GTA a step towards achievement of Gorkhaland: GJM

Darjeeling, Jul 22: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today (Jul 22) said GTA, the new hill council to run the administration in the Darjeeling hills, is a step towards achievement of Gorkhaland, an indication that they are not going back on their demand for a separate state.

"The word ''Gorkhaland'' has been legitimised and this is a victory... We can now say we come from Gorkhaland. We are now playing the semi-finals and we now only have to get a Gorkhaland state," GJM president Bimal Gurung said at a rally here at the Mall to celebrate the tripartite agreement signed at Pintail village on July 18.

He said GJM General Secretary Roshan Giri had visited Assam to study the Bodoland Territorial Council established there in 2003.

After his return it was discussed by the GJM's central committee and a similar model - Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA)- was adopted, Gurung said.

The people had worked tirelessly during the 44-month agitation, he said, adding they should not be upset about Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying that West Bengal will not be divided.

"You should not be upset by her speech. It was political compulsion on her part which prompted her to say it," Gurung said.

PTI