Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) President Anit Thapa Appeals for Peace Amidst Land Dispute in North Bengal Tea Gardens

For the sake of peace, Anit Thapa, the president of the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) and the head of the Gorkhaland Territorial government (GTA), asked the district government on Monday not to perform a ground-level survey of tea garden land.

The state government has agreed to give the north Bengali tea garden employees 5 decimals of land, although many in the hills are unwilling to take it.

Thapa attempted to calm the roiling seas on Monday when tempers were at their highest. I ask that a land surveyor from the district government not go to the tea gardens. Forms may alternatively be kept by the government at the land reform offices. The paperwork are available at the office for those who are ready to tolerate 5 decimals, said Thapa.

Thapa pleaded, "Let this strife, which began in the highlands due to land pattas, finish here.

The state government announced on August 1 that it will allocate up to five decimal places of land to employees and other residents in north Bengal's tea farms.

Opposition to the plan has emerged, however. The management of the tea industry opposes giving employees access to land. Opposition parties oppose it as well, arguing that rather than a 5-decimal limit, the whole land should be distributed to workers since many tea garden employees already own more than 5 decimals of it. Many politicians claim that if the state government recovers property with more than five decimals from settlers, it may then give plots to private actors.

Many people disagreed with the usage of the phrase "landless" in the letter and said that settlers had owned land for many years but lacked proper documentation.

Various gardens have reported that employees are preventing land reform inspectors from assessing their tea plantations. There have also been reports of contentious discussions on land distribution between BGPM leaders and locals when the leaders were visiting tea estates.

Thapa requested that his party's leaders refrain from discussing the subject in front of the media or on talk shows.