The Darjeeling MLA Neeraj Zimba today in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly maintained that the Gorkhas were not seeking division of the state but seeking “demerger of those areas that had been forcefully made a part of Bengal”.
Zimba was today speaking on the “motion against the division of the state” brought forward in the Assembly, which he vehemently opposed.
In his speech Zimba said that he wanted to clarify the misconceptions about the demand of ‘Gorkhaland State’.
“It has been blatantly dismissed and suppressed by the corridors of power in Kolkata time and again by saying that it is a demand for dividing Bengal and by labelling us secessionist, separatist and anti-national despite our having a different history, language, culture, heritage and demography,” said Zimba in the Assembly.
“The demand of the people of Darjeeling is not about the division of West Bengal or to divide Bengal’s Territory. Our demand is for demerger of that part of land that was merged with West Bengal in 1947, after India’s Independence and was officially incorporated into West Bengal only in 1956 under Schedule V of the Absorbed Areas (Laws) Act 1954,” he said in his speech while maintaining that Darjeeling was once an integral part of Sikkim.
The Darjeeling MLA also pointed out that the demand for Gorkhaland state was about seeking a rightful place for the region’s culture and history in India’s political map under the Constitutional provision. He further added that they wanted to carve their own distinct identity.
Reiterating the distinction between ‘Separation’ and ‘Demerger’, Zimba in his speech said, “I strongly object the ulterior motive behind bringing such a motion which is against the true letter and spirit of Article 3 of the Constitution and any act/motion in violation of the Constitution is also anti- national.”
