Siliguri, 10th April: Accusing the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) board of not agreeing to condemn the statement of a TMC minister regarding the origins of the Gorkha and tribal (adivasi) communities, nine GTA opposition Sabhashads, including Hamro Party president Ajoy Edwards and former TMC leader Binay Tamang, today staged a walkout from the GTA meeting being held at Gorkha Ranga Manch in Darjeeling.
It is to be noted, during the passing of a resolution against Bengal’s division by the Bengal Assembly earlier in February, TMC minister Sovandeb Chatterjee, during the debate, used the word “influx” while he was speaking about the Gorkha community and referred to adivasis as migrants. Following this, the opposition and hill leaders strongly condemned the statement, while the GTA remained silent.
Speaking regarding today’s event, Edwards maintained that the reason for them doing so was because the council did not agree to condemn the minister’s statement. He added that the GTA, which has been formed to work for the development of the region keeping in mind the ethnic identity of the Gorkhas and giving priority to the peaceful co-existence of all communities, should have opposed such statements made against the Gorkhas and tribal communities.
Adding to this, Binoy Tamang stated that he proposed to the board to condemn the minister’s statement and also pass the proposal of Gorkhaland against the motion passed by the Bengal Assembly.
On the other hand, GTA vice chairman Rajesh Chauhan maintained that today’s demonstration could not be called a walkout as the discussion on the seven agendas had already been over. Furthermore, the opposition did not even wait for a minute to hear the answer to the proposal they had kept.