Gurung addresses the crowd at Bagrakote on Sunday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Siliguri, April 20: In his first ever public appearance in the Dooars, Bimal Gurung, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief, today held out a promise of deliverance to the “oppressed minorities” of the region.

He also dared the CPM to create a Nandigram-like situation, but said his party would not budge from its democratic form of struggle.

“Many adivasis and Nepalese work in the gardens of the Dooars. They are leading miserable lives because of the pathetic condition of the tea industry here, which is again a result of sustained neglect of the minorities by the state government. But in the new state of Gorkhaland, all these people will get a better deal, besides freedom from an oppressive government,” he said.

Gurung said the Morcha would intensify its campaigns in the Dooars. “Our journey has begun here,” he said. “It will end only at Sunkosh (the river Sankosh on the Assam border),” he added. The Morcha wants the Dooars up to the Sankosh and the Terai areas of Siliguri, along with the Darjeeling hills, to be made a part of Gorkhaland that it is demanding.

Having struck a chord with the 25,000 odd people who had gathered at Bhanu Maidan in Bagrakote, 30 km from here, Gurung used the opportunity to come down heavily on the government, police and, more specifically, Asok Bhattacharya, the CPM MLA from Siliguri and the state urban development minister.

Stressing that the Morcha struggle was democratic and peaceful, Gurung said the government was trying the patience of the hills people by not allowing them to stage demonstrations in Siliguri. “But we will continue with our democratic struggle,” he said. “Let them do whatever they want to, we will do whatever is required of us in a democratic manner to fight for our rights. Some day or the other, they have to relent,” he added.

Taking a swipe at the CPM, the Morcha chief said: “Even if they want to create another Nandigram here, we will not leave our path of non-violence…The people of the hills will give them an answer.” His praise was, however, reserved for only one person in the government: chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. “He is a very nice man and listens to what we have to say,” he said.

Sudesh Mahato, a leader of the All Jharkhand Students’ Union, was present with four of his party members at the meeting. He said his party would extend all support to the Morcha in its fight for Gorkhaland. Mahato is regarded as a popular tribal leader in the neighbouring state.

Atul Roy, the leader of Kamtapur Progressive Party, today led a rally of about 150 supporters of the Morcha and the KPP from near North Bengal Medical College till Shivmandir to raise the demand for Gorkhaland.