The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) Saturday threatened tolaunch another protest campaign to press for its demand for a separateGorkhaland.
It is upset that a committee set up for inclusion of additional areas in theproposed Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in northern West Bengalrecommended inclusion of only five areas into the hill development council.
Going a step further, a faction of a tribal outfit active in the Dooars(foothills of the Himalayas) region in north Bengal said the demand for a"Gorkhaland state" would be revived.
The 10-member committee, headed by Judge (retd.) Shyamal Kumar Sen,submitted the report Friday night which was read out to reporters by WestBengal Chief Secretary Samar Ghosh Saturday.
The committee was set up July 29 last year after the GJM demanded 398additional mouzas (area less than a sub-division) spread over Darjeeling andJalpaiguri districts to be included in the GTA -- a new hill council that wouldrun the administration in Darjeeling area.
It is armed with more powers than its predecessor, Darjeeling Gorkha HillCouncil (DGHC), formed in the 1980s.
The committee, which considered parameters such as homogeneity, (whetherover 50 percent of the Mouza population was Gorkha), contiguity, compactnessand ground reality, said only two mouzas in Jalpaiguri and three in Darjeelingfulfilled all the criteria for being part of the GTA.
Ghosh said the government has not finalised its stand on the report."I've come to merely brief you on the report's contents," he said.
Ghosh said though members of the GJM and the state government were membersof the panel, it had been decided that they would not be part of the committee'sdecision-making process which was left to Justice Sen.
Asked when the GTA elections would be held, he said: "It was earlierdecided that the panel will submit its report in early June and polls will beheld in July. We will get back to you when we work out the exacttime-table".
However, the GJM is angry.
"The recommendation is a farce. We do not accept this. The people of(Darjeeling Hills) are with us. We will go on a stir. We were hoping to getover 150 mouzas," GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said.
GJM spokesman Harka Bahadur Chhetri called the recommendations an insult tothe hill people.
"The number of mouzas given are much lower than out expectation. Peopleare alleging that Gorkha majority areas have been shown as minorityareas," Chhetri said.
He said the GJM would hold a meeting Sunday in Darjeeling and decide on itsnext course of action.
Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad (ABAVP), a tribal body active in theDooars and which had been fighting against the inclusion of any additionalmouzas in the GTA, welcomed the report.
"We don't have any objection to the mouzas given to the GTA," saidABAVP leader Birsa Tirkey.
However, John Barla, leader of the pro-GJM faction of the ABAVP, rejectedthe recommendations. "We will start an agitation. We will revive themovement for a separate state."
The opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said it wanted peacein the hills.
"We also want peaceful resolution to the Darjeeling problem. We are notcertain whether peace will return to Darjeeling following the GTA treaty,"said CPI-M state committee member Ashok Bhattacharya.
The three picturesque Darjeeling hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kurseyongand Kalimpong have been on the boil for nearly three decades due toanti-government protests over the demand for a separate Gorkhaland state.
On July 18 last year, a tripartite agreement was signed between the GJM andthe state and central governments for setting up the new autonomous, electedGTA. The hills have been peaceful since then.