Nominee prize for elderly worker 85-year-old tailor named by Gurung

VIVEK CHHETRI

Bimal Gurung bows his head in front of the martyrs’ column at the Gymkhana Club on Friday, when the Morcha observed Shahid Divas. The column was erected in memory of more than 1,200 people who have died in the statehood agitation since 1986. Picture by Suman Tamang Darjeeling, July 27: Bimal Gurung today nominated an 85-year-old ordinary party worker as one of the five GTA councillors, rewarding his continuous association with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. Gurung today hugged Birkhu Bhusal, a tailor, at a Shahid Divas event in Darjeeling. The other name he announced for nominated GTA Sabha councillors was of Sabitri Rai, a Nari Morcha leader from Lebong in Darjeeling. The GTA Sabha will have five nominated councillors apart from the 45 elected members. The nominations, according to the GTA Act, are to be made by the governor. It was expected that the governor would nominate members on the recommendation of the chief minister. But it became clear today that the Morcha would have the primary say in the nominations. Gurung today also said the remaining three nominees would be from the Terai and Dooars. “The other three nominations will be made from the Terai and Dooars,” Gurung said at the Shahid Divas event at the Gymkhana Club. The Morcha chief started his hour-long speech on the contributions of the martyrs and as expected maintained that the GTA was a stepping stone to Gorkhaland. “We have been given the GTA by the government to see whether we can administer it properly. After three years, five years or ten years of administrating the GTA, which has the word Gorkhaland, we will go back to the government to demand Gorkhaland and will tell them that since we have been able to administer this body efficiently, we will have to be given statehood.” But at the end of the somewhat predictable speech, Gurung suddenly said: “Old man, please come up to the stage.” No one knew to whom Gurung was referring, so he said: “Bhusal buroo (old man), come up to the stage.” Once Bhusal was beside Gurung, the Morcha chief directed Roshan Giri to “please garland him”. Everyone thought Bhusal would be felicitated as Gurung had talked about the need for elders to guide the GTA. But he said: “He (Bhusal) is one of the nominated councillors to the GTA. I have seen Bhusal buroo from the 1986 agitation days. He is a committed soldier for Gorkhaland and has been present in all the meetings of the Morcha. He is also a member of the Schedule Caste and now, I have looked after the concerns of this community also.” He then announced the name of Rai as the other nominated councillor. Rai was not present. The absence is perhaps an indication that Gurung had not sounded out the nominees before making the announcement. The moment Gurung’s speech concluded, Bhusal became the toast of the gathering. Bhusal said he had actively taken part in the Gorkhaland agitation started by Subash Ghisingh. “I stopped supporting the GNLF once they raised the Sixth Schedule-status demand. I joined the Morcha the day it was formed.”