To press on with the demand for Gorkhaland,Bimal Gurung, the GTA chief resigned from his post also.In the course of the strike,a youth supporter of Gorkhaland Mr.Mangal Singh Rajput self immolated and succumbed to his injuries on the 4th of August.In the demand for Gorkhaland several women shaved off their hair.Ramayanti Rai who was among the eight women who shaved their hair at Chowk Bazar and one of more than 100 women shaved off their hair in the region said,“For a woman,hair is considered an ornament,an asset.We have cut off our hair to send a message that we are ready to sacrifice everything for the cause of Gorkhaland.”The agitators had organized various kinds of demonstrations for the cause.Some youth had lain half naked along roads while others were seen with‘Gorkhaland’written on their bodies.

The Background

Size doesn’t matter Darjeeling hill covers 3,150 kilometers and has a population of more than 13 lakh.In the foothills there are Terai and Duars region.Some part of Terai falls under Darjeeling District but Duars completely falls under Jalpaiguri district.In both regions,the population is predominantly Gorkha followed by Adivasis. The ethnic Gorkhas are different from the Bengali speaking community in culture, language and tradition. Historically,Darjeling was never part of Bengal and was leased by the British from the kingdom of Sikkim in 1835.The Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution lists 22 recognized languages,of which Nepali and Bodo are two languages without their own provinces. There is an opinion that the formation of separate state Gorkhaland with only a Darjeleing district is not viable whereas Telangana is bigger even than Bengal.The argument holds no water as there are many states which are even smaller than Darjeeling district such as Sikkim and Goa.Sikkim has a lesser population than Darjeeling;Goa is smaller in size than Darjeeling but both states have fared well in the developmental process like any of the bigger states of the country.The Vatican city,a country formed in 1929 is even smaller than Darjeeling. It has an area of only 1900 acre.Similarly, countries like Singapore and Monaco are also small in size.Thus the idea of Gorkhaland as a state should not be scrapped in terms of size alone.It has all the requisite factors to become a state but,it lacks of only the political will power of leaders in making it so.

The demand for a separate state of the Gorkhas is traced to the year 1907 and is one of the oldest demands for statehood in India.However,in more recent times,the mass movement for Gorkhaland was first led by Mr.Subash Ghising.During the 80s Ghising formed the Gorkha National Liberation Front(GNLF)under his own chairmanship.Though the agitation was basically militancy oriented in nature,it became very popular even outside the country.However Ghising soon stooped before the Centre and the West Bengal government and agreed on the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council(DGHC).Ghising ruled the Darjeeling Hills with an iron fist for 20 years during which nobody had the guts to speak against him.As time elapsed,the frustration of the Hills people on Ghising grew as there was rampant corruption in the Hills.In the meantime,the Prashant Tamang episode occured in Darjeeling against the backdrop of Indian idol,a TV reality show showcasing the talented singers of the nation.Bimal Gurung that time was a mere a councilor and trusted lieutenant to Ghising.He formed a Prashant Tamang fan club in Darjeeling.However,Ghising refused to endorse Prashant and said he would not support a Nepali singer.Despite Ghising’s rejection,Prashant won the contest and was crowned Indian Idol.This incident brought about a rift between Ghising and Gurung which resulted in the formation of a new political party Gorkha Janamukti Morcha(GJM)which was led by Gurung.

State government interference in GTA

The GJM exiled Ghising from Darjeeling and led the second phase of the Gorkhaland movement.After nearly four years of a non-violent movement,GJM settled on the GTA with the state government of West Bengal.In fact,GJM’s Gorkhaland movement happened in the tenure of the then left front government.The Mamata Banerjee wind of change was blowing throughout West Bengal at this time and the GJM had an electoral tie-up with the Trinamool Congress in the 2011 West Bengal assembly election.TMC fared well even in North Bengal which ensured Mamata a sweeping victory.At this time,the political solution of the Darjeeling issue was one of the main election agendas of Mamata Banerjee.Soon after coming to power,Mamata Banerjee started talks with GJM for GTA and she soon started boasting of solving the century old Gorkhaland movement issue within a hundred days of ascending to power.There was an apparent bonhomie seen between Mamata and Bimal Gurung at this time.Things changed soon thereafter and there was a palpable rift in the Mamata-Bimal friendship which soon grew sour as the West Bengal government did not transfer departments to GTA according to the agreement in the tripartite talk.

The signing of the tripartite agreement on the 18th of July 18 2012 between the West Bengal Government,the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha and the Central Government paved the way for the establishment of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration(GTA)and marked the beginning of a fresh chapter in the history of the Gorkhaland movement in the Darjeeling hills of West Bengal.Violence and uncertainty had gripped the region since early 2008 when the GJM wrested political control of the hills from Subash Ghisingh’s Gorkha National Liberation Front(GNLF)and renewed the call for a separate State of Gorkhaland.

As per the agreement, the GTA will be a statutory autonomous body.It will replace the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council(DGHC),which was established in 1988 through an Act,following an agreement between the then Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and Subash Ghisingh.The new body would comprise 50 members,of whom 45 will be elected directly and five will be nominated by the State Government to represent the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, women and minority communities.The agreement provided for the GTA to have 59 departments under it,including education,agriculture,cottage and small scale industries,rural development and Tauzi(which deals with land records of the tea gardens)as well as control of all unreserved forests in the region.The new body would also have the power to create government jobs in the B,C and D categories.

However,the West Bengal government transferred only 28 departments out of the promised 56.“We did not receive the autonomous right as stipulated in the agreement,and the agreed-upon development programs were also not implemented,”GJM spokesperson Harka Bahadur Chhetri said.

Likewise,as per the agreement,the Bengal government had to appoint an official in the post of GTA chief secretary which should be equivalent to chief secretary of the state.But the West Bengal Government managed the GTA through a joint secretary level bureaucrat Dr.Saumitra,Darjeeling District Magistrate as chief secretary.This prompted the GTA to sue the West Bengal Government for not appointing the Chief Secretary level official in GTA.At the insistence of the court,the West Bengal Government was forced to appoint R.D.Meena,a senior IAS officer for the post.However,the manipulations of the West Bengal Government did not stop here.On the 31st of January 2013,in a programme of the State Government at Chowrasta,the heart of Darjeeling town,Chief Minister Mamata spoke against the Gorkha sentiment which enraged the Gorkhas.From what was said by her in her speech,the people understood that Mamata wanted to make GTA only a puppet in the hand of state government.It was perceived that there was no decentralization of power and that the state government was trying to handle every developmental work in the Hills from Kolkata.All this showed that the Mamata government was not really interested to give autonomy to the Gorkha people let alone a separate state.Mamata has the reputation of trying to handle any situation with the rough and tough policy.Once upon a time,in the Singur and Nandigram issue,the same Mamata when she was in the opposition used to say that police personnel can never suppress a movement of the people.Now after coming in power,the same Mamata is wielding a lathi to suppress the Gorkahaland movement on the excuse of a court order stating that the calling of bandhs is illegal.She is trying to legitimize the police crackdown on the people’s movement and is deploying more and more companies of the CRPF in the Hills.Instead of bringing about a solution to the issue,she is heading towards a confrontation policy.She is just accusing Delhi for inciting the Darjeeling movement. “Delhi is insisting on disrupting the peace in Darjeeling,”she posted on Facebook.“Darjeeling is part and parcel of our state. We are united and we will remain united.Any conspiracy hatched by a political party and the Union Government will be defeated by the people of Darjeeling and West Bengal,”her Facebook status reads.

Soon after coming to power,Mamata Banerjee started talks with GJM for GTA and she soon started boasting of solving the century old Gorkhaland movement issue within a hundred days of ascending to power.

Joint movement for Gorkhaland

Due to the regular intervention of the State Government,the GJM leaders became so helpless that they went to Delhi to complain against the West Bengal Government.Much to their dismay,the Union Government also did not take them seriously.This situation forced GJM to re-think of a united movement for Gorkhaland for which the people of Darjeeling have pined for a long time.Under the tutelage of the GJM,a joint action committee for Gorkahaland was formed. Under this platform all hill opposition parties-Communist Party of Revolutionary(Marxist)(CPRM),Bharatiya Gorkha Parishangh(BGP),BJP and Gorkha Rastirya Congress agreed to come together under one banner.Earlier,the CPRM and GJM had already taken out a rally in Darjeeling with the demand for Gorkhaland.In the all party meet,GJM leaders also agreed to resign from GTA posts and to repeal the GTA at an appropriate time.Thus,the Gorkhaland movement has got a new direction from the joint movement.This shows that the movement has the potential to grow more powerful than earlier movements for Gorkhaland.Besides this, the BGP also can play a crucial role in this purpose as it has pan India based roots in different regions.The Indian Gorkhas who have spread to different countries are also agitating for Gorkhaland.The Indian Gorkhas in Kathmandu organized a demonstration before the Indian embassy for the cause.This may soon be seen in other countries also.If this happens,it may hamper the image of the country.The crackdown of CRPF and central paramilitary forces in Darjeeling may demoralize the Gorkhas in the Indian Army as most of the Gorkhas are employed in Indian Army and the crackdown on their families back home may affect them also.In such a scenario,the chances of a repeat of the Khalistan movement in which the whole Punjab regiment left the Indian force with their arms and ammunition cannot be ruled out.

Anoop Rai