Darjeeling:
Darjeeling will celebrate today as a tripartite agreement will be signed between the Government of India, the Government of West Bengal and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha creating an elected autonomous body for the administration of the hill subdivisions of Darjeeling district.
The signing ceremony is being held at Darjeeling's foothills in the presence of Home Minister P Chidambaram, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Morcha chief Bimal Gurung.
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha had been agitating for the last four years for a separate state of Gorkhaland. The body is likely to be called the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration with 45 elected and 5 nominated members and it will be armed with more powers compared to the older Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, formed in 1988.
The demand for Gorkhaland covering parts of northern Bengal gained momentum in the 1980s under the leadership of Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) supremo Subash Ghising. But the reins of the movement were later taken over by the Bimal Gurung-led GJM. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had opened dialogue with the GJM to resolve the long pending problem of the hills. Last month, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed the Darjeeling issue had been resolved.
The signing ceremony is being held at Darjeeling's foothills in the presence of Home Minister P Chidambaram, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Morcha chief Bimal Gurung.
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha had been agitating for the last four years for a separate state of Gorkhaland. The body is likely to be called the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration with 45 elected and 5 nominated members and it will be armed with more powers compared to the older Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, formed in 1988.
The demand for Gorkhaland covering parts of northern Bengal gained momentum in the 1980s under the leadership of Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) supremo Subash Ghising. But the reins of the movement were later taken over by the Bimal Gurung-led GJM. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had opened dialogue with the GJM to resolve the long pending problem of the hills. Last month, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed the Darjeeling issue had been resolved.
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