The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and the District Information and Cultural Department marked the 122nd birth anniversary of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose here on Wednesday. The event at Chowrastha here marked the first time that the GTA and the district administration jointly marked the occasion, while it sent across indications that the two sides are here to work together without any dispute, unlike in times when GJMM leader Bimal Gurung was at the helm of the GTA.

The first signs of the two sides working together was, however, clear on 22 December last year when the two sides held a meeting and passed an order to eight block development offices in the Hills, asking them to form an 11-member Block Level Development Committee with the chairperson and the vice-chairperson of the panel being nominated from among the locals of that area.

The committee had also been asked to give a fortnightly report to the GTA and the district magistrate of their work. “We paid our respects to Netaji. The ideals he, along with other freedom fighters, followed, we must keep it and preserve it with us. Youths should also know that we got a free democratic country after a lot of sacrifice,” Darjeeling District Magistrate Joyoshi Dasgupta said. However, unlike the past few years, chief minister Mamata Banerjee was absent at the event today.

It may be mentioned here that Miss Banerjee had been attending Netaji’s birthday function in Darjeeling for the past around four years until last year. Apart from highlighting Netaji as a freedom fighter, Ms Dasgupta also spoke on his fight against oppression of women, and that he also worked against the caste system.

Though members of the GTA board, including its chairman Binoy Tamang, were not present in today’s function, the executive director of the Information and Culture department of the GTA, Suden Tshering, represented the GTA, along with other officials.

The gathering earlier paid homage to the bust of Netaji at Ladenla Road, while the district magistrate and other officials offered him khadas to the bust (traditional white scarf ), followed by the programme at Chowrasta. Apart from speeches, patriotic songs were sung and the families of two freedom fighters in the Hills–Ganga Tshering Dukpa and Helen Lepchawere felicitated.

It may be mentioned here that chief minister Mamata Banerjee had been attending Netaji’s birthday function in Darjeeling for the past around four years.