The Centre has no intention of intervening in resolving the impasse at the hills, which has been created following the submission of Justice Shyamal Kumar Sen (retd)-led high power committee wherein he had recommended inclusion of only five mouzas to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration against a demand of 396 mouzas by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.
The Centre, which decided to adopt a wait-and-watch policy after the GJM rejected the committee report, would first like see the outcome of the meeting between chief minister Mamata Banerjee and GJM leadership scheduled for June 16 at the Writers’ Buildings. On being contacted on the Union government’s stand, a senior home ministry official from Delhi said, “We are very much concerned. We are in touch with the state government and have been receiving reports. We have also been receiving inputs from the intelligence agencies on the situation in the Darjeeling hills. We are looking forward to the meeting between the chief minister and the GJM and keeping our fingers crossed.” Responding to a specific query on the possibility of any meeting between the Centre and the GJM to break the deadlock, he said, “No such meeting with the GJM is on the cards.” His comments suggest that the Centre will not make any direct intervention now to resolve the impasse created by the high power committee’s report. Highly-placed sources in the Writers’ Buildings said that the Centre took this stand as it was “unhappy” over the manner in which the state government had been handling the issue.
“On July 18, 2011, when the tripartite agreement was signed, the Centre was one of the signatories and it was signed in presence of Union home minister P. Chidambaram in Pintail village near Siliguri. However, later, the Centre was not involved by the state government when it entered into a bipartite agreement with GJM on March 24, 2012 where it agreed to fast-track the report of the high-power committee to first week of June and holding the GTA elections in end-June or early July,” sources said.
The GJM expects a positive outcome from the June 16 meet. “We are hopeful the CM will realise the report is fallacious. If we are not satisfied with the discussion, we will be forced to embark on the agitation path,” GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said.
. The Centre’s intervention will also be sought if necessary,” GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said.