Talks on a permanent political settlement for the Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars have exposed a sharp divide among Gorkha parties, with one faction seeking a new autonomous body and others insisting that only a separate Gorkhaland state can resolve the region’s long-running demands.
Closed-door meetings have been under way since Thursday at a hotel in Darjeeling with Pankaj Kumar Singh, the interlocutor appointed by the Union government. Union Home Ministry joint secretary Arvind Kher and West Bengal Home Secretary Sanghamitra Ghosh are also attending the discussions, according to Sangbad Pratidin – Bengal.
At the first meeting, senior leaders of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha reportedly moved away from an immediate demand for a separate Gorkhaland and instead proposed bringing 396 Gorkha-majority mouzas in the Terai and Dooars plains under a new autonomous organisation. The party also submitted a memorandum to the interlocutor, general secretary Roshan Giri said.
The memorandum includes a demand for Scheduled Tribe status for 11 Gorkha communities and stronger constitutional safeguards for the long-term political and social security of the Gorkha population. Giri referred to the inclusion of multiple districts during the formation of the Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam while presenting the party’s position, the report said.
Other parties have maintained that a separate state remains essential. The Gorkhaland Apex Committee and the Indian Gorkha Janashakti Front said on Friday that a lasting settlement for the hills, Terai and Dooars would not be possible without the creation of a separate state. Ajay Edwards of the Gorkha Janashakti Front said any proposed state, regardless of its eventual name, should include Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Mirik, as well as the Terai and Dooars regions.
The competing positions place the current talks within a wider question of how political authority, territorial boundaries and constitutional protections should be structured across the northern West Bengal region. The demand for an autonomous institution would seek a new administrative arrangement within the existing constitutional framework, while the separate-state position seeks a much larger reorganisation of territory and governance.
The present process follows a high-level meeting between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and a Gorkha delegation in Siliguri in August. Based on decisions taken at that meeting, the Centre formed a special committee headed by Singh. The committee has been tasked with preparing and finalising a framework and agreement for a permanent political solution for the hill region within the Constitution of India.
The meetings are continuing behind closed doors, and the report does not specify whether the participating parties have reached a common position or when the committee will submit its final recommendations. The next formal steps will depend on the committee’s consultations with the political organisations and the positions recorded in the proposed settlement.
