DARJEELING, : Darjeeling MLA
Neeraj Zimba has written to Indian President DroupadiMurmu seeking constitutional
demerger of Darjeeling and its adjoining areas from the State of West Bengal, considering
its historical and administrative legacy.
In
a letter addressed to the President of India, Zimba said, “There is a
long-standing and unresolved demand for the administrative demerger of the
Darjeeling Hills and its adjoining regions from the State of West Bengal and the
need for constitutional reconsideration towards conferring an
appropriate administrative status under the relevant provisions of
the Constitution of India.”
Zimba
maintains that this demand is being made not in pursuit of “secessionist
sentiment” but in defence of constitutional rectitude and historical justice.“It
arises from the deep-seated aspirations of the Indian Gorkhas and the other
indigenous hill communities, whose distinct history,identity, and
administrative past were assimilated into the State of West Bengal through a
post-Independence legislative act devoid of democratic consultation or
participatory consent,” said Zimba.
The
Darjeeling MLA, in the letter, cites points like the historical
and constitutional context where he reasons that the territories that comprise
present-day Darjeeling district and its adjoining areas share no organic
historical, cultural, or administrative continuity withBengal. He goes on to
add how places like Darjeeling along with Kalimpong and Dooars were added to
West Bengal in the past.
Zimba
also said that the first formal demand for a separate administrative arrangement
for this region was submitted in 1907.The other point he mentions in the letter
includes the role of the President as protector of the constitution, asking the
president to invoke her sacred role not as a formality, but with the solemn
hope that will lend her voice and consideration to this cause.
Zimba
appealed to the president to constitute a high-level Constitutional commission
to examine the legal, historical, and political context of Darjeeling's merger
with West Bengal, and to recommend appropriate options for administrative
demerger or reorganisation. He also asked the president to initiate a
national consultative process involving the Central government, the State government,
and regional stakeholders to arrive at a democratic and sustainable political
solution along with ensuring the preservation, promotion, and institutional
recognition of the unique identity, language, culture, and aspirations of the
Indian Gorkhas and other indigenous communities of the Darjeeling region.
“The
Indian Gorkhas and the people of Darjeeling have always stood resolute in their
patriotism guarding the frontiers, enriching the Republic's diversity and
contributing with honour to the service ofthe nation. What they now seek is not
separation but recognition, not disruption, but dignified reorganisation,” said
Zimba.
