha Janmukti Morcha ready to compromise on Gorkhaland Territorial Administration?

TNN | May 16, 2012,,KOLKATA: A compromise formula on inclusion of additional areas from the Dooars and Terai in the proposed Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) may finally end the impasse and pave the way for holding of the GTA elections. On Tuesday, it was learnt from sources in Darjeeling that the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) is waiting for such a formula to emerge before it can accept the proposal for going to the polls.

Though GJM leaders, in its central committee meeting held on Monday, took the tough stand of reviewing their position on GTA after the high-power committee headed by Justice Shyamal Sen submits its report by June, observers believe this was more of a public posturing. Even a partial acceptance of its demand on additional areas could lead to GJM softening its position. For, the first priority for everyone was now to make GTA functional.

GJM had asked for inclusion of 398 mouzas in the Dooars and Terai in the GTA, but the mandate of the Shyamal Sen committee is to examine the demographic composition of these mouzas as well as to gauze the public sentiment before finalizing its recommendation. Even if the committee recommended the inclusion of Nepali-dominated areas, GTA would still be left with a number of additional mouzas. This, it was believed, should satisfy GJM. The high-power committee was supposed to have submitted its recommendation by the first week of June, but according to indications, GJM could wait till the end of the month. The delay in getting official data on linguistic break-up of the mouzas in question could delay the report of the committee. GJM has four members in the committee.

According to sources, there was a view in the GJM that the immediate priority should be to participate in GTA and hold the elections even if the committee recommended the inclusion of only a part of these 398 mouzas. The question of inclusion of more mouzas could be taken up at a later date, if necessary. GJM had not formally given its demand for Gorkhaland either and could launch an agitation later. But, going by available indications, the Centre might not immediately entertain the statehood issue. Nor was it possible to "switch on" and "switch off" agitations at frequent intervals.

Besides, after a successful tourist season this summer, people in the hills now overwhelmingly wanted peace and normal life. Rather than embarking on yet another uncertain journey on the path of agitation, it could be prudent for the GJM to show immediate results to the hills people by running the GTA successfully, especially since the new government had taken an interest to usher in developmental schemes in the hills. They were not forgetting that Gorkha National Liberation Front leader Subash Ghisingh had lost support in the hills not because he could not give Gorkhaland to the people but because he could not run the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council properly.

Highly placed sources in the state government indicated that though the government was keen to accommodate the GJM demands, it was not ready to buy peace at any cost. It was counting on the priority common people in the hills were now placing on return of peace and normal life for GJM to see reason.