Thaindian News

Kolkata, June 10 (IANS) Asking the West Bengal government not to implement the high-power committee’s report on additional areas in the proposed Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in northern West Bengal, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) Sunday said it will burn the copy of the GTA agreement if their demand is not met.

The GJM has also called a 72 hour shutdown from July 2 and said all its municipality chairpersons and councilors will resign.

“The high power committee report is an injustice and we demand the government not to implement it. Our protests will start with the resignation of all municipality chairpersons and councilors of Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kalimpongand Mirik on June 27,” GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said.

“We will go for a sustained protests starting with the resignations and the shutdown. If the government does not listen to our demands we will then burn the GTA agreement on July 17,” he added.

The 10-member committee including four GJM members, headed by Judge (retd.) Shyamal Kumar Sen, in its report Friday recommended the inclusion of only five mouzas (area less than a sub-division) as against the GJM’s demand of 398 mouzas.

“It is not a committee buta one man commission. Justice Sen neither visited the places nor took our members into confidence. If we had a majority only in the five mouzas, we would have accepted but we are present in all the 398 mouzas which we have demanded,” GJM spokesman Harka Bahadur Chhetri said.

The GJM, which earlier had agreed for holding elections for the proposed autonomous GTA in July, now said it will not participate in the elections.

“We do not accept the election to the GTA and we will not participate in it,” said Giri.

The GJM leadership has also sought a meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The GJM leadership which held a marathon meeting Sunday said the panel recommendations, if implemented, will destroy the peace and prosperity of the region.

“The commission was set up to protect peace, stability and prosperity of the area. But if the recommendations are implemented it will ruin the peace here,” Giri said.

The GJM had threatened to launch another protest campaign to press for its demand for a separate Gorkhaland after the West Bengal government Saturday announced the panel recommendation.

The three picturesque Darjeeling hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong have been on the boil for nearly three decades due to anti-government protests over the demand for a separate Gorkhaland state.

On July 18 last year, a tripartite agreement was signed between the GJM and the state and central governments for setting up the new autonomous, elected GTA. The hills have been peaceful since then.