"Basu Has Not Opposed It"

How has your call for a separate state been received?

No one has opposed it, neither at all-party meetings here, nor on any other forum. The local CPI(M) is silent and Jyoti Basu has not opposed it.

Are you disillusioned with the Gorkha Autonomous Council which was set up after such a long, often violent, agitation?

Look, what is the council, after all? It is nothing but a compromise, a political compromise. It was Rajiv Gandhi who supported it, so did the Left. In fact, everybody then (in the late '80s) insisted, "take this council, all your problems will be solved".

What went wrong?

We had no financial powers, the Centre did not give us anything. We couldn't do many things we wanted to.

What about the LF government?

I am still trying to persuade them that I am not anti-Bengal or anti-Bengali. Gorkhas and Bengalis must live in perfect harmony. This will be possible only when we have Gorkhaland.

How have the BJP and Congress reacted to the Gorkhaland call?

I told you nobody spoke against our call in the all-party meetings. Not that the BJP or Congress matter here. Only the GNLF does. Go to our meetings in the villages where they are hailing Deve Gowda. The hills are excited, especially after V.P. Singh's remarks supporting the cause of Gorkhaland, Bodoland...

What will be your next step?

Ask V.P. Singh or Deve Gowda. They are the people, the Prime Minister and a former prime minister, who have said what they felt to be true. Who am I?

So when are you going to Delhi?

I believe the Left leaders are talking to the Union government. There must be discussions. The Centre gave us a pretty nebulous concept, this autonomy thing. At the state level, too, we seem to be fighting all the time. To think that Netaji Subhas Bose gave the Gorkhas such a high place in his Indian National Army. It is better this question of an identity for the Gorkhas is settled finally.