Mamata Banerjee Protests Centre’s Unilateral Appointment of Gorkha Interlocutor

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi today strongly protested the Centre's "unilateral" appointment of a former IPS as an interlocutor to hold discussion on the issues relating to the Gorkhas in Darjeeling Hills, Terai and Dooars regions of the state.

Banerjee urged the PM to consider the matter and revoke the appointment of the interlocutor.

She said the state firmly believed that any initiative concerning the Gorkha community or the GTA region must be undertaken in full consultation with the state government in order to preserve the hard earned peace and tranquility in the region.

“Any unilateral action in this sensitive matter will not be in the interest of peace and harmony in the region,” Mamata wrote.

"I am surprised and shocked to know that the government of India has appointed Pankaj Kumar Singh (former IPS) as an interlocutor to hold discussion on the issues relating to Gorkhas in Darjeeling Hills, Terai and Dooars of the state," Banerjee said in her letter to the PM.

“Such unilateral action is inconsistent with the spirit of cooperative federalism that forms one of the of the fundamental principles of the Indian constitution,” said Banerjee.

Reminding the PM that the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) was constituted following a tripartite agreement signed on July 18, 2011 at Darjeeling between the Centre, state and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) in the presence of the then union home minister and then CM (Banerjee).

The state ruling Trinamool Congress and its ally in the hills, the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), have dismissed the move as a political stunt ahead of the elections. The leaders said that the Centre had previously ignored repeated requests for dialogue on the issue, raising doubts about the timing and motives behind the appointment.

A separate report said the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), however, welcomed the appointment, seeing it as a positive step towards a political solution.