Gorkhaland is generally presented nationally as a law and order problem with images of violence making headlines. Why would 1.5 crore peace loving citizens of a great democracy like India unite or go on a strike for a record 104 days if there was something seriously not irking them. The essential ingredient is identity, that unites all, or a place of being that unifies these people.
Identity is the very essence of a human being and if anyone is identified in an incorrect manner his very essence of being is humiliated. Words like “Chinky”, migrant, or being incorrectly identified as Nepalese citizens while they are Indians, are common occurrences. Lacking individual identity has a snow balling effect on a community which lacks political identity. Thus the Gorkhas, who represent one percent of Indian population, have produced soldiers and sportspersons in plenty but only a handful of civil servants as they have not been extended benefits of reservation.
Today no one fights for their cause as the state is using repressive powers to crush a democratic movement wherein encounter against a fellow politician has become the order of the day.
The state is using its full might to crush the Gorkhaland movement which one can gauge from the recent fire at Patleybas wherein, it is presumed that four houses belonging to a particular popular Gorkha party were burnt down at midnight. A few days ago as per state government an IED making factory was found there, the next we hear a fire has broken out in the same area. Is it a coincidence?
As per reports emerging these houses belonged to a registered political popular party in the hills not toeing the official line of the state government. Does it call for popular debate or burning down one each other’s houses? There can be no place for violence but this is an undemocratic manner of settling issues.
The people of Darjeeling are living in fear. Before this there was a 104 days bandh and there were 13 deaths all blamed on the people. Activism does not lead to deaths these need to be investigated. Agreed there have also been two highly condemnable deaths of Police Officers which is not the way to win popular support for a movement.
As far as the common citizens are concerned they feel let down by the political class. The BJP has twice won this seat supported by GJM but the BJP will not touch the Gorkhaland issue as they wish to dislodge Mamata Banerjee both in the parliament (2019) and state elections (2022). As far as Mamata Banerjee is concerned balkanization of Bengal is a rallying point for her, so political ambitions seeks no limit.
As far as Bimal Gurung is concerned he is being hounded from pillar to post, including by his own lieutenants; he is the fall guy of this movement, and on the run. As far as the common man is concerned those living in Darjeeling fear are the key. They were starved for 104 days literally, they lived without internet. New Delhi ignored them, and they spent their respective saving eking out a living for the 104 days, only to be told that the strike is off.
A section of people want the strike to go on, a section want back to basics, while Gorkhas settled outside Darjeeling who are most affected by the identity issue feel once and for all “We want Gorkhaland”. The reason is simple. All Bangladeshi pass off as Bengalis, although there is a cardinal difference. The Bangladeshi disrupts the demographic profile, while the Gorkha is a descended of Guru Gorakh Nath, and was specially tasked by him for gau raksha (cow protection), yet political expediency does not protect those of his followers who settled in the Himalayas.
There is not a single word from anyone that matters about the use of force by the state in Darjeeling. The demand for Gorkhaland is a democratic one within the Indian constitution just as Bodoland. The immediate need of the hour is to ensure that rule of law is carried out in Darjeeling and those people who have suffered their confidence is restored. The law and order machinery need central intervention by means available such as sending fact finding teams to examine human rights violation issues. As far as Gorkhas are concerned there is a need to first sort out if we have any Mir Jafar who too was a Nawab of Bengal. It has to be a united effort divided we shall fail.
(The writer is an Indian Army veteran and author of books Gorkha: In Search Of Identity and Gorkha: Society and Politics)
Via capitalkhabar
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