Darjeeling hill issues, including access to education, drinking water, employment and safety, returned to the centre of political debate after CPM state secretary Md Salim called for a permanent constitutional solution for the region’s residents.
Speaking after a meeting of CPM workers from the Darjeeling and Kurseong subdivisions at Kalamandir in the hill town on Sunday, Salim demanded territorial autonomy within the framework of the Indian Constitution. He alleged that the BJP-led central government was diverting attention from the basic problems faced by people in the hills.
Salim said the Centre was appointing interlocutors and forming task forces instead of addressing the concerns raised by hill residents. “The BJP and central government are not sincere about redressing the basic issues of the hill residents. Instead, they are dangling lollipops, sometimes by appointing an interlocutor, or by forming a task force, to divert their attention from the very basic rights,” he said.
The issues identified by the CPM leader cover several essential services and livelihood concerns in the Darjeeling hills. Education and drinking water relate directly to the delivery of public services, while employment and safety reflect wider questions around economic security and everyday governance in the region.
Salim said the CPM had consistently supported a permanent political solution to the demands of hill residents through territorial autonomy under the Constitution. He also accused the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh of not following the constitutional principle of “Unity in Diversity”.
“RSS and BJP are not in favour of diversity, which is the basis of the Indian Constitution, and have snatched the democratic rights of people as they did for the people of Bengal, Bihar and Delhi,” Salim said.
Saman Pathak, secretary of the CPM’s Darjeeling district committee, said the party was seeking the “highest form of regional autonomy” with a constitutional guarantee. He said the party believed that such autonomy would ensure the basic rights of people living in the hills.
“We have always demanded the highest form of regional autonomy with a constitutional guarantee. Only that highest form of autonomy will ensure the basic rights of the hill people and we will continuously keep on raising the issue,” Pathak said.
The CPM’s intervention places the delivery of basic services alongside the long-running political demand for greater autonomy in the Darjeeling hills. The party has said it will continue raising the issue, but the report did not indicate any new government decision, formal proposal or implementation timeline arising from the meeting.
