By IANS,
Kolkata: The Darjeeling tripartite accord, to be signed Monday, is an alarm signal for West Bengal, the state’s former ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) says.
“The name of Gorkha Hill Council will be changed to Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. The changing of the name itself suggests that in which way the state is heading,” CPI-M central committee member Mohammed Salim told reporters here Sunday.
The parties to the agreement are the West Bengal and central governments, and the pro-Gorkhaland Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM).
The signing will be held at Sukna in Kurseong sub-division, near the plains of Siliguri of Darjeeling district.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday announced that the tripartite agreement will be signed July 18 and union Home Minister P. Chidambaram will attend the function.
“They are showing that by one announcement the problems in hills will be solved…but new areas are being included (under the jurisdiction of the proposed new developmental council). That is an alarm signal,” Salim said.
The demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland covering parts of northern Bengal gained momentum during the 1980s under the leadership of Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) supremo Subash Ghising.
But the reins of the movement were later taken over by the Bimal Gurung-led GJM, which forced Ghising out of the hills.