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The Return of Ghising
A new scene has started in the political drama of Darjeeling hills. Once a protagonist of Indian Gorkhas’ rights, but now a hapless ‘clown’, Subash Ghising has been able to climb the hills after a hiatus of 3 years. The 65 year old Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) chief was driven out by his vassal-turned-foe Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha (GJMM) chief Bimal Gurung in 2008. The former DGHC administrator who ruled the hills for 21 years with an iron hand was driven out after the incident of the killing of a GJMM woman cadre who was shot dead by a gun fired from a councillor’s house in Darjeeling.
Ever since then, he had been residing in a rented house at Jalpaiguri Sadar. From there he handled his party activities as there was almost no chance for him to enter the hills again. This time, finding the opportunity of poll rule, he got the chance to enter the hills. As soon as he reached the hills, he organised a mass meeting at Mirik, his home turf, and released the election manifesto of his party (GNLF) as well. From this, Ghising has started trying to gain a foothold in the hills by giving his same old rhetorical speeches. Ghising who led a bloody Gorkhaland agitation during the 80’s said that he had never asked for Gorkhaland but the Gorkhaland word was used as Brhamastra to get citizenship right for Nepali speaking people in India. He also added that the Centre and state do not have any power to give Gorkhaland and Gorkhaland is already a Nafalney Bantarul (A wild yam that does not bear fruit). “The centre and state don’t have not any power to give Gorkhaland and it is a Nafalney Bantaru that is why I accepted Gorkha Hill Council which will be more powerful than the Interim setup for which GJMM is dying,” he reasoned.
The veteran hill politician, however, did not stop there. He further said that his party is preparing a strategy to press the Centre and state governments to get the Sixth schedule bill passed. Ghising once wanted to keep the press at a distance in an attempt to muster the support of hill people. However, the people of Darjeeling today are not the same as the people of Darjeeling then. They have lost faith in Ghising. Perhaps Ghising knows this very well and that is why, nowadays he is talking about himself before press. “I am a writer first. I entered politics after I realised that the politicians then were doing no good to the community. I was a driver trying to guide the bus for want of a proper operator,” said Ghising. The novelist turned politician Ghising however after all is proved to be a rejected leader as people are not ready to listen to him. So, it is very hard to say whether all his speeches will bail him out from his present sunken position.
Anoop Rai
