The Hon’ble Minister of External Affairs Shri Pranab Mukherjee gave us an opportunity to present our case for the creation of a separate state of Gorkhaland. Each member of the delegation presented different aspects of the demand and the reasons for which it was raised.
Shri Mukherjee heard the delegation with grave concern. He observed the otu demand for the creation of a separate state of Gorkhaland was a constitutional demand and not anti-national. He said that the Congress (I) was not averse to the idea of creating smaller states and outlined the backdrop in which the Congress (I) had examined the matter, including the demand for creation of Gorkhaland, by a committee chaired by him in October 2000.
The Honorable Minister concluded by saying that he had now fully apprised of the various aspects of the demand and had been given a frist hand account of the facts, he woul dnow confer with the Hon’ble Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and the Congress (I) President Smt. Sonia Gandhi as to what further steps would be taken concerning the demand.
The nine member delegation was led by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha General Secretary Shri Roshan Giri comprising of vice president Pradip Pradhan, Shri Amar Lama, Shri Anmol Prasad, Shri P Arjun, Dr. Rohit Sharma, Dr. Ram Bhujel, Shri Palden Lama and Shri Taranga Pandit. Shri Dawa Narbula, Hon’ble Member of Parliament from Darjeeling was also present during the discussions held at an informal level.