Kolkata, December 21
A three-hour long tripartite meeting at Darjeeling today failed to take any decision on the Gorkhaland demand. But it was decided that further talks would be held at the political level within 45 days to reach a solution.
After the meeting, Union Home Secretary G K Pillai, who headed a five-member Central team, told mediapersons that they had discussed in detail several matters related to the formation of the separate statehood of Gorkhaland but no decision could be adopted since the decision needed a “political sanction”. As demanded by the GJM, discussion in this connection would be held within 45 days.
“We carried with us a solution formula but since the GJM leaders demanded political talks at the appropriate level, we did not place the formula at the meeting,” Pillai said.
State home secretary A. Sen said since the discussions would be held later at the political level, they had not submitted any compromise formula at the meeting. He said after returning to Kolkata, they would submit a detailed report to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
The GJM secretary, Roshan Giri, heading a 16-member team, claimed the meeting was successful as both the Centre and the state government had agreed to the demand for a separate Gorkhaland. But since a political consensus was needed, there would be further talks at the highest political level within the next 45 days, he said, adding that at last they were going to get their Gorkhaland, which was a 100-year-old demand. The GJM president, Bimal Gurung, who did not participate in the meeting since the Chief Minister was not present, said he was hopeful about the creation of Gorkhaland within the next two or three months but their mass hunger strike and the ongoing agitation would continue after the Christmas celebration from December 26.
The Chief Minister, however, said a separate Gorkhaland would not be beneficial either for the Gorkha people or the state. He suggested that some suitable alternative which would be acceptable to both would have to be evolved.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee welcomed the decision of holding further talks on the Gorkhaland issue but he warned that if something was thrust upon them that would not be acceptable. He said the Centre was opposed to the formation of any more new states by bifurcating any existing statehood.
The meeting, held at the Mayfair guest house in Darjeeling, began at 11 am and it continued till 2.50 pm.
The meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere and there was no other discussion except the Gorkhaland issue, said West Bengal chief secretary A.M. Chakraborty, who led a five-member official team at the meeting.
