DARJEELING: "Dicatorship is gaining ground in Darjeeling Hills," said Madan Tamang, President of All India Gorkha League. Speaking at a public meeting organised by by the party, Tamang said, "We will not accept Dictatorship. No one should be able to force upon the people things that they do not like. Let people wear whatever they wish to. Everyone must be allowed to express themselves and offer their own personal opinion about everything happening in the hills. If this goes on everyone with a different opinion will be chased out from the hills."
Alleging that All India Gorkha League cadres were attacked while they were returning to Maneybhanjyang from Kalimpong, Tamang said, "Aren’t we living in a democracy? Are we living in China or what? Won’t we be allowed to eat what we like, live however we like? I pray to the Lord Mahakala that these people be given some wisdom." He said pointing out to the leaders of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.
Alleging that some parties were trying to uproot All India Gorkha League, Tamang said, "Subash Ghisingh used to say the same things. I will uproot Gorkha League. Look what happened to him. I didn’t have to do anything. People who are trying to uproot Gorkha League should first of all try to make their own foundations strong. By saying that we will uproot Gorkha League we are cursing ourself. We should all learn from what happened to Ghisingh. I have never done politics by seating at the sofa in Pintail village. We are demanding for a separate state of Gorkhaland because we want total development of the hills and Dooars Terai in every field. This includes political, social, economical and cultural development among others. Today a Science College is being inagurated in Siliguri. It have been inagurated in Darjeeling. Are we only supposed to be porters? In Sikkim they have 120 seats reserved for MBBS courses, 180 seats reserved for BE, 125 seats reserved for ME and so on but why aren’t there any seats reserved for more than 1 million people in the Hills? Ghisingh ruled through the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council for 18 years but nothing ever came out of it. Sikkim receives 8700 crores in a year. We receive 5000 crores in a decade. I am not saying that Sikkim is getting more than she deserves. I am only saying that we should also receive our share."
Speaking on the issue of the implementation of GL vehicle registration numbers Tamang said, "I am ready to put in on my car but then it is easy to put it but hard to remove it. I don’t want to remove it when I reach Sukna. I want to use it beyond Sukna. In fact, I invite all the leaders of Gorkha Janmutki Morcha to go with me to New Jalpaiguri with the GL plate. Will they? When they themselves removed the GL numbers at Sukna and replaced it with West Bengal Vehicle registration numbers to enter Siliguri, the entire issue smells of duplicity. These leaders are just yes men and nothing else. I also ask leaders of other political parties like Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party to pass a resolution on Gorkhaland and send it to their state and central committees. Just talking about Gorkhaland here won’t work. People like Dawa Norbula are the worst Member of Parliament that we have ever had in our history. He is only worried about votes. Does he has the guts to come out in Darjeeling in the open and tell us that he is in favour of Gorkhaland? No! Why doesn’t he resign from his post and comes out in open in favour of Gorkhaland? Because he won’t get any more Member of Parliament Local Area Development Fund. Anyways where did all the MPLAD fund go? I have never seen any project? This is a man who when inquired by reporters tried to hide his face and say that all these questions were being asked to malign him. What kind of MP is he? He said that there is not much he can do beside arranging for places to stay for leaders visiting Delhi. Has he become a real estate agent? It is really a sad thing. People will have to understand what kind of people they are sending to the Parliament. I also want to ask a question to Gorkha Janmukti Morcha Central Committee member Anmol Prasad, during the raids at the houses of former Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council Councilors, files were seized without warrant, where have those files gone? Thousands of crores of scams were unearthed, what happened to these scams? We have been told by the Police that the files were tampered and the cases were ruled in favour of Subash Ghisingh. How come the lawyers who have now become leaders could lead that to happen? The files were in their possession. They tell me that I am always suspicious. But if things were transparent and fair, I would have no reason to be suspicious. I am suspicious because you make me suspicious. I am not against Gorkha Janmukti Morcha all I want to say is that there must be transperancy. Gorkhaland must be achieved by Collective Leadership who are directly responsible to the people. Through a collective forum we will be even stronger. Let no party contest or take part in any election, our objective is Gorkhaland not some setup meant to hoodwink us. I request you the people to be careful. There might come a time when we might be told what to eat and what not to eat."
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