Darjeeling: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's Binay Tamang camp on
Friday questioned Bimal Gurung's claim that he was "living in the
jungles in suffering", a day after the party chief surfaced in Delhi.
The Tamang lobby accused Gurung of trying to "play with the
emotions of the hill people" with his "story of distress" while "living
in luxury" in the capital.
Anit Thapa, the second-in-command of the Binay camp, said in a
written statement: "Bimal Gurung talks about being in the jungles for
Gorkhaland and living a life of suffering. He is spreading lies to whip
up emotions."
"Along with 15-20 supporters, he has been camping in Delhi for
long. He gave as much trouble as he could to the common people and is
now living a life of luxury in Delhi," said Thapa.
The Tamang lobby alleged that Gurung had always raised the
"Gorkhaland slogan" only to stay in power. "His three agitations (2007,
2013, 2017) were raised only to stir emotions and stay in power. The
agitation failed because of his lack of vision and direction," said
Thapa.
Gurung had on Friday told a group of journalists in Delhi that he was open to dialogue with the Bengal government.
"This was exactly what we had suggested him on August 29. We
had told him that in a federal structure, one has to talk to the state
government and he has realised this five months later, albeit a bit
late. If he had understood what we were trying to convey, then probably
(many of) our people would not have died, many would not have been
jailed," Thapa said.
The BJP drew fire too. Hill residents have been angry at the
stoic silence of S.S. Ahluwalia, Darjeeling's BJP MP, during the 104-day
statehood strike last year.
"Gurung has become a puppet of the BJP. If he thinks the BJP
is sincere about statehood, he must seek a resolution from the BJP on
statehood and the Darjeeling MP must table a bill in Parliament. The BJP
is only playing with our emotions," said Thapa.
Observers believe, however, that the BJP will not be able to
table such a bill in Parliament given its interests in Bengal where the
statehood demand is opposed. "The BJP is getting cornered in the hills,"
said an observer.
Many believe it will be difficult for Gurung to refute the
allegations. "Gurung is not finding any leader in the hills to put
forward his case," said another observer.
The Telegraph
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