Ek Thuki Suki, Hajaar Thuki Nadi - Bishal Lama
Salient points on Gorkhaland movement
1)It is century old demand
2)It spans across the only revenue surplus region of West Bengal
3)It is not a separatist movement which is established by the fact that BJP has raised it in the parliament;
I will shed more light on it some other day.
This discussion is more on what I think - we, the people from Darjeeling hills, should now be focusing on after Mr SS Ahluwalia raised the issue in the parliament with the consent of the BJP high command.
Background
Recently Mr SS Ahluwalia raised the issue of Gorkhas facing discrimination in their own land at the parliament while Mr Rajiv Rudy spoke about it to the media.
When we whine about our Gorkhaland movement gaining no traction on the media front, there's one thing that comes to my mind - have we tried enough? The honest answer to which is a big 'NO'. Have we tried to communicate our feelings, our desires and the merits of our movement to the rest of the country/world? How many of us have made an attempt to reach the government bodies/Prime Minister's office/BJP high command? Do we make use of freely available tools like online grievance sections of government portals, RTI, emails, twitter?
It comes to me as a surprise that our leaders themselves have very less presence in the social media space when ideally one tweet from them should be sparking debates where they would retort to opponents resulting in creation of even bigger fanbase among the youth. I request them to take a cue from leaders of every walk of life around the world.
What next?
1. Even if Gorkhaland bill is tabled in Lok Sabha and lets say, passed, it will definitely get blocked in the Rajya Sabha.
2. Opposition will do its best and team up with TMC to oppose it.
3. Obviously out of curiosity people will start to refer internet for information where currently in all socio-political forums anti-Gorkhaland sect is a dominant force and they spread wrong facts and figures which they have been doing since decades. Unfortunately we have no online force to counter them.
4. Analysts will study current leaders of the movement to find out that those in power do not deserve it and seemingly deserving ones did not try hard enough because of which the opposition is spineless.
The pacemakers
1. To utter dismay, none of our leaders since late Mr Subash Ghishing has tried hands on igniting passion and enthusiasm among the actually concerned youth, which is how BJP won at the centre and AAP won at Delhi.
2. Instead of putting the cause of Gorkhaland above themselves, all our political leaders seem to be more interested in proving themselves correct and thus providing hindrance in forming a Joint Action Committee that Darjeeling urgently needs in order to prepare grounds to respond to the central committee that will be formed to look into this matter.
3. Darjeeling needs the leaders to step up and lead by example thereby attracting youths to participate in the movement in whatever ways possible. Their activity in social media will bring out the best from themselves as well as common folks. Public debates will definitely shake up some, if not many, of our strongly held perspectives, but the process will eventually refine those.
3.1 It is baffling that our leaders have still not realised the potential of Information Technology. Late Mr Madan Tamang used to upload his videos in youtube back then - what a visionary! If he were to be alive he would have definitely made full use of twitter and the concept of #hashtags. His assassination had rendered the political space vacuum which is yet to be filled.
3.2 Sadly even with such a huge population of #Gorkhas that once made an Indian Idol by sending sms-es (and made Reliance and sony richer), we were not able trend #Gorkhaland on the day when the matter was raised in parliament and Mr Rajiv Rudy chanted the same in front of the media.
Action points
We all have to start taking effective actions within our respective capacity instead of whining like kids - pachi swarga ma purkha haru lai ke jawaab diney?
Without any doubt, the leaders need to enter centrestage and drive the proceedings.
1. GJM has to keep everything transparent and make us common folks clear about the expectations, guidelines and timelines.
2. It has to drive the formation of a Joint Action Committee consisting of representatives from all parties/organisations.
3. Opposition forces have to be more critical and open minded in extend helping hands when necessary instead of moaning everytime.
3.1 Formation of JAC must be their immediate agenda
3.2 They must also get in touch with PMO/ BJP high command to put forward their points.
4. Every organisation that claims to be serious about Gorkhaland should take necessary steps to ensure that youths are attracted to it.
5. A motivated and unstoppable force of Gorkha youngsters is what every organisation in the hills lacks.
As for us laymen, thankfully we are as important as anyone else in a democratic set-up. We must participate in the process and prepare ourselves by:
1. Reading more about our movement
2. Exploring more and exposing the exploitation of Bengal government
3. Collating all information and spreading it across so that every Gorkha is prepared to face any inquiry on the topic.
4. Dedicating some internet hours to the cause -
4.1 Correct wrong propaganda spewed in public forums by anti-Gorkhaland forces
4.2 Use #Gorkhaland in posts/tweets
4.3 Clear doubts directly from the concerned official be it a GTA functionary or the Prime Minister of India.
4.4 Make use of RTI wherever needed
5. Most important of all, we must make sure that the ruling party as well the opposition forces do their work properly. They volunteered to serve the people which is you and me and therefore they are under an obligation to answer each and every question of ours.
Conclusion
To sum everything up in one simple sentence, as our wise ancestors have rightly put - "EK THUKI SUKI, HAJAAR THUKI NADI" - "A single drop dries up quickly, while thousand drops maketh a river".
A small effort from every Gorkha will resonate into an energy that will propel our movement to the much needed next level.
Salient points on Gorkhaland movement
1)It is century old demand
2)It spans across the only revenue surplus region of West Bengal
3)It is not a separatist movement which is established by the fact that BJP has raised it in the parliament;
I will shed more light on it some other day.
This discussion is more on what I think - we, the people from Darjeeling hills, should now be focusing on after Mr SS Ahluwalia raised the issue in the parliament with the consent of the BJP high command.
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| Gorkhaland Map |
Recently Mr SS Ahluwalia raised the issue of Gorkhas facing discrimination in their own land at the parliament while Mr Rajiv Rudy spoke about it to the media.
When we whine about our Gorkhaland movement gaining no traction on the media front, there's one thing that comes to my mind - have we tried enough? The honest answer to which is a big 'NO'. Have we tried to communicate our feelings, our desires and the merits of our movement to the rest of the country/world? How many of us have made an attempt to reach the government bodies/Prime Minister's office/BJP high command? Do we make use of freely available tools like online grievance sections of government portals, RTI, emails, twitter?
It comes to me as a surprise that our leaders themselves have very less presence in the social media space when ideally one tweet from them should be sparking debates where they would retort to opponents resulting in creation of even bigger fanbase among the youth. I request them to take a cue from leaders of every walk of life around the world.
What next?
1. Even if Gorkhaland bill is tabled in Lok Sabha and lets say, passed, it will definitely get blocked in the Rajya Sabha.
2. Opposition will do its best and team up with TMC to oppose it.
3. Obviously out of curiosity people will start to refer internet for information where currently in all socio-political forums anti-Gorkhaland sect is a dominant force and they spread wrong facts and figures which they have been doing since decades. Unfortunately we have no online force to counter them.
4. Analysts will study current leaders of the movement to find out that those in power do not deserve it and seemingly deserving ones did not try hard enough because of which the opposition is spineless.
The pacemakers
1. To utter dismay, none of our leaders since late Mr Subash Ghishing has tried hands on igniting passion and enthusiasm among the actually concerned youth, which is how BJP won at the centre and AAP won at Delhi.
2. Instead of putting the cause of Gorkhaland above themselves, all our political leaders seem to be more interested in proving themselves correct and thus providing hindrance in forming a Joint Action Committee that Darjeeling urgently needs in order to prepare grounds to respond to the central committee that will be formed to look into this matter.
3. Darjeeling needs the leaders to step up and lead by example thereby attracting youths to participate in the movement in whatever ways possible. Their activity in social media will bring out the best from themselves as well as common folks. Public debates will definitely shake up some, if not many, of our strongly held perspectives, but the process will eventually refine those.
3.1 It is baffling that our leaders have still not realised the potential of Information Technology. Late Mr Madan Tamang used to upload his videos in youtube back then - what a visionary! If he were to be alive he would have definitely made full use of twitter and the concept of #hashtags. His assassination had rendered the political space vacuum which is yet to be filled.
3.2 Sadly even with such a huge population of #Gorkhas that once made an Indian Idol by sending sms-es (and made Reliance and sony richer), we were not able trend #Gorkhaland on the day when the matter was raised in parliament and Mr Rajiv Rudy chanted the same in front of the media.
Action points
We all have to start taking effective actions within our respective capacity instead of whining like kids - pachi swarga ma purkha haru lai ke jawaab diney?
Without any doubt, the leaders need to enter centrestage and drive the proceedings.
1. GJM has to keep everything transparent and make us common folks clear about the expectations, guidelines and timelines.
2. It has to drive the formation of a Joint Action Committee consisting of representatives from all parties/organisations.
3. Opposition forces have to be more critical and open minded in extend helping hands when necessary instead of moaning everytime.
3.1 Formation of JAC must be their immediate agenda
3.2 They must also get in touch with PMO/ BJP high command to put forward their points.
4. Every organisation that claims to be serious about Gorkhaland should take necessary steps to ensure that youths are attracted to it.
5. A motivated and unstoppable force of Gorkha youngsters is what every organisation in the hills lacks.
As for us laymen, thankfully we are as important as anyone else in a democratic set-up. We must participate in the process and prepare ourselves by:
1. Reading more about our movement
2. Exploring more and exposing the exploitation of Bengal government
3. Collating all information and spreading it across so that every Gorkha is prepared to face any inquiry on the topic.
4. Dedicating some internet hours to the cause -
4.1 Correct wrong propaganda spewed in public forums by anti-Gorkhaland forces
4.2 Use #Gorkhaland in posts/tweets
4.3 Clear doubts directly from the concerned official be it a GTA functionary or the Prime Minister of India.
4.4 Make use of RTI wherever needed
5. Most important of all, we must make sure that the ruling party as well the opposition forces do their work properly. They volunteered to serve the people which is you and me and therefore they are under an obligation to answer each and every question of ours.
Conclusion
To sum everything up in one simple sentence, as our wise ancestors have rightly put - "EK THUKI SUKI, HAJAAR THUKI NADI" - "A single drop dries up quickly, while thousand drops maketh a river".
A small effort from every Gorkha will resonate into an energy that will propel our movement to the much needed next level.
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