The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) leadership will not abide by the diktats of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, averred party chief Bimal Gurung during a freewheeling chat over a cup of coffee with Tamal Sengupta on Thursday. It was perhaps the first such interaction with this elusive Gorkha leader who virtually rules the hills of Darjeeling. During the no-holds-barred interview, spanning well over 40 minutes, at his Singamari party office in Darjeeling, Gurung made a scathing attack on Mamata, blamed her for practising double standard and pushing the Hills to the edge of an irretrievable crisis. Edited excerpts:
You had a very good relation with Mamata Banerjee. She visited Darjeeling a number of times since taking over as the chief minister and held talks with you. Do you have any special expectation from her?
Past is past. Now, she doesn't even like to hear the word, Gorkhaland. We don't have any expectation from her. She has adopted a suppressive measure to towards our movement. But she did not realise that the current movement in Darjeeling is no longer a GJM movement, it has turned into a people movement. The people are coming on to the streets spontaneously and holding agitation to realise their demand for Gorkhaland. No such people movement can be stopped by the police and the military. It would not be possible for Mamata Banerjee to stop this movement.
Today is our Independence Day and we are observing it with great respect. But her government is still arresting our people, who are citizens of India. Such a move by her government will not solve the problem, and instead, will deteriorate the situation.
What message do you want to give to the chief minister today when the entire nation is celebrating the Independence Day?
I just want to convey a very simple message to the chief minister. We don't have any expectation from her. We know it very clearly that she is a double-faced woman. She had opposed deployment of central forces during the panchayat elections. But now she is bringing more and more central forces to frustrate our movement. Her action will force the people of Darjeeling to go for more severe movement. Of course, we will not follow the path of violence but, at the same time, we will not give up our demand for a separate state.
Mamata's government is following a violent policy to stop us from raising our voice for Gorkhaland. She has probably forgotten that we are also sons of the soil and not second-class citizens. We are not demanding a separate country for the Gorkhas, but a separate state as we have our own culture, language and geographical territory. Our culture is different from the people on the plains. Don't forget it's a 107-year-old demand.
We will not accept Mamata Banerjee's diktat. We will not obey her instructions. Darjeeling will go on its own way and Mamata Banerjee would never be able to establish her dominance in the Hills. The people of Darjeeling have rejected her. I have been told that some Trinamool Congress leaders have advised the Gorkhas to go to China or Nepal and stay there. I don't know how far it is true. But I can anticipate easily the attitude of the ruling party of Bengal towards us, the Gorkhas.
Are you making any moves to get in touch with the central government?
Not at the moment. Our delegation had met the Union home minister several times and submitted a memorandum in which we have categorically explained our position and we made it clear to the Centre that we want Gorkhaland. Now it is the Centre's turn to respond. The Centre can't shirk its responsibilities. It can't ignore a genuine demand of the people of Darjeeling. I want to give a simple message to the prime minister, to the Union home minister and to Sonia Gandhi on this auspicious Independence Day today: The Centre should interfere into the Darjeeling issue. They will have to consider our only demand of statehood with sympathy.
Do you think that the Centre will interfere?
They (the Centre) should. Even though law and order is a state subject, the Centre has the responsibility to listen to our demand with sympathy. Since the state government is taking suppressive measures against us, we want the Centre to interfere. This is what I feel and I don't know what the Centre would do. For whom does the Centre work? It is not America and neither Pakistan. It is our government and we, as citizens of this country, have the constitutional right to forward our demand to it.
You have relaxed the janata curfew till Sunday (August 18). But you haven't said anything on what would happen after Sunday. Will you continue with your movement?
Of course. We will decide our next steps during our meeting on Friday. I can tell you that all the Gorkhas in India are now with us. They are supporting our movement from the core of their heart. Our job will be to unite them and mount pressure on the Centre to accept the demand for Gorkhaland. If the Centre can consider Telangana statehood demand, what prevents them from considering the Gorkhaland issue, which is older than Telangana? I can tell you one thing. This time, we will not leave our movement halfway. We will not stop until the demand is accepted by the Centre. Our next movement might be fiercer than the current one. But we will not go for any armed revolution. We will take it forward as a democratic movement.
You had a very good relation with Mamata Banerjee. She visited Darjeeling a number of times since taking over as the chief minister and held talks with you. Do you have any special expectation from her?
Past is past. Now, she doesn't even like to hear the word, Gorkhaland. We don't have any expectation from her. She has adopted a suppressive measure to towards our movement. But she did not realise that the current movement in Darjeeling is no longer a GJM movement, it has turned into a people movement. The people are coming on to the streets spontaneously and holding agitation to realise their demand for Gorkhaland. No such people movement can be stopped by the police and the military. It would not be possible for Mamata Banerjee to stop this movement.
Today is our Independence Day and we are observing it with great respect. But her government is still arresting our people, who are citizens of India. Such a move by her government will not solve the problem, and instead, will deteriorate the situation.
What message do you want to give to the chief minister today when the entire nation is celebrating the Independence Day?
I just want to convey a very simple message to the chief minister. We don't have any expectation from her. We know it very clearly that she is a double-faced woman. She had opposed deployment of central forces during the panchayat elections. But now she is bringing more and more central forces to frustrate our movement. Her action will force the people of Darjeeling to go for more severe movement. Of course, we will not follow the path of violence but, at the same time, we will not give up our demand for a separate state.
Mamata's government is following a violent policy to stop us from raising our voice for Gorkhaland. She has probably forgotten that we are also sons of the soil and not second-class citizens. We are not demanding a separate country for the Gorkhas, but a separate state as we have our own culture, language and geographical territory. Our culture is different from the people on the plains. Don't forget it's a 107-year-old demand.
We will not accept Mamata Banerjee's diktat. We will not obey her instructions. Darjeeling will go on its own way and Mamata Banerjee would never be able to establish her dominance in the Hills. The people of Darjeeling have rejected her. I have been told that some Trinamool Congress leaders have advised the Gorkhas to go to China or Nepal and stay there. I don't know how far it is true. But I can anticipate easily the attitude of the ruling party of Bengal towards us, the Gorkhas.
Are you making any moves to get in touch with the central government?
Not at the moment. Our delegation had met the Union home minister several times and submitted a memorandum in which we have categorically explained our position and we made it clear to the Centre that we want Gorkhaland. Now it is the Centre's turn to respond. The Centre can't shirk its responsibilities. It can't ignore a genuine demand of the people of Darjeeling. I want to give a simple message to the prime minister, to the Union home minister and to Sonia Gandhi on this auspicious Independence Day today: The Centre should interfere into the Darjeeling issue. They will have to consider our only demand of statehood with sympathy.
Do you think that the Centre will interfere?
They (the Centre) should. Even though law and order is a state subject, the Centre has the responsibility to listen to our demand with sympathy. Since the state government is taking suppressive measures against us, we want the Centre to interfere. This is what I feel and I don't know what the Centre would do. For whom does the Centre work? It is not America and neither Pakistan. It is our government and we, as citizens of this country, have the constitutional right to forward our demand to it.
You have relaxed the janata curfew till Sunday (August 18). But you haven't said anything on what would happen after Sunday. Will you continue with your movement?
Of course. We will decide our next steps during our meeting on Friday. I can tell you that all the Gorkhas in India are now with us. They are supporting our movement from the core of their heart. Our job will be to unite them and mount pressure on the Centre to accept the demand for Gorkhaland. If the Centre can consider Telangana statehood demand, what prevents them from considering the Gorkhaland issue, which is older than Telangana? I can tell you one thing. This time, we will not leave our movement halfway. We will not stop until the demand is accepted by the Centre. Our next movement might be fiercer than the current one. But we will not go for any armed revolution. We will take it forward as a democratic movement.
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