The answer to the Darjeeling problem was to grant it the status of union territory, BJP MP Jaswant Singh said today.
"Authorities in Delhi and Calcutta should recognise that the inhabitants of Darjeeling are in no way Bengalis and you cannot permanently tie it to Bengal as if they are Bengalis," Singh, the MP from Darjeeling, said on the sidelines of a book launch here.
"So, is a separate state of Gorkhaland an answer? I have explained it to my supporters that the answer lies in union territory status," he said.
"Don't aspire to form a state out of one district. There is another way--if Sikkim and Darjeeling are merged--but that's a long process. But for that also, you have to take the first step of getting union territory status," Singh said.
Referring apparently to West Bengal government's stand that there would be no division of the state, Singh said "I'm not being judgemental, I understand about the psychology that Bengal has about this term 'Banga bhanga' (division of Bengal)."
He said that during the time of Lord Curzon there was a partition and then again in 1947. "Over the years, Bengal has lost territory and that has influenced Bengal.
