Gorkhaland Territorial Administration agreement signed

On July 18, 2011 a tripartite pact signed with the Union home secretary, the top leaders of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal has managed to make them sign on the dotted line of a broad-based agreement on Darjeeling, leading to the creation of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). It is a new chapter in the political history of the Darjeeling hills. The new administration will be vested with powers to regulate 54 subjects, unlike the 1988 creation of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council which was given control over only 19 subjects. For the past three weeks, chief secretary of West Bengal was involved in secret parleys with Gurung and his general secretary Roshan Giri. The Centre was appraised of all developments and had agreed to the Bengal government's concessions to the new Gorkhaland administration.

This is expected to end the agitations for a separate state for Gorkhas. The agreement envisages more powers for the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, or DGHC. Services in health, education and water supply sectors could improve as per the new pact.

Gorkhaland Territorial Administration to have territorial jurisdiction over the three subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong. Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has demanded certain mouzas from Siliguri Subdivision and Jalpaiguri District and as per the draft Memorandum of Agreement signed on 8th July 2011, a committee will be formed which will look into the matter.

Among all subjects, the power to control tea plantation is the most important one. Almost all the revenue in the Darjeeling hills flows from that sector. Anyone having control over tea plantation will have control over the financial purse of the area. The erstwhile Subhash Ghishing-led Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council did not have powers to regulate tea plantation and higher education among others. Police and law and order will remain a state subject.

Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council

Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council was the result of the Signing of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council Agreement between the Central Government of India, the West Bengal Government and the Gorkha National Liberation Front in Kolkata in August 22, 1988. The ceremony took place at the Banquet Hall, Raj Bhavan (The Governor's Palace) at 10 A.M. The signatories to this tripartite agreement were: C. G. Somaih, Union Home Secretary (on the behalf of the Central Government of India), R. N. Sengupta, the State Chief Secretary (on the behalf of the Government of West Bengal) and Subash Ghishing (on the behalf of Gorkha National Liberation Front as the representative of the people of Darjeeling District. The Union Home Minister, Buta Singh and the West Bengal Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu, also put their signatures on the agreement.

Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), previously known as Darjeeling Gorkha Autonomous Hill Council (DGAHC) is an autonomous body that looks after the administration of the District of Darjeeling in the state of West Bengal, India. GHC has three subdivisions under its authority: Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and Kurseong.

On the 7th of June 2011, it was revealed that a 'bilateral agreement had been reached between the representatives of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the representatives of the State Government wherein the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha had accepted the State Government's proposal for the formation of an 'autonomous administrative setup' replacing Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, a party formed by former GNLF councilor Bimal Gurung had after ousting GNLF supremo Subash Ghisingh from the post of the Caretaker Chairman of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in 2008 re-initiated the Gorkhaland Movement. In 2010, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha showed its willingness to negotiate with the State Government and accept an 'alternative' to Gorkhaland. In June 2011 thence after the formation of the new Trinamul Congress Government at Kolkata, the party signed a bilateral agreement with the State Government agreeing to the formation of an 'autonomous administrative setup'.

On 8th of June 2011, an agreement on the draft of Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the State Government of West Bengal and the representatives of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha was further reached naming the 'autonomous administrative setup' to replace Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council as Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.

Gorkhaland

Gorkhaland is the name of the proposed state in India demanded by the Nepali/Gorkhali-speaking Gorkha ethnic group in Darjeeling and the Dooars in North West Bengal. The demand for a separate administrative unit in this region has existed since 1907, when the Hillmen's Association of Darjeeling submitted a memorandum to Minto-Morley Reforms demanding a separate administrative setup. View of Darjeeling, where the Gorkhaland movement is based. In Independent India, Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL) was the first political party from the region to demand greater identity for the Gorkha ethnic group and economic freedom for the community.

The movement for a separate state gained serious momentum during the 1980s, when a violent agitation was carried out by Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) led by Subash Ghising. The agitation ultimately led to the establishment of a semiautonomous body in 1988 called the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) to govern certain areas of Darjeeling district. However, in 2008, a new party called the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha raised the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland once again.

The demand for Gorkhaland has taken a new turn with the assassination of Madan Tamang, leader of Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League. He was stabbed to death allegedly by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters on May 21, 2010, in Darjeeling, which led to a spontaneous shutdown in the three Darjeeling hill sub-divisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong.

After the murder, the West Bengal government threatened action against Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, whose senior leaders are named in the FIR, meanwhile hinting discontinuation of ongoing talks over interim arrangement with the Gorkha party, saying it had "lost popular support following the assassination".

On 8 February 2011, three GJM activists were shot dead (one of whom succumbed to her injuries later) by the police as they tried to enter Jalpaiguri district on a padyatra led by Bimal Gurung from Gorubathan to Jaigaon. This led to violence in the Darjeeling hills and an indefinite strike was called by GJM that lasted 9 days.

In the West Bengal state assembly election, 2011 held on 18 April 2011, GJM candidates won three Darjeeling hill assembly seats, proving that the demand for Gorkhaland was still strong in Darjeeling. GJM candidates Trilok Dewan won from Darjeeling constituency, Harka Bahadur Chhetri from Kalimpong constituency, and Rohit Sharma from Kurseong constituency. Wilson Champramari, an independent candidate supported by GJM, also won from Kalchini constituency in the Dooars.

GJM
Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM or GJMM) is a registered political party, which campaigns for the creation of a separate state (Gorkhaland) within India, out of districts in the north of West Bengal. The party was launched on 7 October 2007.

GNLF

Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) is a political party in the Darjeeling District of West Bengal, India. It was formed in 1980 by Subhash Ghisingh with the objective of demanding a Gorkhaland state within India.