Chances high of tribal company for Morcha
Adivasis wait for invite to join Delhi talks
Siliguri, Aug. 12: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha may include representatives of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad’s Terai-Dooars regional unit in the delegation for the August 17 tripartite talks in New Delhi.
A final decision will be taken at the Morcha’s central committee meeting scheduled to be held in a day or two.
“The Parishad’s letter to our president, Bimal Gurung, has been received well within the party, and their comments are being seriously considered,” said a Morcha insider. “At our central committee meeting, we will also decide whether to include Parishad members in our delegation for the Delhi talks.”
On August 7, the president of the Parishad’s Terai-Dooars regional unit, John Barla, had written to Gurung, expressing the desire to work closely with the Morcha, provided seven conditions were met. Among the conditions was a change in the nomenclature of the Morcha’s proposed Gorkha Adivasi Pradesh — the state that it wants — to one that did not include the name of any particular community.
“The central committee of our party will meet in a day or two as only five days are left before the next round of talks,” said Harka Bahadur Chhetri, the media and publicity secretary of the Morcha.
“A number of issues, including the Parishad’s letter, will be discussed in detail.”
Chhetri said as the Morcha and the Parishad had been “struggling on similar issues”, the two outfits could reach a consensus.
“There are a couple of demands like reservations and protection of interests, which we would have considered even if the Parishad had not mentioned them specifically. However, there are a few points we need to discuss before we convey our opinion to the Parishad leaders,” he said. “Nevertheless, we are positive that we can ultimately reach a consensus.”
A Morcha leader said after a consensus was reached, the party would consider whether the Parishad should be included for the next round of talks in Delhi.
“We could then inform Delhi that our delegation would include members of the Parishad as well,” the Morcha leader said.
Political observers said if Parishad leaders accompanied the Morcha, it would help the hill party prove its point on the issue of territory, one of the key stumbling blocks in the negotiation process.
The Morcha is demanding that the new state and the interim set-up should include not only the Darjeeling hills but also the Terai and the Dooars where the tribals are in a majority. Courtesy:TheTelegraph
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