The Union home ministry apparently did not issue any “minutes” after the much-hyped October 12 meeting that Union home minister Amit Shah had chaired to discuss the resolution of Gorkha issues, the response to an RTI application has revealed.
The RTI reply by Renu Sarin, central public information officer and also director of Centre-state relations, Union ministry of home affairs, states: “No minutes has been issued in respect of the meeting convened by the Central Government on 12.10.2021 to discuss the matter regarding the resolution of issues related to Gorkhas.”
The response to the RTI query filed by a resident of Darjeeling has created a flutter in the political landscape of the hills.
Keshav Raj Pokhrel, spokesman, Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), who revealed the content at a media conference, said he was taking “full responsibility of the veracity of the RTI contents”. This newspaper was also shown a copy of the response by leaders of the BGPM but since the applicant’s name has not been revealed, the same could not be independently verified.
“The RTI query was filed by a resident of Darjeeling but we do not want to disclose his name. The content of the RTI response clearly suggests that the meeting conveyed by the BJP-led Centre was only an eyewash,” said Pokhrel.
In its 2019 Lok Sabha election manifesto, the BJP had promised “a permanent political solution” for the hills without clearly defining the PPS.
According to Pokhrel, the RTI applicant had also inquired whether Union home minister Shah had given any assurance on the formation of Gorkhaland.
“The applicant also wanted to know if there were any assurances on granting tribal status to 11 Gorkha communities, whether regional leaders who participated in the talks demanded Gorkhaland among others,” said Pokhrel.
Regarding other queries, the RTI reply says the information sought did not fall within the definition of “information” under the RTI Act.
“Why this secrecy? What is there to hide from the general public. The reply clearly suggests the BJP will not grant anything to the hill people and is only making the hill people go round and round,” said Pokhrel.
Neeraj Zimba, Darjeeling BJP MLA, who also attended the talks, said rival parties were trying to misinterpret the content of the RTI reply.
“The RTI reply says minutes have not been issued. It has not been said that the minutes of the meeting have not been recorded, written. The minutes have been recorded, it will be recorded when a meeting is chaired by the Union home minister, but probably because of some reasons like security, confidentiality, the Union home ministry probably believes it should not be in the public domain,” said Zimba.
