Bimal Gurung questioned the attitude of the state government
The display of camaraderie between the West Bengal government and separatist Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) was cut short Sunday after the Gorkha outfit once again raised the Gorkhaland issue.
The GJM, after a meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday said the “issue of Gorkhaland was now out of the syllabus” and vowed to work jointly for development of Darjeeling hills.
But only two days later, party supremo Bimal Gurung, on Sunday, questioned the attitude of the state government.
“The Bengalis have their Bengal but what about us Gorkhas? Whenever Mamata didi comes here, her words make us feel aggrieved. She should choose her words carefully,” said Gurung here.
The GJM, which earlier had said it wanted to run the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA)- the autonomous hill council, did a volte face and claimed the attitude of the Banerjee government was a hindrance in running the council.
“Her attitude is not appropriate. What the police are doing is not acceptable. But what can we do? She is running the government. But how long can we tolerate? She asks us to run the GTA, but can the GTA be run like this with so much interference?” asked Gurung.
He also claimed that the Trinamool Congress was accommodating “Maoists” in its ranks.
“She calls us Maoists but it’s her party workers who are former Maoists. There is a need for investigation into this,” added Gurung.
-IANS
