Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed shock and called for the withdrawal of the Center’s decision to appoint an interlocutor for the Gorkhaland issue in a strong letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.
“I am surprised and shocked to know that the Union government has appointed retired IPS officer Pankaj Kumar Singh as an interlocutor to hold discussions on the issues relating to Gorkhas in Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars regions of West Bengal,” the letter of two pages stated.
In the tripartite negotiations for a permanent political solution to the long-standing demand for a separate Gorkhaland statehood, which forks out the hills of Kurseong, Kalimpong, and Darjeeling as well as the portions of the plans in the Terai and Dooars regions of north Bengal, the Union government on Friday named Pankaj Kumar Singh, a former DG of the BSF and deputy National Security Advisor (NSA), as the mediator.
Despite the issues pertaining to the “governance, peace, and administrative stability of the area under Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA)”, an autonomous body under the West Bengal government, Banerjee asserted in the letter that the decision was made without consulting the state government. “Such unilateral action is inconsistent with the spirit of cooperative federalism that forms one of the fundamental principles of our Constitution,” she wrote in her letter.
In front of the then-Union Home Minister and the West Bengal Chief Minister, Banerjee reminded Modi that the GTA was established as a result of a Tripartite Agreement reached in July 2011 between the state, the Centre, and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM). She stated that the goal of the arrangement was to maintain peace and ethnic harmony while guaranteeing socioeconomic and cultural growth in the hill regions.
She added that her government’s focused and persistent efforts since 2011 had made the current state of peace and harmony in the area possible. “Our state’s hill districts have been characterized by serenity and calm. Our government’s consistent and coordinated efforts since taking office in 2011 have made this possible,” Banerjee wrote, adding that any unilateral action might upend the region’s hard-won peace.
According to her, the state administration believes that in order to preserve peace and harmony in the area, the Union government should only take any action pertaining to the Gorkha community or the GTA region after consulting the West Bengal government in full. “Any unilateral action in this sensitive matter will not be in the interest of peace and harmony in the region,” the letter reads.
Reiterating her government’s commitment to preserving peace in the hills in the true spirit of federalism and respect between the Center and states, she concluded the letter with “Happy Diwali To You” in her own handwriting and asked Modi to rescind the decision.
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