JOIN USThe Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) is trying to pay back West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in her own coin.
Taking a cue from the constitution of several ethnic community boards by the West Bengal government in the Darjeeling Hills as well as in the Terai and Dooars region, the GJM leadership on Monday reached out to the adivasi (tribal) community in the plains, promising them an autonomous council under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, if the Centre grants their demand of a separate state of Gorkhaland.
“It is not only the hills and the hill people who are deprived. The adivasis of Dooars and Terai are also suffering as the state government has done little for them other than paying lip service.
“If the Centre gives its nod to a separate state of Gorkhaland, we assure an autonomous council for the adivasis under the Independent Tribal Development Project under Schedule 6 of the Constitution. We shall ensure that their language, literature and culture are preserved and developed. We will work towards development of the tea gardens,” GJM president Bimal Gurung said.