Darjeeling, Sept. 13 -- A new outfit made an appearance in the Darjeeling Hill political arena on Sunday. Towing the single-point agenda of creation of the separate state of Gorkhaland, the party has been named 'Gorkhaland Sangram Party' (GSP).

Incidentally, the Naya Party Nirman Samity (NPNS) has been actively propagating the idea of Gorkhaland, conducting rallies and seminars. It finally gave birth to the GSP on Sunday. "The party has been created with the one-point agenda of Gorkhaland. We will not accept any other arrangement, other than the separate state," stated Sanjay Thulung of the GSP.

Addressing media persons, Thulung stated: "There are numerous Hill parties, but are they sincere regarding Gorkhaland? As they are not, we were compelled to open up a new party to carry forward the Gorkhaland demand legacy."

"Hill political parties claim that Gorkhaland is impossible. Why is it impossible? The Constitution of India allows the creation of new states, and the people's aspiration is that the Hills be a separate state," he added. He stated that the new party would take part in elections. "However, we want the GTA to be scrapped. We will in no way take part in the GTA elections," stated Thulung. The flag of the GSP was also launched on Sunday. The flag is of two colours, green and red, with two khukuris and a rising sun.

Regarding the Permanent Political Solution (PPS), Thulung stated: "There are stop-gap solutions like pain-killers and not the actual remedy. The Hills have been administered such pain-killers since ages. It will just damage the organs. Such arrangements do not help. On the contrary they just aggravate the problem further."

The party plans to take the Gorkhaland demand to the streets but in a democratic fashion, soon. In another political development, Mohammad Selim, state secretary, CPI-M, West Bengal, was in Darjeeling to attend a General Body meeting of the Darjeeling and Kurseong committee.

Later, talking to media persons, Selim stated: "What can BJP give in the name of the PPS. They don't have the political will. They turned Kashmir, a full-fledged state, into a union territory. Here too, they are just eyewashing the people. Do not get misled by their lollipop. They have not resolved a single issue in Eastern India; instead, they have aggravated the problems."

He stated that the CPI-M was for territorial autonomy. "All local self-governments, including panchayats and municipalities in West Bengal, have come to a standstill since the BJP came into power in the state."

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.