Darjeeling MP pitches for a negotiated settlement

Agartala: Union minister S.S. Ahluwalia on Friday pitched for talks for resolution of the Gorkhaland imbroglio. “As an MP from Darjeeling I will say that all problems can be solved through negotiation. If problems can be solved through bipartite talks it is good and if that fails, then we have to opt for tripartite talks between central and West Bengal governments and Gorkha Janamukti Morcha,” the minister of state for parliamentary affairs and agriculture told PTI.

“Earlier, Jyoti Basu, Buddhadev Bhattacharya and Mamata Banerjee could restore peace in Darjeeling through tripartite talks,” he said. Ahluwalia also appealed to the West Bengal government to initiate the process for a dialogue to resolve the crisis. “The state government needs to exhaust all its options before seeking central intervention.” 

He said that chief minister Mamata Banerjee had herself acknowledged in the August 29 meeting with the Darjeeling parties the right of Gorkhas to demand a separate state but clarified her position saying it was “beyond her jurisdiction”. “As chief minister, she has to initiate the dialogue and talk to GJM leaders. Only when she fails to resolve the crisis can she ask for a central intervention.  

On the question of statehood demands in Tripura, Ahluwalia said, “The Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura has demanded a separate state by carving out the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council, which forms two-thirds of the state territory. “In case of forming a new state by carving out any territory, the respective state would have to send official proposals and have to furnish logic behind forming new state. The Tripura government have so far not sent any such proposal. So, the question of forming a new state in Tripura does not arise.”