However, starting tomorrow, the party will scale down its existing programmes till February 6.
Union home minister P. Chidambaram, while presenting his ministry’s report card for January, said: “Next steps are being actively considered.” While laying emphasis on “actively”, Chidambaram indicated that the meeting with the Morcha last week was positive. In the same breath, he urged the Morcha to call off its agitation and cooperate in maintaining law and order. Chidambaram said he was happy to note that the bandh had been lifted by the Morcha. The minister was referring to the 27-day strike called by the Morcha in the hills to pressure the Centre to clear its stand on Gorkhaland.
The party is yet to react to Chidambaram’s statement.
Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said: “An emergency meeting of the party’s central committee was held in Darjeeling today where we decided to start a major agitation in the Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars from February 8 onwards. We are, however, not immediately announcing the programme but are trying to convey a message to the general public to be ready for this agitation.”
Another round of the Morcha’s central committee meeting will be held on February 7. Till then the party has decided not to push hard for the Bimal Gurung-led “long march for Gorkhaland” to the Dooars. The march has been stopped by the administration at Kumani More on the edge of the Dooars where the security forces have set up a barricade.
“The march is being suspended till February 6. Between February 1 and 3, no demonstrations will be organised in front of police stations. The demonstrations will resume on February 4. The relay hunger strike will continue as usual,” said Giri. A proposed padayatra from Darjeeling to the Terai, which had been lined up for February 2, has also been postponed.
The Gorkha Janmukti Yuva Morcha will, however, go ahead with its “black flag” rally in the hills tomorrow. The rally is being organised to condemn the alleged lathicharge on Morcha supporters at Sibchu in Jalpaiguri district yesterday.
Asked about the sudden change in programme, Giri said it was “a party strategy”.
“We are fighting against the atrocities of the Bengal government, and the Centre, too, seems to be a silent spectator,” he said, an indication that the Morcha probably wants Delhi to end the Dooars stalemate.
For the past 14 days, the Morcha has been trying to enter the Dooars through the Kumani area but the Jalpaiguri district administration has stopped the marchers and imposed Section 144 on the Dooars. Nearly 600 marchers have been camping in Kumani.
For the past one year, the hills had been breathing easy as the Morcha, the state government and the Centre had agreed in principle to accept the interim set-up.
But the recent Morcha decision to reject the interim set-up is largely because of the delay in solving the contentious issues regarding the new arrangement for the hills. “The overwhelming majority in the Morcha’s central committee now feels that the set-up has been delayed for long and that the party will no longer benefit as the Bengal government is not sincere about devolving powers to the new authority. The party now firmly believes that it should strongly go ahead with the Gorkhaland agitation as this was the slogan that catapulted the hill party to a force to reckon with in the region,” said a Morcha source.
Probe plea granted
The court of the chief judicial magistrate in Darjeeling has accepted a prayer of the CBI to reinvestigate the murder of ABGL leader Madan Tamang and the alleged escape of the prime accused in the case, Nickole Tamang, from CID custody.
“The prayer for reinvestigation was made by the CBI on January 29 and the court today accepted the prayer,” said a court source.
All records related to these cases including the chargesheet will be handed over to the CBI.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110201/jsp/siliguri/story_13517915.jsp
No comments:
Post a Comment