Ghisingh warns against bill delay

Ghisingh warns against bill delay
OUR CORRESPONDENT - The Telegraph

Siliguri, Dec. 17: GNLF chief Subhas Ghisingh has warned the Bengal chief minister of the consequences if the Sixth Schedule amendment bill conferring special status to the Darjeeling hills is not passed in Parliament in the budget session.

In case of a delay, Ghisingh said, it would be difficult for him to restrain his party supporters, some of whom are already harping on Gorkhland out of “frustration”.

“I have apprised him (Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee) of the situation,” the GNLF chief told reporters at the circuit house lounge after a 45-minute one-to-one meeting with the chief minister. “In case the bill is further delayed, there can be outbursts of frustration.”

Ghisingh had turned up at the circuit house at 5.30pm to meet Bhattacharjee, who had returned from addressing a public meeting at Mainaguri, 65km away. The chief minister, however, did not talk to reporters.

Admitting that a section of GNLF workers and leaders is raising voices in favour of Gorkhaland, Ghisingh said: “As a political party, we favour Sixth Schedule. But a party is made up of human beings, who when frustrated (in this case because of the delay), can damage his own house or beat his own wife.” Should there be unrest in the hills, the responsibility would not be his alone. “The onus would then be on people or authorities for whom the process of conferring the Sixth Schedule status suffered a setback.”

The chief minister, Ghisingh added, has assured him of necessary help. “I understand that the state government can do nothing other than build pressure on the Centre.” Bhattacharjee has promised to take up the matter with the central ministers when he visits Delhi to attend a meeting of the 11th Five Year Plan soon.

The GNLF leader also expressed confidence in the BJP, saying that central leaders like L.K. Advani have agreed to support the bill once it is placed in Parliament with the recommendations of the Standing Committee. The BJP had objected to the bill on the ground that it was an established parliamentary convention to refer a new bill to the Standing Committee. In this case, it was all the more necessary since, besides being an amendment bill, there were many misgiving about it. The Opposition in the hills, which includes the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, has been against the special status and clamouring for statehood instead.

Ghisingh, who refuses to see Gorkhaland as the mandate of the hill people, came down heavily on parties demanding it. “They don’t understand the difference between cats and dogs,” he said.

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Subhas Ghising demands autonomy for Darjeeling
December 18th, 2007 - 12:43 pm ICT - Thaidian.com

Siliguri (West Bengal), Dec 18 (ANI): The President of the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), Subash Ghising, has demanded more powers and autonomy soon for the Hill Development Council in Darjeeling hills.

Ghising, the former Chairman of the Autonomous Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (ADGHC), said the hill people would be frustrated if the parliament does not approve the Constitution Amendment Bill granting Sixth Schedule status to the Hill Council in the next Budget Session of Parliament starting mid-February.

“People tend to get frustrated. In 2005, the memorandum settlement (for the autonomy of the Hill Development Council) was prepared, but the project is yet to be materialised,” Ghising said after a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee here.
 
The GNLF wants the Darjeeling Hills to be included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, while the Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha (GJMM), a breakaway faction of the GNLF, led by Bimal Gurung, opposes the demand.

GNLF launched the agitation for a separate state in 1980, but dropped the demand for Sixth Schedule after New Delhi agreed to confer partial autonomy in 1988 for the Nepalese-speaking people.

An agreement was signed by the Central Government, the West Bengal Government and the GNLF paving way for the setting up of the Autonomous Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (ADGHC) in 1988.

The State Government in West Bengal has been resisting demands for a separate state to Gorkhas. (ANI)