DARJEELING,: Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) chief Anit Thapa and
Darjeeling MLA Neeraj Zimba on Friday “apologized” to the people of Sikkim over
the recent statement made by Hamro Party president Ajoy Edwards while also accusing
him of trying to disrupt the relationship between Sikkim and Darjeeling hills.
Edwards
had recently threatened to block the NH 10, the main route of Sikkim, over the
different demands of the flash flood victims of Teesta belt in the West Bengal
side. While blaming the NHPC, he said that Teesta Urja power project in North
Sikkim was also at fault for the flash flood of October 2023. He had asserted
that the natural calamity had started from Sikkim and not the West Bengal side.
Speaking
to the press here, Thapa who also heads the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration
(GTA) said, “I feel that Edwards should think first and make statements as
natural disasters are not caused by someone but takes place on its own. That
disaster caused damage not only for the people of Ramphu and Teesta area but
more damage was seen in the Sikkim area. No one can stop such calamities from
taking place and no one including a government wants something like this to
happen.”
“By making
such statements he is damaging the relationship we have with Sikkim with whom
we share strong bonds. The politics might be different in these two places, but
we have a blood relationship with them,” he added.
Thapa
maintained that after his leadership started from 2017, they had not allowed
any strike in the hills and would continue to do so.
“When we
make a political statement, I feel that it should not hurt the sentiments of
the people here in the hills or that of the people of Sikkim. As a leader we
should take care that it does not hut the relationship that we have with
Sikkim,” said Thapa.
“In the
past too, when road blockades were held in the highway the people of Sikkim had
to suffer. As the head of the GTA I want to assure the Sikkim government that
till I am there in power I will not allow any bandh to take place. I also ask
the people of Sikkim not to take this statement by heart and want to assure
them that I will not let them face any difficulty. From here we will not do
anything that will hurt the people of Sikkim,” said Thapa.
On the
other hand, Zimba in a press release, said, “As an elected representative of
Darjeeling I am compelled to extend an apology to the people of Sikkim.
Edwards, in his rash and reckless statements, has not only failed to represent
the dignity of our shared heritage but has also exhibited a disturbing
ignorance of the delicate bonds that unite us as neighbours.”
Zimba
claimed that Edwards’s remarks had struck a discordant note in the symphony of
harmony that has long defined the relationship between Sikkim and Darjeeling.
“Edwards’s
accusation, that Sikkim bears responsibility for a natural calamity, is as
absurd as it is audacious. To suggest blocking NH10, an artery of life for a
border State is not only reckless but dangerously cavalier. One wonders if he
understands that politics is not a game of hurling accusations but a noble
pursuit of solving the intricate puzzles of governance,” said Zimba.
The
Darjeeling MLA also questioned the “newfound bravery” of Edwards as to why he
had not raised his voice for the flood victims when the West Bengal Chief
Minister was there in Darjeeling.
“Instead
of casting aspersions on Sikkim, I urge you to turn your attention to the
unfulfilled promises and unmet needs of your own people,” said Zimba in the
press statement while alleging that Edwards had failed to deliver anything in
Darjeeling Sadar 2 where he had been elected as a Sabhasad.
In the
press statement, Zimba also apologized to the people of Sikkim maintaining that
Edwards does not know what he says.
