Faced with increasing disillusionment of the people of West Bengal with TMC rule, Mamata Bannerjee is seeking to whip up Bengali chauvinism through unleashing severe repression on Gorkhaland activists, particularly Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha. Mamata Bannerjee Govt.’s decision to make learning of Bengali compulsory in the Hill areas has caused serious resentment among Nepali speaking people of Gorkhaland areas and has revived the agitation for separate state of Gorkhaland. CPI(ML)-New Democracy strongly condemns the repression being let loose by TMC Govt., use of a large number of police forces & deployment of Army to crush this movement and GJM. CPI(ML)-New Democracy supports demand of people of Hill areas for separate state of Gorkhaland.
Demand for Gorkhaland is a very old and democratic demand. CPI(ML)-New Democracy has been supporting this demand. However, agitation for this demand has often led to half-baked compromises resulting in Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) after GNLF agitation led by Subhash Ghising and in Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) after GJM agitation led by Bimal Gurung. In 2013 also there was months long agitation for Gorkhaland after decision to form separate state of Telengana was announced. Every time people of hill areas have agitated for the demand, have endured hardships and made sacrifices but the agitations have not been taken to achievement of separate state. It is time that lessons from the past agitations are drawn and determined struggle is built for formation of separate state. Repeated upsurge in this movement stems from its basis in the democratic aspirations of people of Darjeeling hill areas.
To develop this struggle, all the forces supporting demand for separate state of Gorkhaland, should join hands, should come to one platform and build this struggle jointly. All the forces active in the movement must realize the utmost importance of such coming together to lead the struggle so that it does not result in another half-baked compromise.
Mamata Bannerjee Govt. is playing a dangerous game pitting Bengalis against Gorkhas, but the democratic public opinion of West Bengal rejects such attempts to divide the people. Democratic people of West Bengal strongly condemn the repression let loose on the people of hill areas and of attempts to impose learning of Bengali on them.
CPI(ML)-New Democracy calls upon all the democratic forces to support the demand for separate state of Gorkhaland. CPI(ML)-New Democracy extends its full support to the agitation and will play its due role in this agitation.
June 16, 2017
