Gorkhaland to UT, various ‘solutions’ on Centre table, say Gorkha leaders after talks

Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee has been vehemently against the carving of Gorkhaland out of Bengal.

The meeting was chaired by Nityanand Rai, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, which was attended by Union home secretary Govind Mohan and officials from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. The Gorkha side was represented by Darjeeling MLA Neeraj Zimba, Kalchini MLA Bishal Lama, Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) chief Shri Man Ghising, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung, among others. The BJP’s Darjeeling MP Raju Bista was also present. The meeting was held after a hiatus of more than three years.

“Various forms of political solutions were discussed… This included a separate state proposal to a Union Territory with a legislature. We told the minister and officials that it is time to deliver on the longest-pending Constitutional demand (that of a separate state of Gorkhaland). I asked when the Centre intended to deliver on the issue? We also highlighted the issue of granting ST status to 11 Gorkha communities,” said Zimba.

Zimba said the meeting was meant for all “stakeholders” over the Gorkha issue and that the absence of the Bengal chief secretary was “unfortunate”.

“It was meant to be a tripartite meeting. However, unfortunately, West Bengal chief secretary who was invited, and was scheduled to join, skipped the meeting. The Centre is keen for a tripartite meeting,” added Zimba.

At the meeting, Zimba said, the Gorkha delegation highlighted the strategic and national security importance of areas such as Darjeeling, Terai, and Dooars that are dominated by the Gorkha community. All of these areas are located in proximity to India’s strategically vital Chicken Neck (Siliguri Corridor), with this narrow stretch connecting the Indian mainland to the entire Northeastern region.

“Any instability — political, ethnic, or economic — in this corridor can have catastrophic consequences for national integration, logistics, and security,” Zimba said.

He underlined that the “recent violent incidents and political unrest in Bangladesh have amplified the urgency of stabilising bordering regions in North Bengal”.

“It is imperative for New Delhi to engage sincerely with stakeholders who form the social fabric of these regions” Zimba said.

Raju Bista, in a social media post after the meeting, said: “The focus of the talks was the history of our region and the current status of deprivation, discrimination, exploitation faced by the people… We also talked about future possibilities.”

The discussions, Bista said, also “centered on various forms of solutions under the Constitution of India (on the Gorkhaland issue)”. “We have taken a united stand that the only acceptable solution would be the one that fulfils our aspirations and grants constitutional protection to our land, people and the region,” he said.

A government press release after the meeting stated: “The Minister of State for Home Affairs listened to the representatives attentively and assured them that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the all-round development and security of the region are among the priorities of the Government of India.”

It added that the “Prime Minister assured that the Central Government would resolve the issues of Gorkhas, within the constitutional framework, in coordination with the Government of West Bengal”.

The meeting rekindled the issue of a separate Gorkhaland state — a demand first raised by GNLF leader Subhash Ghising in the 1980s. The separate state demand also saw 104 days of strikes and clashes in Darjeeling and surrounding areas called by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader Bimal Gurung on September 26, 2017.

The last round of talks with the government was held in Darjeeling on October 12, 2021. The talks were to continue in November that year, which did not happen.