Touted as the Queen of the Hills, picturesque Darjeeling today bears a completely desolate look. Empty roads, shut shops, locked hotels, closed tea junctions, firmly bolted bakeries and restaurants and to top it all a completely deserted Chowrasta, which otherwise would have been bustling with the young and old alike. The all pervasive silence is punctuated with high decibel cries of "Jai Gorkha, Jai Gorkha..." We want Gorkhaland.Welcome to Darjeeling.
With the Congress-led UPA giving a go-ahead to the creation of Telangana, the hill subdivisions of West Bengal — Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong — are on the boil. The age old demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland is reverberating in the hills loud and clear and this time around, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, or the GJM, which has called an indefinite bandh in the hills to press for statehood, is calling it a do or die movement. Adding muscle to this call are hundreds and thousands of GJM supporters, all of whom are out on the streets to voice their demand.
Fuelling passions further is the untimely death of 42-year-old Mangal Singh Rajput of Kalimpong. A small time trader, Mangal set himself ablaze in the busy Dumbhar Chowk area of the small hill town in broad daylight and was rushed to the hospital with close to 80% burns. Battling for his life, he breathed his last in a Siliguri hospital. United in grief, people of the hills trooped down to pay their last respects to their "martyr" where his cortege was brought in prior to funeral. A sombre ceremony, which made Kalimpong scream out loud yet again: "We want justice."
GJM chief Bimal Gurung and his wife Asha, who too were there to be with the bereaved family, seemed to strike the right emotional chord with the thousands who had gathered. "This is a question of our identity and our fight for Gorkhaland will continue till the end. There is no question of stepping back or being misled by false promises and toothless agreements any more. There will be no more discussions or negotiations with the state government any more, we will talk only to the Centre," he said, drawing thunderous applause from the public.
Saluting Mangal's sacrifice, Gurung went a step further: "Merely singing and dancing will not get us Gorkhaland. This is our antim ladai, our final fight. We have to fight till the end, even if that means sacrificing our lives. If the country wants our blood for our identity, we should be ready to give it. There may be bullets and loss of life. If CRPF shoots, your voice should be strong enough to repel the bullets. We are on the streets, let's see what happens."
Gurung's words seemed to be a shot in the arm for the party cadres. Darjeeling erupted in a unique show of strength as the young and old alike took to the streets and participated in protest marches and rallies in a quest for their identity. Human rights activist Purna Kala Thapa, a regular in all pro-Gorkhaland programmes, is clear. "Whenever we have raised our voice for a separate state, we have always had to compromise. First it was the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) and then the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA). But Bimal Gurung has already stepped down from the post of chief executive of GTA and we all know that it is a sham. If we don't raise our voice can we ever get our own state? Only Gorkhaland is the answer to our woes," was her view.
GTA deputy chief Ramesh Allay takes the discussion to a different plane. "How does it feel to be called a foreigner in your own place? When we travel to other places say Kolkata or Delhi, people ask us where are you from, Nepal? Why should we have to hear this, only because we don't have our own identity? Even the white paper presented by the erstwhile Left Front government clearly said that we were never a part of Bengal. In fact, we are linked to Sikkim and even Bhutan. Why is the government forcefully trying to keep us tied to Bengal?" he asks.
Though the earliest demand for a separate state can be traced back to 1907, the Subash Ghising-led Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) spearheaded the first mass movement for Gorkhaland between 1986 an 1988, which saw mindless violence leading to widespread bloodbath in the hills. This culminated in the formation of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council during Left patriarch Jyoti Basu's tenure as the Chief Minister in 1988. Differentiating the Indian Nepalis from those living across the border, GNLF popularised the term Gorkhali, giving the people of the hills a new identity.
While the functioning of DGHC came under a cloud, the rise of Prashant Tamang as the frontrunner for the popular TV reality show Indian Idol ignited the Gorkhali passions once again. A poster boy of Gorkhali wpride, Prashant soon united the people of Darjeeling in a mass frenzy. And once Ghising's trusted lieutenant, Bimal Gurung distanced himself from his mentor and took charge of the SMS and "Vote For Prashant Tamang" tele campaign to emerge as the hero of hill politics.
There has been no looking back since then. Riding high on the emotional quotient, Gurung soon exiled Ghisingh from the hills and joined hands with the BJP to put pressure on the Congress. At the state level, he found a friend in Mamata Banerjee and signed a tripartite agreement leading to the formation of the Gorkha Territorial Administration, which granted more autonomy and financial powers to the hill administration. Mamata was quick to announce the "Hills are Smiling" to send out a message to her predecessor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who had failed to douse the flames of statehood which had put the hills on the boil in 2007. Gurung, however, has stepped down from the post of chief executive of the GTA citing interference by the state government.
Little did Gurung realise that for Mamata this was more of a personal victory and a step forward in realising her dream of transforming Darjeeling to Switzerland as promised in the Trinamool Congress manifesto. Blaming the Congress of playing politics and fomenting trouble in the hills, Mamata ruled out any bifurcation of West Bengal. Gorkhaland surely was never on her mind.
An aggrieved Morcha, which is now in Didi's firing line, however is unwilling to budge from their stand. Mamata's administration has already arrested over 125-odd Morcha supporters on various charges of arson, disrupting public life, blocking highways, and taken scores into preventive custody. Home Secretary Basudeb Banerjee, who was recently in the hills for high level talks with the district administration and the police, however has reiterated that arrests against illegal activities will continue. Armed with the Calcutta High Court order urging the state government to ensure normalcy in the hills, Mamata is now even more determined to quash voices of dissent. A Morcha delegation, which is now in Delhi, is lobbying hard with the BJP and Congress for Gorkhaland. Ruling out any dialogue with the state government, Gurung remains resolute. And with support coming in from all other religious communities as well, the GJM shows no signs of stepping back.
The biggest casualty in the midst of all this is the backbone of hill economy: tea, tourism and teaching. With exports being completely paralysed and tourists being forced to stay away, the prestigious residential schools too are paying a heavy price, with students being asked to pack up and leave.
Fuelling passions further is the untimely death of 42-year-old Mangal Singh Rajput of Kalimpong. A small time trader, Mangal set himself ablaze in the busy Dumbhar Chowk area of the small hill town in broad daylight and was rushed to the hospital with close to 80% burns. Battling for his life, he breathed his last in a Siliguri hospital. United in grief, people of the hills trooped down to pay their last respects to their "martyr" where his cortege was brought in prior to funeral. A sombre ceremony, which made Kalimpong scream out loud yet again: "We want justice."
GJM chief Bimal Gurung and his wife Asha, who too were there to be with the bereaved family, seemed to strike the right emotional chord with the thousands who had gathered. "This is a question of our identity and our fight for Gorkhaland will continue till the end. There is no question of stepping back or being misled by false promises and toothless agreements any more. There will be no more discussions or negotiations with the state government any more, we will talk only to the Centre," he said, drawing thunderous applause from the public.
Saluting Mangal's sacrifice, Gurung went a step further: "Merely singing and dancing will not get us Gorkhaland. This is our antim ladai, our final fight. We have to fight till the end, even if that means sacrificing our lives. If the country wants our blood for our identity, we should be ready to give it. There may be bullets and loss of life. If CRPF shoots, your voice should be strong enough to repel the bullets. We are on the streets, let's see what happens."
Gurung's words seemed to be a shot in the arm for the party cadres. Darjeeling erupted in a unique show of strength as the young and old alike took to the streets and participated in protest marches and rallies in a quest for their identity. Human rights activist Purna Kala Thapa, a regular in all pro-Gorkhaland programmes, is clear. "Whenever we have raised our voice for a separate state, we have always had to compromise. First it was the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) and then the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA). But Bimal Gurung has already stepped down from the post of chief executive of GTA and we all know that it is a sham. If we don't raise our voice can we ever get our own state? Only Gorkhaland is the answer to our woes," was her view.
GTA deputy chief Ramesh Allay takes the discussion to a different plane. "How does it feel to be called a foreigner in your own place? When we travel to other places say Kolkata or Delhi, people ask us where are you from, Nepal? Why should we have to hear this, only because we don't have our own identity? Even the white paper presented by the erstwhile Left Front government clearly said that we were never a part of Bengal. In fact, we are linked to Sikkim and even Bhutan. Why is the government forcefully trying to keep us tied to Bengal?" he asks.
Though the earliest demand for a separate state can be traced back to 1907, the Subash Ghising-led Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) spearheaded the first mass movement for Gorkhaland between 1986 an 1988, which saw mindless violence leading to widespread bloodbath in the hills. This culminated in the formation of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council during Left patriarch Jyoti Basu's tenure as the Chief Minister in 1988. Differentiating the Indian Nepalis from those living across the border, GNLF popularised the term Gorkhali, giving the people of the hills a new identity.
While the functioning of DGHC came under a cloud, the rise of Prashant Tamang as the frontrunner for the popular TV reality show Indian Idol ignited the Gorkhali passions once again. A poster boy of Gorkhali wpride, Prashant soon united the people of Darjeeling in a mass frenzy. And once Ghising's trusted lieutenant, Bimal Gurung distanced himself from his mentor and took charge of the SMS and "Vote For Prashant Tamang" tele campaign to emerge as the hero of hill politics.
There has been no looking back since then. Riding high on the emotional quotient, Gurung soon exiled Ghisingh from the hills and joined hands with the BJP to put pressure on the Congress. At the state level, he found a friend in Mamata Banerjee and signed a tripartite agreement leading to the formation of the Gorkha Territorial Administration, which granted more autonomy and financial powers to the hill administration. Mamata was quick to announce the "Hills are Smiling" to send out a message to her predecessor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who had failed to douse the flames of statehood which had put the hills on the boil in 2007. Gurung, however, has stepped down from the post of chief executive of the GTA citing interference by the state government.
Little did Gurung realise that for Mamata this was more of a personal victory and a step forward in realising her dream of transforming Darjeeling to Switzerland as promised in the Trinamool Congress manifesto. Blaming the Congress of playing politics and fomenting trouble in the hills, Mamata ruled out any bifurcation of West Bengal. Gorkhaland surely was never on her mind.
An aggrieved Morcha, which is now in Didi's firing line, however is unwilling to budge from their stand. Mamata's administration has already arrested over 125-odd Morcha supporters on various charges of arson, disrupting public life, blocking highways, and taken scores into preventive custody. Home Secretary Basudeb Banerjee, who was recently in the hills for high level talks with the district administration and the police, however has reiterated that arrests against illegal activities will continue. Armed with the Calcutta High Court order urging the state government to ensure normalcy in the hills, Mamata is now even more determined to quash voices of dissent. A Morcha delegation, which is now in Delhi, is lobbying hard with the BJP and Congress for Gorkhaland. Ruling out any dialogue with the state government, Gurung remains resolute. And with support coming in from all other religious communities as well, the GJM shows no signs of stepping back.
The biggest casualty in the midst of all this is the backbone of hill economy: tea, tourism and teaching. With exports being completely paralysed and tourists being forced to stay away, the prestigious residential schools too are paying a heavy price, with students being asked to pack up and leave.
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