Whither Gorkha Land?

Writes: NN Ojha

In my last write up for this column captioned ‘Bihar Elections Results And Gorkha Land’ [Details: bit.ly/1ZVuDET] the opening sentence, ‘Gorkha Land is once again the talk of the town’ was in a way an expression of the incorrigible optimism all of us have collectively preserved rather painstakingly for over a century. It is a unique movement that has survived many ups and downs and has witnessed during its long but untiring journey tides and ebbs of hope and despair repeatedly. 

At times the movement witnessed the proverbial slip ‘between the cup and the lips’. In the early 1980s under the charismatic leadership of the late Subhash Ghising there was a mass upsurge in favor of Gorkhaland and more than a thousand youths sacrificed their lives. The police and paramilitary forces unleashed by the state and the central authorities could not deter the masses and everyone was hopeful that Gorkhaland could soon become reality. Just then alas the crest fell into a trough. In December 1985 Mr Ghising signed an agreement that the demand for Gorkhaland was being given up ‘in larger national interest’ and an autonomous council under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India was agreed to as ‘full and final settlement.’ 

What was the ‘larger national interest’ that could be secured only by denial of statehood to Gorkhaland and how could a council, howsoever autonomous, be ‘full and final settlement’ so long as the region continued as sidekick of west Bengal isn’t known till date. Was it an act of betrayal? Well prima facie it was but going by the iconic stature of Ghising and his long years of service to the community one has to give him the benefit of doubt. 

In 2013 we once again missed the goal after coming within touching distance The tripartite agreement by the governments of India and west Bengal with the GJMM led by Bimal Gurung in July 2011 had an explicit clause and a tacit understanding. The explicit clause incorporated at the very outset of the agreement recognized the legitimacy of the demand for Gorkhaland. The tacit understanding was that decision on the demand would be taken along with Telangana. Hence when Telangana was decided upon with no whiff of Gorkhaland protests erupted all over the region once again. 

Those who witnessed this phase of the movement were deeply impressed by its peaceful and disciplined character in spite of massive turnouts. It remained peaceful in the face of provocation by the ruling politicians of west Bengal and occasional excesses by the police and paramilitary personnel. The movement was at its peak when all political forces of the region came together on a common platform of Gorkhaland Joint Action Committee or JAC. The impact of the unprecedented show of unity was truly spectacular. Had the momentum been preserved the least that could be reasonably expected was the government announcing a road map and time frame for formation of Gorkhaland. 

But just then the JAC that had emerged as the symbol of the unconquerable power and unity of the Gorkha suddenly and mysteriously dissipated. Once again we experienced the slip between the cup and the lips. It wasn’t betrayal as much as perhaps an invisible fear of political obliteration by those who joined the JAC under political compulsion sensing the mood of the masses but possibly without commitment or sense of purpose. The wrecking of the JAC could also be because of apprehension most common among politicians that credit for success seen round the corner could be hogged by some to the exclusion of the others.. Obviously the authorities in Kolkata had every reason to feel happy about the breakup and would have even put in efforts in their own way to bring it about. 

Betrayal was yet to come. It came in September 2015 when Dr Harka Bahadur Chhetri GJM’s chosen MLA from Kalimpong and a trusted lieutenant of Bimal Gurung turned out to be a Trojan horse of sorts. The triggering point for the betrayal was a directive by GJMM that the three MLAs from hills who were elected with the party’s support must resign and Dr Chhetri’s defiance thereof. Party’s directive to resign could be debatable and the MLA’s right to resist the directive could be perfectly justifiable. What was baffling however was the manner in which Dr Harka Bahadur started glorifying Mamta Banerjee the chief minister who insulted the hill politicians, ridiculed the Gorkhaland movement and has been consistently trying every trick in the book to divide and rule destroying in the process the age old social fabric characterized traditionally by perfect social harmony. 

In this crossword puzzle of personal ambitions, political dissensions and petty rivalries where does Gorkhaland figure? Or does it figure any longer at all? Let us carry out a reality check on some of the players. 

GJMM is still swearing by their commitment to Gorkhaland at least overtly and keep on holding occasional public meetings, pad yatras and protest demonstrations in Delhi’s Jantarmantar. The Darjeeling MP who got elected on BJP’s ticket with support from GJMM on the exclusive plank of Gorkhaland hasn’t till now taken any tangible steps demonstrative of his commitment. His apologists claim that the MP’s silence is due to political compulsions of the forthcoming West Bengal Assembly election after which they seem hopeful of significant progress. We have to wait and watch.

Subhash Ghising’s political heir Mann Ghising seems unsure whether to continue clinging to his late father’s demand of sixth schedule or to upgrade to the statehood demand. To what extent his reluctance or opposition to statehood demand helps his political survival only time will tell. Going by the present indications the approach seems suicidal to say the least. 

Singing paeans of Mamta Banerjee Dr Harka Bahadur Chhetri seems to have become a preacher giving sermons (as he did in Bijanbari on 8 January and in Mirik two days later) that people must refrain from ‘politics of sentiments’ that he thinks what the demand for Gorkhaland amounts to. The question of identity at the root of the century old movement is according to him an issue as trivial as the taxi drivers of Siliguri asking visitors from Darjeeling if they want to go to ‘Kakarvita’ (on the Indo-Nepal border near Siliguri) in the mistaken belief that we are from Nepal and not India. ‘What is the big deal’, asks Dr Chhetri and advises, ‘just tell them no we aren’t going to Kakarvita’ and asks ‘why get sentimental’. 

Dr Mahendra P Lama a highly respected intellectual from the region seems to have made common cause with Dr Chhetri as both of them are busy holding public meetings together with a common agenda of condemning the GJMM and also overtly arguing that the Gorkhaland can wait as there are other more pressing issues like ‘patta purja’ confronting the region. While Chhetri tends to run down the statehood demand as ‘politics of sentiments’ Lama’s discourse implies that no point crying hoarse about Gorkhaland unless our MP raises it in the Parliament. 

Dr Chhetri perhaps forgets that sentiment and passion are two different constructs. Sentiment may be transient and only skin deep but passion is far deeper and pervasive for human soul. A common man in the region is passionate about Gorkhaland, not just sentimental. 

Before you trivialize the identity issue Dr Chhetri I suggest read an article, ‘What Gorkhaland means to a non Drjeelingey Gorkha’ by a young man Dinesh Sharma [Details: bit.ly/22UkxGA]. May be you will stand educated how shallow your own perception of the identity issue is when you dismiss it just as some pep talk of Kakarvita by the cabbies of Siliguri.

Likewise to see for yourself how passionate the people especially our youth is about Gorkhaland I recommend you to an article by a young student of Philosophy from Sikkim University, Privat Giri, ‘Has Gorkhaland become Tuberculosis’ [Details: on.fb.me/1OJ8rKf]. 

Is there any reason to believe that the century old struggle for separation of Gorkhaland from West Bengal is coming to naught? Certainly not. Gorkhaland isn’t withering away. It is being frittered away by some of our political leaders. Will they succeed in frittering it away? I don’t think so. Before they fritter it away they shall wither away from the region’s political scene to be remembered by posterity only as self-serving turncoats and not as leaders in any sense of the term. Who will make it possible? The common man, with the youth at the forefront. 

Come next elections and you will see my assessment getting duly validated hopefully.

Source The Darjeeling Times

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