GTF slams move on additional areas

GTF slams move on additional areas

1 April 2012
DARJEELING, 1 APRIL: The Gorkhaland Task Force, a conglomerate of political and social organisations, today said the additional areas from the Terai and the Dooars proposed to be included in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Act would run counter to the concept of Gorkhaland.
Further they maintained that the organisation would hold seminars and conferences in Kolkata and Delhi from August on the separate statehood demand. “If the additional areas from the Terai-Dooars region are included in the GTA Act it would completely disfigure the Gorkhaland map,” said GTF president Mr Enos Das Pradhan
Speaking about their programmes, Mr Pradhan said that “the non-Nepali population in the country is still not aware of the demand for a separate state. Our main aim is to make these people aware and understand the issue of statehood and take them into confidence.” The Gorkhaland Task Force, comprises apolitical organisations like the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh  and the Gorkhaland Rajya Nirman Morcha and political outfits like the All India Gorkha League, Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist and the GNLF(C).
The GTF also opposed the idea of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, maintaining that it would not fulfil the aspirations of the Gorkhas living in the country. “The GTA is but a temporary arrangement and does not fulfil the real aspirations of the Gorkhas living not only in Darjeeling but also in the entire country,” said Mr Pradhan.
“The state government is falsely projecting and claiming that the Hills problems have been solved by the GTA which is a completely wrong message being sent to the country,” Mr Pradhan added. It may be mentioned here that the GTF was recently termed as a terrorist outfit by Morcha president Bimal Gurung for opposing the GTA. In fact, he had termed the organisation as a terrorist outfit bent on disturbing peace of the Hills. sns