Upendra for The DC
Without telling the purpose, when I asked this question my brother, " what comes to your mind when you hear the word "Gorkha..." and asked him to list 5 adjectives that came to his mind, he listed... "Brave, Fierce, Short, Hospitable, Patriotic..."
 |
| TIME TO UNITE OR PERISH |
If you ask someone what comes to their mind when they hear the word "Gorkha," everyone - almost 99.99% out of 100 will say - 'Brave'.... If you ask them 'ok, what else other than that?' - they will say - 'Loyal'... push it one more notch and ask, 'ok, what else other than that?'.... I will bet they would have run out of things to say about us.
I am yet to hear words like, "Intellectual," "Artistic," "Thinker," "Musical," "Talented," "Ambitious," "Tacktful," "Respectable," "Sensitive," "Versatile," "Confident" associated with us.
Therein lies our greatest glory, as well as our greatest loss.
I can't remember who wrote the lines, "हामी वीर छौँ र नै बुद्धु छौँ... शायद हामी बुद्धु भएरनै वीर भएको होलौं - We are brave, and we are dumb... may be we are dumb, which is why we are brave" but I agree to each and everything stated therein.
We are brave, but for others. We are loyal to a fault, but for others. We will trust a master - in fact any master, but we will rarely trust one of our own. Perhaps it is in the 200 years of colonial construct as being "brave" and "loyal" that we see ourselves reflected, and without realizing that it is the same construct that has confined us as well.
Time has come for us to break out of the narrow confines, which the history, through our glorious ancestors has imposed on us.
GURGAON - A WAKE UP CALL
Three young men got beaten up to an inch of their life in Gurgaon. The police refused to file an FIR. Forget police giving them assistance, they had to escape to Delhi to get themselves treated.
Out of the three boys [amongst four, one managed to hid himself when the attack happened] who were beaten up, one is still in AIIMS trauma center. He has multiple injuries all over his body, and hospital sources are saying even his liver has been badly damaged.
Another was so traumatized that he ran away fearful for his life - imagine he had to run away after getting beaten up - not after beating, and could only be admitted yesterday at Safdarjung hospital, after his sister calmed him enough to be able to bring him to see the doctors.
Had their case been not highlighted through the social media, I am confident that, no one would have given a damn.
As a friend so eloquently put it, "Thank God for the internet this matter came to light, else the guys would have to come home with hearts full of sorrow and marks all over their back... धन्न Internet थियो र खाली... नत्र केटाहरु ढाड भरि लट्ठीको सुम्ला, र मन भारी बेदना बोकेर... घर फर्किनु पर्थ्यो होला... "
As this incident played out, one thing which bugged me the most is the fact that for a whole 24 hours, these three boys who were so brutally beaten up had no one to turn to. After the only authority they knew - the police had turned them down, they didn't have anywhere to go to. They did not have anyone to ask for help.
For me this is a
WAKE UP CALL.
DELHI DENIZENS
In the past 1 year, the reported cases of racism has come down significantly in Delhi. Thanks to the newly developed Delhi Police For North East Folks initiative under the able and dynamic leadership of Jt. Commissioner Robin Hibu, this cell has helped numerous people from across the North East region, and whenever regular police stations have failed to provide justice to the victims from NE, DPNEF have stepped up to the plate and provided justice.
We who live in Darjeeling may not see or feel the need for a specialized cell to tackle issues relating to NE in Delhi, but incidents such as the horror that unfolded in Gurgaon is a good reminder why we need this Cell, and in fact more such Cells to be functioning in every city across India.
DPNEF has given people from NE a new hope, a new friend where there was none before, and this is where the NE people draw their inspiration and strength from.
However, more important than that, it is the individual community organizations that have strengthened themselves so well, helped and assisted by their respective state governments, that only stupid people dare take them for granted.
Sadly for the Gorkhas, we do not have any such community organization in Delhi that would speak on our behalf. It is true that we don’t have a state to begin with, but truer is the fact that even amongst ourselves we severely lack unity.
Here in Darjeeling, politically we are tied to Bengal… but socially, ethnically, geographically and culturally we identify more with the North-East than West Bengal. Perhaps this is the very reason why we are treated with disdain and discrimination by the West Bengal government. Other than Mizoram, the Gorkhas who live in the rest of North-East are treated as “outsiders” by their respective communities.
We are literally “No Where” people
DISUNITY
But what hurts us more is the realization that even our own do not care. During the Gurgaon incident, when people helping the boys in Delhi could not contact Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia, they contacted Sikkim MP PD Rai and requested help, I have been informed that he said he was in Shillong, and feigned helplessness. All these people needed help with was to ask the Gurgaon police to file a case and take the boys for medical treatment. Mr. Rai who is actually an IIT graduate and a real “intellectual” from our community, failed us when we needed him.
Many people have asked us why did Darjeeling ko people vote for SS Ahluwalia? Because if nothing else, at least he is effective. As soon as he came to know about the situation, since he was in Darjeeling, he dispatched his PA who was in Delhi to render assistance to the boys at AIIMS. He called up the Gurgaon police and demanded action. He has offered to pay the medical expenses for the three boys and promised to help the boys get justice.
Where a Gorkha MP – though from a neighbouring state let us down, a non Gorkha MP elected by US, came through for us…. And I believe that is the beauty of democracy.
The GTA is also doing what little it can, with Bimal Gurung personally getting involved to demand justice for the boys, and has assured full cooperation to the boys and their family for any need that may arise during the course of their treatment and matters relating to police.
Meanwhile, civil organizations that promise pan-India presence such as Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh, or the Delhi based Jan Awaz were conspicuous by their absence.
This then brings us to the most important question of all; could all of this have been avoided? Could the boys have been saved?
UNITY – WE ARE ONE
The answer to that question is both yes and a no… assigning fault is easy and we can blame everyone. But we all need to recognize the fact that the most important aspect of this whole sorry affair is – had we had better economic opportunities here at home in Darjeeling, those guys would not have been forced to seek jobs so far away from home.
If those guys were sensitized before going to Gurgaon on the do’s and don’ts… on the difference between lifestyle here in Darjeeling and outside… on the cultural and social difference, perhaps they would not have gotten into the altercation to begin with.
If the Gorkhali organizations and politicians in India were strong and powerful, the police wouldn’t have taken our people for granted, and would have rushed to file a complaint and an FIR, it wouldn’t have required pressure from above to get the police to do their job.
If we had a United Gorkha forum which keeps track of our people spread across India, then perhaps the three guys could have gotten assistance much before they got help this time.
Hence, the panacea to all our problems, as I see it, is to call for UNITY… not only amongst all the people living in Darjeeling, Terai and Dooars region, but also amongst Gorkhalis all over India. If we can unite ourselves, no force on earth will dare to touch us… But as long as we are divided amongst ourselves – on the basis of where we are from, our religion, language, caste, political party we support and so on… we will continue to get beaten up… no only in Gurgaon, but across the length and breadth of India.
Today if anyone from the 8 north east states are beaten up, they rally together… when people from Darjeeling got beaten up, no one came in our support, other than the Gorkhalis. Not because others don’t care, but because others know, our own don’t care to begin with.
I still remember the incident when students from Darjeeling studying in Kolkata wanted to organize a fresher’s welcome for new students from Darjeeling who had joined different colleges in Kolkata, the Salt Lake ko Gorkha Bhavan demanded Rs 25,000 from the students for 8 hours use.
Gorkhalis living across India, were hurt when GTA Chief Bimal Gurung said “Gorkha Bhavan in Delhi will be for the use of people of Darjeeling…” because they are Gorkhas too.
So if we are to deserve and demand respect from others, we need to learn to give respect to our own first. Mr. Bimal Gurung will do well to learn a lesson or two from our Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi. Where ever he goes Mr. Modi makes a point to interact with the Indian community and ask about their welfare…
Mr. Bimal Gurung, we don’t have Modi, we have you… and I hope you will take actions to develop a strong network with local governments on behalf of the Gorkhalis all over India. Better yet, please take necessary steps to get the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration region + Dooars into North East Council. That way we will have both geographical and political oneness with rest of the North East.
As for us common people, we need to come together and show our unity whenever anyone of us needs, and we can start by assembling today [20 May 2015] at 9: 30 A.M at Sahara Malls in Gurgaon, for a silent rally to demand justice for the three guys.
We need to make sure that the world knows, they should not mess with the Gorkhas.. otherwise “लहरा तान्दा पहरा गर्जिन्छ”... and through our unity is how we will move from being “No-Where” people to “Now-Here” people... who are always there for those who need our help... and if we fail to do that... let us prepare ourselves mentally that our community is going to become the punching bag of India.
Via: The DC
