Tamsang wondered why his father wanted him to sacrifice his career and return home. “I had a passion for Oriental studies and taught British army officers. I was enjoying life. But, I could not decline my father's last wish,” recalls Tamsang, 69.
He understood his father's rationale only after he started visiting Kalimpong's villages. “I came to know how the people of my community lived,” he says. “They were completely dependent on the forest for food and had no beds to sleep on. I have been to many countries-wealthy and impoverished. I never saw such extreme poverty anywhere.”
Tamsang became an activist. He conducted a study of the region and concluded that the reason for the people's plight was entirely political. He felt the government ignored the Lepchas because the community had one of the slowest population growth rates in India.
“In fact, our growth was negative for many decades,” he says. “We were never counted in the Indian political circle, unlike the Gorkhas in the region.”
Tamsang and other Lepcha leaders urged the people to bring about a population boom. “We had no alternative,” says Tamsang. “The government would take our views into consideration only if we establish ourselves as a force to reckon with.”
Now, the Lepcha community in Darjeeling has registered a marginal positive growth. In this election, the 50,000-strong Lepchas in Kalimpong region have finally found their voice. The community, in fact, could decide the cliffhanger between the BJP's national vice-president and Rajya Sabha member S.S. Ahluwalia and former football ace Baichung Bhutia of the Trinamool Congress. Incidentally, both do not belong to West Bengal; Ahluwalia is a Punjabi (who was educated in the Kolkata) and Baichung is from Sikkim.
The Lepchas are likely to back the Trinamool Congress, which took up their cause last year. In an apparent bid to offset the impact of the Gorkha cry for statehood, the Mamata Banerjee government created an administrative board for Lepchas, shortly after it had to set up the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA). And it has been given 025 crore for developmental projects.
Many people questioned the government's move. “She [Mamata] wanted us tribes in the hills to fight, so that she can reap benefits. She is worse than the CPI(M) and out to destroy Darjeeling,” Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung tells THE WEEK.
Though the board-which does not have the Centre's approval-has no powers to enable autonomy, the Lepchas are a happy lot. “West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is the bestower of fortune,” reads the board's manual.
With the initial funds they have received, Lepcha women, who will get 02 lakh each, are to build 1,000 houses in Kalimpong. “This is aimed at empowering our women,” says Tamsang, who heads the board.
While the Lepchas have rallied behind the Trinamool Congress, the GJM-BJP grip over the Gorkhas seems to be weakening. “For the first time in three decades, the election in Darjeeling would be fought politically,” says CPI(M) state committee member Ashok Bhattacharya. “This is interesting; the best part of elections in West Bengal.”
He credits the Nepali-speaking majority, the Gorkhas, for the change of mood in the constituency. “Earlier, the CPI(M) was not allowed to even step on the hills. Our offices were burnt down during the massive agitation. But today, Darjeeling is open to all parties; this is very encouraging.”
As THE WEEK travels across the hills, it is clear that the demand for Gorkhaland does not dominate the election campaign. Though the aspiration for a separate state remains, the people say they would not go by any political diktat while voting, but use their brains rather.
During a rally in Kalimpong, Ahluwalia tells the crowd that he belongs to the Sikh community, which, like the Gorkhas, has made many sacrifices for the Indian Army. The crowd's response is tepid.
“Jai Mahakali, Ayo Gorkhali is the war cry of Gorkhas. For Sikhs, it is Jo Bole So Nihaal, Sat Sri Akal. I am not an outsider. I am like you,” Ahluwalia shouts to infuse some josh. It has little impact on the crowd.
He says Ari Bahadur Gurung, who hailed from Darjeeling, was one of the signatories of the Indian Constitution and the first barrister of Darjeeling hills. The BJP veteran assures that if he wins, he would erect a statue of A.B. Gurung in Darjeeling and New Delhi. Yet again, the crowd remains unmoved.
Finally, Ahluwalia plays his trump card: “Har har Modi, ghar ghar Modi.” The crowd erupts. “Don't you want to see Narendra Modi as prime minister?” “Yes!” they roar.
The GJM, which once nurtured the dream of a separate state, seems to have lost steam. A high-pitch call for Gorkhaland can no longer assure victory. In 2009, now-expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh, who was backed by the GJM, won the seat by a margin of 2.6 lakh votes. He played up the statehood issue and solely banked on the hills' six lakh votes.
This time, however, Ahluwalia is relying on the eight lakh votes in Darjeeling's plains, mainly the Siliguri region. An equal division of votes in the plains among the four parties, including the Congress and the CPI(M), would ensure the BJP's victory.
The pro-Trinamool stand of the Lepchas and the Gorkha National Liberation Front in the hills has unnerved Ahluwalia, who has abandoned the issue of a separate state halfway, fearing a backlash in the plains.
“The BJP has never said this time that it would carve out a separate state,” says Ahluwalia. “But there is no harm in examining the issue. That does not mean that a separate state would be carved out immediately.”
With the support of the Lepchas and the GNLF, the Trinamool Congress can bag more than one lakh votes from the hills. And if Baichung dribbles past Ahluwalia in the plains, the Trinamool Congress will win the match.
Carefully avoiding the question on his views on Gorkhaland, Baichung says: “The BJP has done nothing for the hills. They, along with the GJM, exploited the aspirations of the people of the hills. The people have understood that. No doubt, I will win.”
Gurung, who also heads the GTA, admits that his support has dwindled in the hills, but still is certain of victory. “Take my word, we will win,” he says. “Yes, the victory margin will decrease this time, but we will sweep the hills.”
Besides the weakening support base, Ahluwalia and Gurung have another headache: a pro-Gorkhaland independent candidate, M.P. Lama. They allege the Trinamool Congress has roped in the former vice-chancellor of Sikkim University to fracture the Gorkha vote bank.
Desperate to retain Gorkha votes, the BJP has inducted Chhatre Subba, former chief of GNLF's militant wing, who was jailed for 10 years. Subba was accused of attempting to assassinate GNLF chief Subhas Ghising, when he softened the demand for a separate state.
Asked why the party has accepted a militant leader, who once raised secessionist slogans, Ahluwalia turns defensive. “I do not consider him an insurgent or militant,” he says. “He was merely a product of agitation.”
Now, the basic question is why, all of a sudden, Gurung and co. have lost their ground in the hills. “He was clueless about how to proceed with the Gorkhaland issue,” says B.K. Pradhan, a lawyer who leads the civil society in the hills. “He raised false hope and talked big, but was not able to stick to it. His biggest mistake, however, was to ally with Mamata during the last Assembly election. That gave her a foothold in the hills.”
Pradhan, the first chairman of Darjeeling municipality, says that the BJP, however, can take heart, as Mamata's setting up of the Lepcha board has irked the Gorkhas. The palpable Modi wave, too, would boost the BJP's prospects, he adds.
Incidentally, the BJP would have received a major blow had the GJM and the Trinamool Congress sealed an alliance that was being discussed. But talks failed after Mamata unilaterally declared Baichung as the candidate.
“Mamata behaved like an insane person,” says Gurung. “In the morning, she told me there would be consensus. By evening, she did a somersault. She does not believe in any decorum. She is a selfish politician. She created a division among the hills' brothers. She has withdrawn my security, despite the fact that, as the GTA president, I enjoy the rank of a cabinet minister. Someday, I will give her a befitting reply.”
Gurung's swinging between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress and his wavering stand on statehood have not gone down well with the people. “This man takes a hard stand on one day, and goes soft on it the next day,” says Pradhan, pointing at how the steadfast Telangana movement yielded success. “How can the people rely on him?”
Even GJM leaders say Gurung has turned pliant. “Yes, we are losing ground,” says GJM general secretary and MLA Harka Bahadur Chetry. “What worries me is that unrest could return to the hills. Our party president and the chief minister should have worked sensibly to give the hills maximum benefit. Now, if we win this election, we will be able to hold our ground and do good for the region. If we fail, hard days will return to the hills. And then, our existence would be in question.”
Agrees Amar Rai, one of the signatories of the agreement between Darjeeling and the Union government: “If the BJP loses this election even after getting the GJM's support, the government of West Bengal would take that as a referendum against a separate state. I think this is the last shot at Gorkhaland.”
Former Indian football team captain Baichung Bhutia, though born in Sikkim, was once very close to the CPI(M) in West Bengal. As the Trinamool Congress candidate in Darjeeling, he is banking on Mamata Banerjee's image to offset the pro-Modi wave in the region. Excerpts from an interview.
What are your poll prospects?
I have a great chance. I played football for India. Now I am contesting elections. This is the second half of my career.
People say you are an outsider who has little knowledge of Darjeeling's problems.
I have spent more time in West Bengal than those who have doubts about me. Though I grew up in Sikkim, Kolkata is my home. I have toured different parts of West Bengal, including Darjeeling. I am well connected to the people of Darjeeling and have helped the youth from here. People who tag me as an outsider have not mixed with the people like I did.
By entering politics, haven't you polarised your fans?
No. In fact, I entered politics because everyone in the state loves me. I want to give them something in return. I used to entertain them through football. Now I want to change their lives.
Why Trinamool Congress?
Because of Mamata Banerjee. She is trying hard to change West Bengal. I want to strengthen her hands. She has a mission and vision for the state.
Will you be able to fulfil the aspirations of the people?
Darjeeling is not all about hills. The plains have four Assembly constituencies and the hills have three. I will be everybody's man. Political parties, including the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the BJP, have cheated the people in the hills. They gave false promises by raising the statehood issue. Former MP Jaswant Singh of the BJP never raised issues of development in Parliament. People need good roads, water, electricity and jobs. But they got only slogans.
Don't you feel separate statehood for Darjeeling is the need of the hour?
I won't say whether it is needed or not needed. But people urgently need development. In the hands of the GJM and the BJP, they are a deprived lot.
It is said Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling called up GJM president Bimal Gurung and asked him not to support you.
I don't know whether he has done it. But if he has, then I can only say that the Gorkhas in Darjeeling have contributed a lot to the development of Sikkim. Today, a great number of Gorkhas work there. So the people of Sikkim owe a lot to the people of Darjeeling. It would do a great disservice to the people of Darjeeling if Sikkim interferes in their business. I don't think the Sikkim government or Chamling should in any way interfere in the election process or the internal matters of Darjeeling.
We won't take Mamata's support
A Congressman who joined the BJP in the 1990s, S.S. Ahluwalia came to prominence as a loyalist of A.B. Vajpayee. As the party candidate in Darjeeling, he faces a tough task. Excerpts from an interview.
You are contesting from Darjeeling though you are an outsider.
It's the party's decision, not that I was eager to fight from this constituency. But I am not an outsider; I am married to a Bengali.
The two parts of the constituency-the hills and the plains-have different aspirations.
Yes, but the constituency is the same. In an election, aspirations of people differ from man to man and woman to woman.
Narendra Modi has laid much emphasis on national security. Yet, the BJP inducted Chhatre Subba, a former militant.
He is not a militant. He was the product of an agitation. He never took part in any secessionist movement as far as I know.
But he once wanted to secede from India and led many attacks as military head of the Gorkha National Liberation Front.
I don't know.
What will be your priorities if elected.
I will work for peace in the region. Development would come ultimately. The Naxal movement started from my constituency 47 years ago. Thank God we don't have Naxals here anymore. We cannot suppress people. We will have to address issues.
People here want IITs and IT parks.
We will bring an IIT and an IT park in Darjeeling. Local people are deprived of education. Great educational institutes here serve boys and girls from outside. I will also try my best to get official status for tribal languages. They [the tribals] are being forced to read and write Bengali.
If Modi needs Trinamool support, will you be an interlocutor for him?
There is no question of taking Mamata Banerjee's support.
Source: The week - By Rabi Banerjee
 |
| Lyang Song Tamsang, Ahluwalia and Baichung Bhutia |
Tamsang became an activist. He conducted a study of the region and concluded that the reason for the people's plight was entirely political. He felt the government ignored the Lepchas because the community had one of the slowest population growth rates in India.
“In fact, our growth was negative for many decades,” he says. “We were never counted in the Indian political circle, unlike the Gorkhas in the region.”
Tamsang and other Lepcha leaders urged the people to bring about a population boom. “We had no alternative,” says Tamsang. “The government would take our views into consideration only if we establish ourselves as a force to reckon with.”
Now, the Lepcha community in Darjeeling has registered a marginal positive growth. In this election, the 50,000-strong Lepchas in Kalimpong region have finally found their voice. The community, in fact, could decide the cliffhanger between the BJP's national vice-president and Rajya Sabha member S.S. Ahluwalia and former football ace Baichung Bhutia of the Trinamool Congress. Incidentally, both do not belong to West Bengal; Ahluwalia is a Punjabi (who was educated in the Kolkata) and Baichung is from Sikkim.
The Lepchas are likely to back the Trinamool Congress, which took up their cause last year. In an apparent bid to offset the impact of the Gorkha cry for statehood, the Mamata Banerjee government created an administrative board for Lepchas, shortly after it had to set up the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA). And it has been given 025 crore for developmental projects.
Many people questioned the government's move. “She [Mamata] wanted us tribes in the hills to fight, so that she can reap benefits. She is worse than the CPI(M) and out to destroy Darjeeling,” Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung tells THE WEEK.
Though the board-which does not have the Centre's approval-has no powers to enable autonomy, the Lepchas are a happy lot. “West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is the bestower of fortune,” reads the board's manual.
With the initial funds they have received, Lepcha women, who will get 02 lakh each, are to build 1,000 houses in Kalimpong. “This is aimed at empowering our women,” says Tamsang, who heads the board.
While the Lepchas have rallied behind the Trinamool Congress, the GJM-BJP grip over the Gorkhas seems to be weakening. “For the first time in three decades, the election in Darjeeling would be fought politically,” says CPI(M) state committee member Ashok Bhattacharya. “This is interesting; the best part of elections in West Bengal.”
He credits the Nepali-speaking majority, the Gorkhas, for the change of mood in the constituency. “Earlier, the CPI(M) was not allowed to even step on the hills. Our offices were burnt down during the massive agitation. But today, Darjeeling is open to all parties; this is very encouraging.”
As THE WEEK travels across the hills, it is clear that the demand for Gorkhaland does not dominate the election campaign. Though the aspiration for a separate state remains, the people say they would not go by any political diktat while voting, but use their brains rather.
During a rally in Kalimpong, Ahluwalia tells the crowd that he belongs to the Sikh community, which, like the Gorkhas, has made many sacrifices for the Indian Army. The crowd's response is tepid.
“Jai Mahakali, Ayo Gorkhali is the war cry of Gorkhas. For Sikhs, it is Jo Bole So Nihaal, Sat Sri Akal. I am not an outsider. I am like you,” Ahluwalia shouts to infuse some josh. It has little impact on the crowd.
He says Ari Bahadur Gurung, who hailed from Darjeeling, was one of the signatories of the Indian Constitution and the first barrister of Darjeeling hills. The BJP veteran assures that if he wins, he would erect a statue of A.B. Gurung in Darjeeling and New Delhi. Yet again, the crowd remains unmoved.
Finally, Ahluwalia plays his trump card: “Har har Modi, ghar ghar Modi.” The crowd erupts. “Don't you want to see Narendra Modi as prime minister?” “Yes!” they roar.
The GJM, which once nurtured the dream of a separate state, seems to have lost steam. A high-pitch call for Gorkhaland can no longer assure victory. In 2009, now-expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh, who was backed by the GJM, won the seat by a margin of 2.6 lakh votes. He played up the statehood issue and solely banked on the hills' six lakh votes.
This time, however, Ahluwalia is relying on the eight lakh votes in Darjeeling's plains, mainly the Siliguri region. An equal division of votes in the plains among the four parties, including the Congress and the CPI(M), would ensure the BJP's victory.
The pro-Trinamool stand of the Lepchas and the Gorkha National Liberation Front in the hills has unnerved Ahluwalia, who has abandoned the issue of a separate state halfway, fearing a backlash in the plains.
“The BJP has never said this time that it would carve out a separate state,” says Ahluwalia. “But there is no harm in examining the issue. That does not mean that a separate state would be carved out immediately.”
With the support of the Lepchas and the GNLF, the Trinamool Congress can bag more than one lakh votes from the hills. And if Baichung dribbles past Ahluwalia in the plains, the Trinamool Congress will win the match.
Carefully avoiding the question on his views on Gorkhaland, Baichung says: “The BJP has done nothing for the hills. They, along with the GJM, exploited the aspirations of the people of the hills. The people have understood that. No doubt, I will win.”
Gurung, who also heads the GTA, admits that his support has dwindled in the hills, but still is certain of victory. “Take my word, we will win,” he says. “Yes, the victory margin will decrease this time, but we will sweep the hills.”
Besides the weakening support base, Ahluwalia and Gurung have another headache: a pro-Gorkhaland independent candidate, M.P. Lama. They allege the Trinamool Congress has roped in the former vice-chancellor of Sikkim University to fracture the Gorkha vote bank.
Desperate to retain Gorkha votes, the BJP has inducted Chhatre Subba, former chief of GNLF's militant wing, who was jailed for 10 years. Subba was accused of attempting to assassinate GNLF chief Subhas Ghising, when he softened the demand for a separate state.
Asked why the party has accepted a militant leader, who once raised secessionist slogans, Ahluwalia turns defensive. “I do not consider him an insurgent or militant,” he says. “He was merely a product of agitation.”
Now, the basic question is why, all of a sudden, Gurung and co. have lost their ground in the hills. “He was clueless about how to proceed with the Gorkhaland issue,” says B.K. Pradhan, a lawyer who leads the civil society in the hills. “He raised false hope and talked big, but was not able to stick to it. His biggest mistake, however, was to ally with Mamata during the last Assembly election. That gave her a foothold in the hills.”
Pradhan, the first chairman of Darjeeling municipality, says that the BJP, however, can take heart, as Mamata's setting up of the Lepcha board has irked the Gorkhas. The palpable Modi wave, too, would boost the BJP's prospects, he adds.
Incidentally, the BJP would have received a major blow had the GJM and the Trinamool Congress sealed an alliance that was being discussed. But talks failed after Mamata unilaterally declared Baichung as the candidate.
“Mamata behaved like an insane person,” says Gurung. “In the morning, she told me there would be consensus. By evening, she did a somersault. She does not believe in any decorum. She is a selfish politician. She created a division among the hills' brothers. She has withdrawn my security, despite the fact that, as the GTA president, I enjoy the rank of a cabinet minister. Someday, I will give her a befitting reply.”
Gurung's swinging between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress and his wavering stand on statehood have not gone down well with the people. “This man takes a hard stand on one day, and goes soft on it the next day,” says Pradhan, pointing at how the steadfast Telangana movement yielded success. “How can the people rely on him?”
Even GJM leaders say Gurung has turned pliant. “Yes, we are losing ground,” says GJM general secretary and MLA Harka Bahadur Chetry. “What worries me is that unrest could return to the hills. Our party president and the chief minister should have worked sensibly to give the hills maximum benefit. Now, if we win this election, we will be able to hold our ground and do good for the region. If we fail, hard days will return to the hills. And then, our existence would be in question.”
Agrees Amar Rai, one of the signatories of the agreement between Darjeeling and the Union government: “If the BJP loses this election even after getting the GJM's support, the government of West Bengal would take that as a referendum against a separate state. I think this is the last shot at Gorkhaland.”
Interview / Baichung Bhutia, Trinamool candidate in Darjeeling
I want to strengthen Mamata's handsFormer Indian football team captain Baichung Bhutia, though born in Sikkim, was once very close to the CPI(M) in West Bengal. As the Trinamool Congress candidate in Darjeeling, he is banking on Mamata Banerjee's image to offset the pro-Modi wave in the region. Excerpts from an interview.
What are your poll prospects?
I have a great chance. I played football for India. Now I am contesting elections. This is the second half of my career.
People say you are an outsider who has little knowledge of Darjeeling's problems.
I have spent more time in West Bengal than those who have doubts about me. Though I grew up in Sikkim, Kolkata is my home. I have toured different parts of West Bengal, including Darjeeling. I am well connected to the people of Darjeeling and have helped the youth from here. People who tag me as an outsider have not mixed with the people like I did.
By entering politics, haven't you polarised your fans?
No. In fact, I entered politics because everyone in the state loves me. I want to give them something in return. I used to entertain them through football. Now I want to change their lives.
Why Trinamool Congress?
Because of Mamata Banerjee. She is trying hard to change West Bengal. I want to strengthen her hands. She has a mission and vision for the state.
Will you be able to fulfil the aspirations of the people?
Darjeeling is not all about hills. The plains have four Assembly constituencies and the hills have three. I will be everybody's man. Political parties, including the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the BJP, have cheated the people in the hills. They gave false promises by raising the statehood issue. Former MP Jaswant Singh of the BJP never raised issues of development in Parliament. People need good roads, water, electricity and jobs. But they got only slogans.
Don't you feel separate statehood for Darjeeling is the need of the hour?
I won't say whether it is needed or not needed. But people urgently need development. In the hands of the GJM and the BJP, they are a deprived lot.
It is said Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling called up GJM president Bimal Gurung and asked him not to support you.
I don't know whether he has done it. But if he has, then I can only say that the Gorkhas in Darjeeling have contributed a lot to the development of Sikkim. Today, a great number of Gorkhas work there. So the people of Sikkim owe a lot to the people of Darjeeling. It would do a great disservice to the people of Darjeeling if Sikkim interferes in their business. I don't think the Sikkim government or Chamling should in any way interfere in the election process or the internal matters of Darjeeling.
Interview/S.S. Ahluwalia, BJP candidate in Darjeeling
We won't take Mamata's support
A Congressman who joined the BJP in the 1990s, S.S. Ahluwalia came to prominence as a loyalist of A.B. Vajpayee. As the party candidate in Darjeeling, he faces a tough task. Excerpts from an interview.
You are contesting from Darjeeling though you are an outsider.
It's the party's decision, not that I was eager to fight from this constituency. But I am not an outsider; I am married to a Bengali.
The two parts of the constituency-the hills and the plains-have different aspirations.
Yes, but the constituency is the same. In an election, aspirations of people differ from man to man and woman to woman.
Narendra Modi has laid much emphasis on national security. Yet, the BJP inducted Chhatre Subba, a former militant.
He is not a militant. He was the product of an agitation. He never took part in any secessionist movement as far as I know.
But he once wanted to secede from India and led many attacks as military head of the Gorkha National Liberation Front.
I don't know.
What will be your priorities if elected.
I will work for peace in the region. Development would come ultimately. The Naxal movement started from my constituency 47 years ago. Thank God we don't have Naxals here anymore. We cannot suppress people. We will have to address issues.
People here want IITs and IT parks.
We will bring an IIT and an IT park in Darjeeling. Local people are deprived of education. Great educational institutes here serve boys and girls from outside. I will also try my best to get official status for tribal languages. They [the tribals] are being forced to read and write Bengali.
If Modi needs Trinamool support, will you be an interlocutor for him?
There is no question of taking Mamata Banerjee's support.
Source: The week - By Rabi Banerjee
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