Time to Think for Gurung: Issues Gorkhaland

The print media reported today that Bimal Gurung has threatened State government to dissolute the DGHC and the core committee of his party were ignorant about it.
The GNLF chief (Subash Ghisingh) was known to take decisions on his own without consulting his party members. Now Bimal Gurung is adapting the same character he had inherited from his mentor. One cannot delineate himself from his roots. The habits make the character and character is manifested in actions. He is again back to the same thinking which his mentor had.
“It is now the final battle, a battle for existence. The hill council has for the past 21 years been our main hurdle to achieving Gorkhaland. We are determined to achieve statehood and the state government will have to face the consequences of ignoring the demand,” Gurung said.
The public has the right to know why DGHC has become a hindrance to Gorkhaland. Is dissolution of DGHC is the only solution? The reported employee in print has rightly said ‘it would be difficult to fight for Gorkhaland in empty stomach’. If so does GJMM has alternative strategy to address this issue? If the kitchen stops in the houses Bimal Gurung will find no one to run after him. In earlier movement Sikkim was a great help but she is merged in her own problems, she may not be able to accommodate Darjeeling this time. Nor Nepal as Prachanda may not like it.
Is Morcha leadership panicking? Why are they showing their desperation? Earlier by removing Subash Ghisingh GJMM allowed a bureaucrat to administer the DGHC now whom does he want to bring in? The strategy of GJMM could be good but its effect is not in favor of the Hills. In the democracy if Bureaucrats are allowed the free hand the freedom automatically gets suppressed. Instead of making DGHC defunct why not GJMM remove the administrator and install some one who really knows the Hills and sympathetic to the movement?
Today, Gurung said, the Morcha was not willing to hold further dialogues with Bhattacharjee. “Since the chief minister has ignored our demand, we will now sit for discussions only with the central government,” Gurung said. However, he said, the talks should be tripartite and representatives of the state government would have to be present.
This is again diabolical; he does not want to talk with state but wants tripartite talks. First of all will Center heed his voice without the state’s interference?
If Bimal Gurung acts and thinks in this line people may raise question about his leadership. The way he is leading I don’t think he is leading in the correct direction. GJMM looks without focus. They have been busy in fighting with GNLF in the grass root to strengthen their base. This is OK but when they talk about the bigger goal of formation of Gorkhaland building of base and fighting with GNLF should be secondary. Once they are ahead with the movement success the base will automatically gets strengthen. The bigger picture of Gorkhaland is fine but GJMM should produce some tangible result. Till date what are the tangible results have they shown?
Subash Ghisingh was ousted from the chair of administrator. Impact of this act: Bureaucrat is installed.
Wanted to organize public meeting at Siliguri and had to fight with Ashok Bhattacharjee. Result: Organized the meeting. Impact: could show the strength of the demand.
Movement collaboration with KPP and Greater Coochbehar Democratic party. Impact: Not seen much.
Meeting with Chief Minister after CM told that he did not know it officially. Result: CM rejected the demand. Impact: started talking what ever it came in his mind without the knowledge of his core committee also.
Any positive breakthrough? I am not able to see.

What appears to me is that the GJMM has no focus and no concrete road map for Gorkhaland. Long term goal of Gorkhaland is fine but they should deliver some short term results which will harness people’s energy and create trust among people on his leadership. No leader has ever told that this is the way we are going. Every body talks about Gorkhaland but How no answer. Fasting is Ok, Rally is fine but where are the results? Without results who will follow him? Is it because of no impact intelligentsia, Media, businessmen, tourism people are not coming up openly?
Simply blaming state government will not give us Gorkhaland nor will the fast unto death bring minister to Hill to talk. Why have GJMM stopped the economic blockade? Why are people still paying taxes? Why do GJMM still promote tourism when all are suppose to be in the battle field? Yesterday in Kolkata TV 30 minutes of programme was telecasted on Darjeeling. Why are ministers allowed to inaugurate development projects when they are suppose to be opposed? When Bengal Government is playing an intellectual game why Gurung wants to show his muscle power by threatening to dissolute DGHC? This way he will be in loss from both sides (public as well as from Government).

Time to think for Gurung.

Gurung demands DGHC dissolution
Statesman News Service SILIGURI, May 25:
The Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) president, Mr Bimal Gurung, has demanded an immediate dissolution of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), which came to existence in 1988, facilitating limited autonomy to the hill areas of Darjeeling district. Addressing a Press conference at the DGHC resort ‘Pintail Village’ in Siliguri this afternoon, Mr Gurung also said that the GJMM would soon launch a severe movement to realise the demand. “DGHC is an ‘hindrance in the way of achieving a separate Gorkhaland state and hence, it needs to be dissolved at once. Our central committee would be meeting in a day or two to discuss a resolution on that and also to chalk out a detailed agitation on the issue,” the GJMM president said. Mr Gurung’s statement comes three days after the chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told a GJMM delegation at Writers’ on 22 May that a separate Gorkhaland state was simply not possible and proposed giving further autonomy to the DGHC instead. Peeved at the rejection of the statehood demand, Mr Gurung, who was earlier all praises for the chief minister, today took a dig at him as well. “The CM only looks mild and handsome, but he is very ugly at heart,” he said, adding that in future the GJMM would not sit for any dialogue with Mr Bhattacharjee. Clarifying more, the GJMM president said, henceforth, his party would like to discuss the Gorkhaland issue directly with the Centre and demanded that the UPA government intervene in the matter immediately. Meanwhile, the demand for dissolution of the DGHC is bound to evoke a major impact in the Darjeeling Hills.Including the casual staffs, the DGHC employs about 9,000 individuals across the hills and dissolving the Council would hit their livelihood directly. The GJMM general secretary, Mr Roshan Giri, has however said that the party would take the DGHC employees into confidence before going ahead with the agitation on the demand for dissolution of the DGHC.
Down with DGHC: Morcha – Council: a stumbling block to statehood (The Telegraph)
Siliguri, May 25: The Gorkha Jammukti Morcha as part of its “final battle” wants the DGHC to be dissolved. Party president Bimal Gurung today threatened to give a call in the hills to disregard the council, as it has become a stumbling block to attaining a separate state.
The decision, if ratified by the Morcha central committee, would lead to the boycott of all DGHC activities, Gurung added.
The threat follows the chief minister’s response to the Morcha demand for Gorkhaland. A four-member Morcha delegation had met Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee last week and presented him with a map of the proposed areas — Darjeeling, Siliguri, the Dooars and the Terai — of the new state. The chief minister rejected the statehood demand and instead asked the Morcha to sit for talks so that DGHC could be strengthened through amendments.
Home secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti, who was present at the meeting, had said the chief minister had also asked the Morcha to steer clear of organisations like the Kamtapur Progressive Party and the Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party. Both want Cooch Behar district to be declared a state and are supporting the Morcha in its Gorkhaland demand.
The chief minister’s rejection of the statehood demand had not gone down well with the Morcha, which also wanted the Centre to be a part of the talks.
Today, Gurung said, the Morcha was not willing to hold further dialogues with Bhattacharjee. “Since the chief minister has ignored our demand, we will now sit for discussions only with the central government,” Gurung said. However, he said, the talks should be tripartite and representatives of the state government would have to be present.
“We are going to hold our central committee meeting in the next three-four days in Darjeeling. After passing a resolution, we will ask all workers on contract at the council to resign from their jobs,” Gurung said at a hurriedly called news conference at Pintail Village, 5km from here, this afternoon.
The Morcha chief alleged that the chief minister had not given much importance to the party’s demand for Gorkhaland. “He told the delegation members that there would be problems if the demand was met,” Gurung said.
To the Morcha, Bhattacharjee’s statement had triggered the call for the “final battle”.
“It is now the final battle, a battle for existence. The hill council has for the past 21 years been our main hurdle to achieving Gorkhaland. We are determined to achieve statehood and the state government will have to face the consequences of ignoring the demand,” Gurung said.