Centre begins talks on Gorkha issue, Amit Shah listens to concerns, decides on 2nd round of talks in November
T
he Union Home Ministry began tripartite talks on Tuesday with the Gorkha representatives from the Darjeeling Hills, Terrai and Dooars region and the government of West Bengal to resolve the issues related to the Gorkhas.
Chairing the meeting at his North Block office, Home Minister Amit Shah said that the Central government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is constantly making efforts to resolve issues related to the Gorkhas and of the region.
Shah listened to all the parties concerned and decided to call for the second round of talks in the presence of the senior officials of the West Bengal government officials in November this year. The West Bengal Government has been specifically asked to send their senior officials for the next round of talks.
"The all-around development and prosperity of the Darjeeling hills, Terrai and Dooars region is the topmost priority of the Modi government," Shah said during the meeting which started at 4 pm and lasted for one hour.
The Home Minister also learnt to have assured to discuss the issue related to grant Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to 11 hill tribe-communities of the Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars region -- a longstanding demand of the indigenous tribal population in the area.
The Gorkha delegation was led by Darjeeling MP Raju Bishta, who highlighted various issues concerning the Gorkhas and the region.
The meeting was also attended by the Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, the Minister of State for Minority Affairs and Member of Parliament from Alipurdwar John Barla, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Secretary Ministry of Tribal Affairs Anil Kumar Jha, the Registrar General of India Dr Vivek Joshi, the Principal Resident Commissioner of West Bengal Krishna Gupta and other senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
On behalf of the Gurkhas, the delegation comprised of the Darjeeling MLA Neeraj Zimba, Kurseong MLA BP Bajgain, Kalchini MLA Bishal Lama, GNLF Chief Mann Ghising, CPRM Chief RB Rai, GoRaNiMo Chief Dawa Pakhrin, Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL) Chief Pratap Khati and SuMuMo Chief Bikash Rai.
The meeting is significant as the motive seems to find a Permanent Political Solution (PPS) to the more than 100-year-old demand of a separate state for the Gorkhas within the Indian federal structure.
During the 2019 parliamentary elections, the BJP's 'Sankalp Patra' (election manifesto) had made assurances to resolve the issue.
Despite BJP candidate Raju Bista winning a seat from the Darjeeling constituency, these assurances have not been translated into action on the PPS front.
The BJP has also not divulged what the PPS will be - a separate state, a Union Territory or any other form of administrative arrangement. All this has resulted in a constant build-up of pressure from opposition parties.
In last week, certain public representatives and political leaders received invitations from the centre to hold a meeting in the Ministry of Home Affairs regarding the issue.
After the meeting, BJP MP Raju Bista said "It was a historical day for Indian Gorkhas. It was the first time when there have been over one hour of talk with the Union Home Minister without any protest or 'Bandh'. It was a successful talk. The meeting was better than we expected. We have placed our demands before the Home Minister and he has assured us that the government of India will sincerely try and solve our demands. It was a tripartite talk in which Central government, Gorkha leaders and West Bengal representatives participated."
Bista said that West Bengal Chief Secretary or any senior state representative could not attend the meeting due to 'Durga Puja' engagements but the state government's representative in Delhi, Chief Resident Commissioner, participated in the meeting.
"Home Minister ensured that next talk will be held in November after Diwali celebrations and that the government will take any concrete decision after taking views of West Bengal government representatives," Bista said.
Mentioning that "there is no democracy in Darjeeling", the Indian constitution does not apply there and no 'Panchayat elections' conducted there since 2001, Bista said such kinds of atrocities have happened with the people of North Bengal and Darjeeling.
"This atrocity happened at the time of CPM and it is also continued during the reign of TMC too," Bista said.
According to Bista, Home Minister assured in the meeting to do justice with Gorkhas and consoling them that the Central government is with them.
Bista said that the Home Minister has also assured to take a view on the ongoing demand of Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to 11 hill tribe-communities of the Darjeeling hills.
✔️ Centre begins talks on Gorkha issue, Amit Shah listens to concerns, decides on 2nd round of talks in November
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