Writes Deep Pradhan
Two events of significance took place in the past few days:
1. Narendra Modi asked Bimal Gurung to halt all agitation on Gorkhaland and Bimal gladly obliged.
2. Rahul Sinha, West Bengal state BJP president, came to Darjeeling and said in public meeting that the BJP will not allow the creation of Gorkhaland.
Dashrath Manjhi, the "Mountain Man", had taken upon himself to carve out a road from a rocky mountain so that his poor village of Gehlaur (in Bihar) could get access to the neighbouring, resourceful village of Wazirganj in quicker time. In the recently released biopic of Manjhi, there is a sequence where the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visits the village of Gehlaur and addresses a public meeting. Manjhi puts forth his humble request to Indira - a road for Gehlaur. Indira remains mum. She hands him one of her garlands, gets a photo-op with him and leaves. After that? Manjhi's village, like our beautiful land, endures corruption. But there is no progress, and no sign of the road. Working on his own, with a hammer and a chisel, Manjhi takes ~22 years (1960–1982) to complete the road.
We are seeing the same Manjhi story being repeated time and again in the Gorkhaland movement. We are not very clear what Rajiv Gandhi promised Subhash Ghisingh, but for 20 years, the hills endured the worst form of political, economic and developmental limbo in the DGHC.
Then came the turn of BJP to "stand" for Gorkhaland. We have already sent two BJP MPs from Darjeeling to the Lok Sabha, and all we are getting is half-hearted assurances and negative statements. The BJP leaders at the most remain "mum" on Gorkhaland, just like what Indira did to Manjhi. The Gorkhaland mass movement will reach 30 years in 2016.
How many more Manjhi story are we going to repeat?
[Shared by: Deep Pradhan on Twitter]
Two events of significance took place in the past few days:
1. Narendra Modi asked Bimal Gurung to halt all agitation on Gorkhaland and Bimal gladly obliged.
2. Rahul Sinha, West Bengal state BJP president, came to Darjeeling and said in public meeting that the BJP will not allow the creation of Gorkhaland.
Dashrath Manjhi, the "Mountain Man", had taken upon himself to carve out a road from a rocky mountain so that his poor village of Gehlaur (in Bihar) could get access to the neighbouring, resourceful village of Wazirganj in quicker time. In the recently released biopic of Manjhi, there is a sequence where the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visits the village of Gehlaur and addresses a public meeting. Manjhi puts forth his humble request to Indira - a road for Gehlaur. Indira remains mum. She hands him one of her garlands, gets a photo-op with him and leaves. After that? Manjhi's village, like our beautiful land, endures corruption. But there is no progress, and no sign of the road. Working on his own, with a hammer and a chisel, Manjhi takes ~22 years (1960–1982) to complete the road.
We are seeing the same Manjhi story being repeated time and again in the Gorkhaland movement. We are not very clear what Rajiv Gandhi promised Subhash Ghisingh, but for 20 years, the hills endured the worst form of political, economic and developmental limbo in the DGHC.
Then came the turn of BJP to "stand" for Gorkhaland. We have already sent two BJP MPs from Darjeeling to the Lok Sabha, and all we are getting is half-hearted assurances and negative statements. The BJP leaders at the most remain "mum" on Gorkhaland, just like what Indira did to Manjhi. The Gorkhaland mass movement will reach 30 years in 2016.
How many more Manjhi story are we going to repeat?
[Shared by: Deep Pradhan on Twitter]
+Avinash+Gurung+at+the+Gorkha+Rangamanch+Bhavan+in+Darjeeling+on+Saturday;+Bimal+and+Asha+Gurung+in+the+audience.+Pictures+by+Suman+Tamang.jpg)
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