Hamro Prajasakti allegedly defaming Pawan Chamling

10:15 PM

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Sikkim Democratic Front SDF

Writes Deejay Bolo
It is very unfortunate that Anjaan Upadhya and Pabitra Bhandari have been defaming Sikkim and Sikkimese for the last 2 decades. They run a paper called Hamro Prajasakti.

Hamro Prajasakti (A Daily Nepali Newspaper), yellow paper in the garb of newspaper has been publishing news to malign and defame our Party SDF and the Leader Pawan Chamling for decades. This mouthpiece of frustrated and fallen antisocial and anti Sikkimese elements has misquoted the Chief Minister's speech on Sakewa celebrations on May 21, 2015.

The Chief Minister had asked the gathering to stay away from the propaganda spread by some politically frustrated people gathered as Gorkha Jagaran Sangh against the minorities in Sikkim . His speech was Sikkim-centric.

Shri Chamling while stating the history of Sikkimese Nepali said that we are known as Sikkimese Nepalese down the line in history before the state became part of India in 1975 and thereafter. We are known as Sikkimese Nepalese unlike our brethrens in some other parts of the country.

Hamro Prajasakti allegedly defaming Pawan Chamling 

The SDF Government led by Shri Pawan Chamling has stood by the demand of the Gorkhaland state of Darjeeling hills all along and piloted a resolution in Sikkim Legislative Assembly on 28 March,2011 and Sikkim is the first state to do so. The resolution was adopted unanimously.
Shri Chamling raised Gorkhaland demand in all the national forums including UPA meeting in 2006 , in September 2015 at Gorkha Rangamanch in Darjeeling in full view of the galaxy of national representatives of Gorkha/ Nepali from all over the country . He has been consistently in support of the cause wherever possible.

The Chief Minister also eulogised the history of Gorkhas who have regiments in the Indian Army who have laid down their life for the security of the Country. In the context of Sikkimese Nepalese , it is a fact that they are in majority in the state and therefore bear the responsibility to protect the interest and rights of the minority Bhutia Lepchas .

Sakewa speech of CM dealt with contribution of Gorkhas to the nation and their valour right from the British empire till today. There was nothing against Gorkhas around the country. He never said Gorkhas came to India for recruitment in the army.

Prajasakti paper has hatched a conspiracy to create a difference and controversy to create misunderstanding among Sikkimese Nepalese and Nepalese / Gorkhas around India.

1.  Gorkhas have settled in India, they are Indians from time immemorial along with all ethnicity. Chief Minister said that. What is wrong about it??
2.  Shri Chamling asked the people to be cautious from Gorkha Jagaran Sangh, an anti minority outfit which is misguiding the people . What is wrong about it??
3. The CM dwelt on irresponsible and anti Sikkim activities carried out by defeated, frustrated elements who are trying to disturb traditional unity and affinity among Sikkimese BHUTIA LEPCHA NEPALESE AND BYAPARIS. As guardian of the Sikkimese people he does his duty.
4. Sikkim has amicable and close relationship and constant touch with the people of Darjeeling. Conspiracy of a yellow paper like Prajasakti should not be taken as truth.

Truth should prevail and words should not be put into our mouth. SDF advises all concerned to condemn this conspiracy of frustrated elements who have conspired with this yellow paper Prajasakti.

Writes Manju Kc Nanu 
प्रजाशक्ति पत्रिकाले आज नकारात्मक जातिवाद सोच भएका व्यक्तिहरुको मुखपत्र भएर एसडीएफ सरकार र मुख्य मन्त्रीको बिरोधमा नकारात्मक कुरा जनमानसमा फैलाउने कार्य गरिरहेको छ ।

मुख्यमन्त्रीको सम्भाषणलाई तोड़मोड़ गरेर जातिया अशान्ति फैलाइने षड्यंत्र यो पत्रिकाले गरिरहेको छ । पवन चामलिङको लोकप्रियता दूरदर्शी योजना र कार्यक्रमको डाह लोभ र लालचले जलेर यी नकारात्मक जातीवादी तत्वहरुले बिभिनन प्रोपोगंडा मच्चाए मुख्यमन्त्रीको बदनाम गर्नलागि रहेका छन ।

नकारात्ममक सोचले पत्रकारिता गरेर अशान्ति फैलाएर भाई चारा सद्भावना तोड़ने कोशिश कसैले पनि नगरौ ।
यस्ता नकारात्मक पत्रकारितलाई अब युवा चेली र जनता अघि आएर कड़ा भन्दा कड़ा जवाब दिन अति आवश्यकता देखिन्छ ।

Writes Pravesh Stratosphere Chhetri
भारतमा नेपाली भाषी गोखाॅहरूको पहिचान गोखाॅको रूपमा पहिला भारत को ब्रिटिस सरकारले गोखाॅ रेजिमेन्ट आमीॅ मा बनाएर गोखाॅ हरूलाई छुट्टै पहिचान र सम्मान गरेको हो।अनि गोखाॅ हरू पनि देसको लागि ज्यान प्राण दिएर योगदान गरेको हो।

तर आज गोखाॅ हरू आफ्नो पहिचान र अस्तित्व को लडाई लडन परिरहेको छ, यस्को ज्वालन्त उधारण दाजीॅलीङ जिल्ला लाई छुट्टै राज्य गोखाॅल्याण्ड बनाउने हो।यस्को लागि सिक्किम को मुख्य मन्त्री पवन चामलिङ ज्यू ले सिक्किम बिधान सभामा दाजीॅलिङ लाई छुट्टै गोखाॅल्याण्ड राज्य बनाउनू पछॅ भनेर पास गरेको सबैलाई थाहा छ साथै मुख्य मन्त्रीको रूपमा श्री पवन चामलिङ ले देशका बिभिन्न राष्टिय फोरममा दाजीॅलिङ का गोखाॅल्याण्ड राज्य माँग को समॅथन मा बोल्नू भएको सबै लाई जनकारि भएकै हो।

यसरि सिक्किम छुट्टै राज्यको मुख्य मन्त्री भएर दाजीॅलिङ को गोखाॅ हरू को पक्षमा बोल्दा पश्चिम बंगाल सरकार र केन्द्र सरकार ले चामलिङ ले अकोॅ राज्यमा हस्तक्षार गर्यो भनेर चामलिङ ज्यूलाई Warning दिएको सबैलाई थाहा छ। यसरि चमलिङ ज्यू ले जातीको लागि गोखाॅको पक्षमा अडान लिएको सबैलाई थाहा भएको कुरो हो।

पवन चामलिङ ले अहिले सम्म गरेको काम हरू लाई बिस्वास गनूॅ पछॅ तर उसको बिरोधी हरू ले गरेको षंडयन्त्र र प्रजाशक्ति ले गलत प्रकारले छापेको समाचारलाई बिश्वाश गनूॅ भन्दा पहिला साचो कूरा के हो त्यो बुझ्नू पछॅ यस्तो षंडयन्त्र ले नेपाली अथवा गोखाॅ जाती लाई नै नोकसान गछॅ यो सिक्किमको नेपाली लाई मास्ने षंडयन्त्र हो अनि भारत भरि बसेको गोखाॅ हरू लाई कमजोर गनेॅ षंडयन्त्र हो यस कारण हामी सारा भारत मा बस्ने गोखाॅ हरू मिलेर बस्नू पछॅ षंडयन्त्रमा परेर आफ्नै जाती मा दुश्मनी गनूॅ हुदैन।।

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अब पनि हामी बोलेनौँ भने कहिले पनि बोल्नसक्ने छैनौँ - गोर्खा भारती विचार मञ्च

8:53 AM

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Sikkim

भारत एउटा गणतान्त्रिक देश हो अनि यहाँ सबै नागरिकलाई अभिव्यक्तिको स्वतन्त्रता प्राप्त छ । तर अभिव्यक्तिको स्वतन्त्रताको आढ़मा कसैले पनि अनर्गल अनि जातिलाई नै भड़खालोमा हाल्ने प्रकारको वक्तव्य दिन्छ भने त्यो कुरो सहन गर्नु हुँदैन । चाहे त्यो व्यक्ति कुनै राज्यको मुख्य मन्त्री नै किन नहोस् । आज पनि हामी बोलेनौँ भने कहिले पनि बोल्नसक्ने छैनौँ । पवन कुमार चामलिङलाई हामी भारतका गोर्खाहरूले एक जातीय विभूतिकै रूपमा सधैँ हेर्ने गरेका छौँ । भारतका प्रत्येक राज्यका गोर्खाहरूले नै चामलिङलाई एक उद्धारकर्ताको रूपमा हेर्ने गर्दछन् । सर्वभारतीय स्तरमा चामलिङको नेतृत्वको सपना देख्नेहरू पनि धेरै नै छन। तर आज चामलिङले गोर्खाहरू नेपालबाट भारतको सेनामा काम गर्न आएका हुन् भन्ने उट्पटाङ विचार पोखेर गोर्खा जातिको घोर अपमान मात्र गरेका छैनन् तर आफ्नै छविलाई पनि धुल धुसरित बनाएका छन् । साथै भारतका गोर्खा अनि सिक्किमका नेपालीलाई पृथक-पृथक बताएर जाति विभाजनको घिनलाग्दो प्रयास पनि चलाएका छन् ।

यदि चामलिङले "हामी सिक्किमे नेपाली हौँ" भन्छ भने हामीलाई कुनै समस्या छैन, यो उनको व्यक्तिगत विचार हो । तर भारतका सम्पूर्ण गोर्खाहरूलाई नै इंगित गरेर यिनीहरू नेपालबाट भारतीय सेनामा काम गर्न आएर गोर्खा भएका हुन भन्ने आशयको मन्तव्य पोख्ने चामलिङको कुनै अधिकार छैन । सिक्किमको सत्तामा आफ्नो वर्चस्व कायम राख्नलाई गोर्खाको जातीय इतिहासलाई नै गलत बताउने यस कुत्सित प्रयासको हामीले कठोर शब्दमा भर्त्सना गर्नैपर्छ । यदि आफ्नो राजनैतिक शतरंजको बाजीमा गोर्खा जातिलाई मोहोरा बनाउन चाहन्छ भने त्यसको दूरगामी नतिजा भोग्नको निम्ति पनि चामलिङ तयार बस्नु पर्छ ।

परायाहरूले लगाएका घातहरू अनि दिएका चोटहरूले थिल्थिलो भएको गोर्खा अस्मितामाथि आफ्नैले थपेको यो विवेकहीन प्रहारले आज भारतका हतभागा डेड़ करोड़ गोर्खाहरू मर्माहत् बनेका छन् ।

भारतका सम्पूर्ण गोर्खाहरूको शिरमौर बन्नसक्ने चामलिङ यदि रम्फू खोलाको पारिको सानो क्षेत्रको मात्न नेता भएर बाँच्न चाहन्छन् भने यो उनको निजी मामला हो तर त्यो नेतृत्वलाई बचाइराख्न सम्पूर्ण जातिको भूत, वर्तमान अनि भविष्यसित खेलवाड़ गर्न चाहन्छ भने त्यो हामी कुनै हालतले पनि हुन दिने छैनौँ । मुख्यमन्त्रीको ओहोदालाई दिएको आदरभावलाई हाम्रो समर्पण सम्झिने भूल नगरियोस् ।

हामी गोर्खा हौँ भन्ने भारतका समस्त संघ-संस्था-संगठनहरू अनि व्यक्तिहरू मिलेर यस कुराको ठाड़ो विरोध गर्नै पर्छ । सत्ता मदमा जातिको हित र मर्यादाको पनि ख्याल नराख्ने मुख्यमन्त्रीलाई यो जातिघातक वक्तव्यई फिर्ता लिने अनुरोध अनि भएन भने चाप पनि दिनै पर्छ ।

याद राख्नोस् - अब पनि हामी बोलेनौँ भने कहिले पनि बोल्नसक्ने छैनौँ !!!(सभार पूर्वान्चल भारती)

गोर्खा भारती विचार मञ्च

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Open Letter to Pawan Chamling Manipur for his statement about Indian Gorkhas

8:10 AM

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Sikkim

Writes Prateet Pradhan

Open Letter to Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling by Prateet Pradhan on behalf of the Gorkhas in Manipur for his statement about Indian Gorkhas.

Sir Chamling, you are an lone Gorkha CM in India and for that everyone used to be proud of you. Its democracy and you kept your words. But please let me keep my words too. Indian Gorkhas as told by you are all former soldier of Indian Army who later settled here. But i think its not the fact. Their are various Gorkhas dominated regions in India  which came to the Union of india through various historical events(From the than Nepalese Kingdom like Parts of Uttrakhand and also Sikkim through the Treaty Of Sagauli 1816). I am from Manipur and i called myself Manipuri and Gorkhali at a same time. Also, in my whole life i have not come across the term "So Called Gorkhas".  

We may not be majority in our States but one thing is clear and that even our vote matters a lot. We are also good enough to elect our own representative. Their are various Constituencies in India (like Assembly Constituencies of Digboi, Margheritha, Sadiya, Tezpur etc in Assam, Kangpokpi and Sekmei AC of Manipur to mention a few apart from those within GTA) where the votes of Gorkhas matters a lot to decide the faith of an Representative. Even the recent election results of West Bengal and Assam gave us an example by electing 5 Gorkha MLAs. Still we are being called as minorities and the unity we sought are explained as an outcome of our Minority Status.

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The “Nepalis of Sikkim” and Their Un-Gorkha CM Pawan Chamling

7:59 AM

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Sikkim

Writes Upendra For TheDC

If we are to believe the Un-Gorkha CM of Sikkim Mr. Pawan Chamling, apparently the “Nepalis of Sikkim*” are a different breed than the rest of us mortals. He claims while they are purer version of Indian, rest of the “Indian Gorkhas” or “So called Gorkhas have emigrated from Nepal after recruitment into the army.” I applaud him for his knowledge and also his ability to call a spade a spade.

Indeed, “Nepalis of Sikkim” are not Gorkhas and that’s a fact... here are some reasons why

In 2014, a few months after TheDC was formed we got a request from a young girl studying at Lady Brabourne college, Kolkata. She was very upset when she contacted us, so we asked her what had happened? She had informed us that they needed to perform at a cultural show at their college for which they needed traditional dresses. These girls were aware that Sikkim House do have these dresses, so they had requested the Sikkim House manager to let them borrow the dresses for one day – they were declined, since the girls were from Darjeeling and not Sikkim. The girls explained to the Sikkim House manager that they had represented Sikkim in a basketball tournament only a few months ago, and had won the tournament for Sikkim, but the manager wouldn’t budge... “that was sports... this is cultural thing...” is what the manager’s final words were to the girls. Distraught the girls reached out to us, and thankfully we were able to assist them with the dresses.

Sikkim's Un-Gorkha CM Pawan Chamling

When you think about it, it’s a very trivial and small matter, however it clearly exemplifies that the “Nepalis of Sikkim” are not Gorkhas, for no Gorkha would decline to assist someone in need, especially not after those someone had assisted your state to win a basketball tournament.

In 2015, a girl from Sikkim was sexually assaulted and brutalized in Shantiniketan. We were outraged here in Darjeeling, so were the people over social media in Sikkim. However, when it came to providing on the ground support and solidarity, “Nepalis of Sikkim” were missing. In Shantiniketan protest marches were coordinated by PhD students from Darjeeling, so were protest marches in JNU, Jadavpur University, NBU and GJVM organized protest marches all over GTA region. TheDC on our part, coordinated “I Stand With My Sister From Sikkim” campaign in which thanks to Mr. Nawang and Mr. Nadong Bhutia we were able to get National level footballers from Sanju Pradhan to Bikas Jairu to Nirmal Pradhan to speak out against this heinous act. Nadong Bhutia from Kalimpong lead the campaign [details: http://bit.ly/1rHHaIO].

While all of this was happening elsewhere, nothing was happening in Sikkim itself. Shocked at the non-reaction, the editor of a leading online news page had private confided to us, “hamro manche haru k bhako hola esto... they are so indifferent... I feel ashamed...” Almost 20 days after the incident, a group of Bikers finally managed to organize a protest rally in Gangtok, and that was that.

Indeed “Nepalis of Sikkim” are not Gorkhas, for had they been Gorkhas their blood would boil over seeing one of their daughters so brutalized, sexually assaulted and blackmailed.

In October of 2015, around 40 students from Sikkim studying at the Himalayan Institute in Uttarakhand were brutally attacked by around 400 students from Jammu and Kashmir. Some of our readers informed TheDC that the students were living in fear of their life as no one had taken any action to protect them. We took the initiative to call up the institute Director, the Hostel in- charge, the Inspector in-Charge of Kala Amb police station and also the District SP and demanded action. Thanks to social media, following widespread outrage the Sikkim government finally intervened and the students were rescued [Details: http://bit.ly/1U6N0RK].

Thank God, Gorkhas in rest of India are unlike the “Nepalis of Sikkim” who couldn’t care if it does not concern their state. It is most likely that our initial demand for action and pressure we put on University and police authorities helped to protect the life of those students.

In March of 2016, a youth Suraj Subba from Manipal in Sikkim was found sleeping in a park in Delhi. After coming to know that the youth was from Sikkim, representatives from GYASA requested Sikkim House in Delhi to allow him to spend a couple of nights there till his travel arrangements could be made, Sikkim House in Delhi were untraceable and when we here at TheDC approached a Sikkim govt official to get the Sikkim House involved, the first question she asked was, “does he has “Sikkim Subject?” – we were left aghast. Never mind the fact that he was beaten up by drug addicts and all his belongings were looted, for Sikkim to help and intervene they needed to verify his “Sikkim Subject” status first.

Thankfully it was a Darjeelingey Puran Rai who runs “Namaste Cafe” stepped up and provided him with food and shelter, Mr. Arun Dubey, working as a Sales Director for a UK based-firm booked the tickets, and GYASA activists, most of whom are from rest of India, assisted Suraj throughout the process and Suraj reached home to Sikkim safely.

Indeed “Nepalis of Sikkim” are not like the Gorkhas, for we – the Gorkhas care and care deeply, even if it is someone entirely unknown and unrelated to us. Sikkim ma testo hundaina.

You can and I insist you must read this account of how another Sikkimese youth Tirtha Tamang committed suicide and how Sikkim House in Delhi didn’t help him when he needed the help most [http://bit.ly/1Vf7AVq].

No Gorkha would leave one of their own to die if they could save him or her in any way, but perhaps such are the specialities of “Nepalis of Sikkim” that they are just too busy, just too rich and just too pure blood to care for such trivialities.

As much as we may not like Bimal Gurung he has always been the 1st to speak out when Gorkhalis across India are threatened or harmed. He was the 1st to speak out in case of brutal rape and murder of a Gorkha in Manipur, he was also the 1st to speak out in case of Shantiniketan. He was also the 1st to speak out in case of recent brutal rape and murder of Gorkha girl in Assam. He has earned my respect in that regard. Even Darjeeling MP Shri. SS Ahluwalia – a “non-Nepali” hai, wrote to the MHRD and Home Minister demanding justice for our sister from Sikkim in the Shantiniketan case, perhaps that is the Darjeeling ko GORKHA influence which made him to speak out while the Govt of Sikkim was still sleeping.

What Mr. Chamling said yesterday was a statement of convenience to keep his vote banks intact, and as a shrewd politician he told the people of Sikkim out loud, what many of them believe to be true privately – that they are not Gorkhas, rather they are “Nepalis of Sikkim.”

However, I’d request the Hon’ble CM to kindly explain what does the word “Nepali” itself mean in reality? Hope he realizes that the very word NEPALI is derived from the country - NEPAL.

Mr. CM claims that “so called Gorkhas came to India and settled after joining the Army,” thus making all of non-Sikkimese Nepalis immigrants. For his political convenience he humiliated the rest of us, and I have no issues with that. However, I feel sorry for those who saw in him a world class GORKHA statesman, which sadly he is not.

During the Sikkim Legislative Assembly elections of 2014, Mr. Chamling had used “Sikkim lai Gorkhaland banauncha” narrative to scare people of Sikkim to vote against SKM, that was the first time I had realized how low Mr. Chamling can go to secure votes. However, in labelling the rest of Gorkhas as being immigrants for his own convenience, Mr. Chamling has shown that there is no end to his politics of opportunism.

I am not sure about the “Nepalis of Sikkim,” however here is an appeal to the GORKHAS of Sikkim, please brood over what Mark Twain had once said, “Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason”…

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*The phrase “Nepalis of Sikkim” is used to mock the statement made by Mr. Pawan Chamling, and is not the generalization of entire Sikkimese Gorkhas. Please note this is a reaction to his statement and not a commentary on the amazing Gorkhas of Sikkim... we are and we remain one FAMILY, despite what Mr. Chamling may think or say.

Jai Gorkha!!


Via TheDC

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Request to Gorkha MLAs to take an oath in Nepali Language

1:08 PM

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West Bengal

21st May 2016: We, on behalf of the entire Indian Gorkha Community, first of all congratulate the newly elected Gorkha MLAs Bhaskar Sharma and Ganesh Limbu from Assam and Amar Rai, Sarita Rai and Dr. Rohit Sharma West Bengal and request you all to Kindly take Oath in Nepali Language as your voice will be representing the entire Indian Gorkha Community. We want the language, "Nepali Language", which is recognized by the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution to be used in such an event. The recognition achieved through such a historical  struggle popularly known as Bhasa Andolan.

Fighting for Nepali Language Recognition in Indian Constitution  - File Photo

Resham Sharma posted the following open letter on May 20 at 8:01pm in "The Gorkha Times Assam" FB fan page

As the Oath Ceremony is going to take place on 24th May, 2016 at Khanapara Field, Guwahati, We "The Gorkha Times Assam" request our two Honourable MLA Bhaskar Sharma and Ganesh Limbu Sir to take Oath in Nepali Language and make our existence feel in the Assam Assembly. Your voice will be representing 24 lakh Gorkha Peoples of Assam.

[Writes in : Resham Sharma]

Dear Sir,
We Got recognition of our Language by the Indian Government on 20th August, 1992, but the use of the language in Parliament or Secretariat Bhawan is very less. We don't get much opportunity to hear our language in such Important places. As you both have finally made it to the Assam Assembly, we want to hear you taking oath in our mother language.

Previously, Honourable MLA Sanjay Raj Subba Sir did it and took oath in our language. So, the 24 lakh Gorkha Peoples of Assam is waiting to see you both taking oath in our language.
Its a Request from all of us.

Thanking You,
With Best Wishes.
Jai Hind
Jai Gorkha
Jai Aai Asom

Here is the other version of the open letter to  MLAs Bhaskar Sharma and Ganesh Limbu from Assam Rupak chetri.

Writes Rupak chetri

As the Oath Ceremony is going to take place on 24th May, 2016 at Khanapara Field, Guwahati, We "The Gorkha of Nagaland blog along with Gorkha Civil bodies of Nagaland request our two Honourable MLA Bhaskar Sharma and Ganesh Limbu Sir to take Oath in Nepali Language and make our existence feel in the Assam Assembly and other States where our Gorkha lived. Your voice will be representing 24 lakh Gorkha Peoples of Assam as well as the other states where our Gorkha citizens lived .

Dear Sir,
We Got recognition of our Language by the Indian Government on 20th August, 1992, but the use of the language in Parliament or Secretariat Bhawan is very less. We don't get much opportunity to hear our language in such Important places. As you both have finally made it to the Assam Assembly, we want to hear you taking oath in our mother language.

Previously, Honourable MLA Sanjay Raj Subba Sir did it and took oath in our language. So, the 24 lakh Gorkha Peoples of Assam is waiting to see you both taking oath in our language.
Its a Request from all of us.
Thanking You,

With Best Wishes.
Rupak chetri
Jai Hind
Jai Gorkha

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Reimagining encounters with Hari Prasad ‘Gorkha’ Rai - Mahendra P. Lama

5:09 PM

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Sikkim

Writes - MAHENDRA P LAMA 

May 7, 2016- Though I always deeply enjoyed reading literary works of Hari Prasad ‘Gorkha’ Rai and heard so much about him from my revered father RP Lama and his friends at Su-Dha-Pa (Surya Bikram-Dharnidhar-Parasmani) hall of Nepali Sahitya Sammelan in Darjeeling, I had the opportunity to interact with ‘Gorkha’ Rai-jyu just twice—once in New Delhi and the next time in Gangtok. However, both these encounters remained a rare occasion for me. I was struck by his simplicity and his inclusive views on life outside the geographies of Nepali-speaking communities like Sikkim and Darjeeling. In the course of our interaction, my major question was: how did he find life among the Nagas in Nagaland and Ahoms in Assam, and how could he produce so many literary works in not only Nepali literature but also in Assamese and other languages? He was candid and forthright when he said that Gorkhas, by nature, are a very friendly and jovial community and could go along with any community, particularly in a democratic set up. He further narrated how the Nagas and Assamese intermingled with the Gorkhas and extended social and political support for their upliftment. There are moments of apprehensions and misunderstanding but are largely overshadowed by the larger issues of peaceful coexistence and Indianness and more critically social cohesiveness. This was typical of ‘Gorkha’ Rai-jyu, a man who carried a halo of intellectualism in his ever-glowing face. His views are not different than what one hears from other Nepali literary figures in the North East region of India. They all nurtured a feeling of ‘regional oneness’, amidst huge diversity in their approaches to their day-to-day lives.

 Hari Prasad ‘Gorkha’ Rai

‘Gorkha’ Rai-jyu stands among many distinguished writers of his generation, like Acchha Rai Rasik, Lain Singh Bandel, Siva Kumar Rai, Indra Sundas, Rup Narayan Sinha, and others. Oh! How I loved reciting his famous poem Kamp Uthyo in my college and university days. They always ended with loud chants of ‘once more’. ‘Once more’ not because of the style of recitation but the contents of the poem and high decibels of ‘encore’, not because of the enthralment this recitation generated but for the bourgeoning fascinations of the Gorkha youths towards their own literary traditions. Yes, he used attractively engaging common words and expressions. Many of our friends would actually cry and howl whenever there was an announcement of the arrival of Kamp Uthyo.  I myself used to get goose bumps before I stepped onto the stage and held the microphone.

Another poem I frequently recited in public was Bairagi Kainla’s Mateko Mancheko Bhashan:  Madhyarat Pachiko Sadaksita. We simply photocopied these poems in an old manual photocopy machine at a pretty high cost and distributed it. These recitations still echo in the lawns of the Fraser Hall of St Joseph’s College and North Bengal University in Darjeeling and the Mavalankar Hall of New Delhi. That was the late 1970s and 1980s when Indian Gorkhas across the country were struggling and collectively fighting for the recognition of the Nepali language in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution of India; the decades when the Indian identity of the Indian Gorkhas were brought to the political table and negotiated in the name of a separate state of ‘Gorkhaland’ comprising of Darjeeling and adjoining Dooars region of West Bengal.  This was the time, when in the name of ‘foreigners’, a large number of Indian Gorkhas were inhumanly displaced and ousted in several North East States in the name of ‘cleansing their lands’. This was the time when the Indian nation state failed to protect their own hapless but true citizens amidst the parochial cacophony of ‘foreigners go back’.  History will never forget these atrocities and discriminations against the Indian Gorkhas who valiantly fought and immensely contributed in India’s freedom struggle and in the building of modern India. Who will deconstruct the present history and reconstruct the more inclusive history is a question the Indian Gorkhas have been asking. We lost the game as majority of our political leadership who could take up these issues are literally uneducated, both in terms of acquired degrees and knowledge. This is a tragedy among the Indian Gorkhas.

What I like in Kamp Uthyo (literally meaning uprooting of a camp from his anthology of poems Babari published in 1974) is its depiction of a soldier’s life and its uncertainty; more critically the story of separation that underlines the entire narrative, the beautiful elucidation of a soldier’s dilemma who has made friends around the camps with humans, flowers and nature’s ecology.  The soldier has reached Shillong from Darjeeling, and settles down in the military camp. The depiction of Gorkha soldier’s attachment with his roots in Darjeeling and his unparalleled ability to adapt to a new geography and society makes the reading both absorbing and powerfully touching.

Like in the past, the inimitable soldier has to leave Shillong now as they have to camp in some other frontier. By now, he has friends around with their names typical of a hill society, developed some mutual infatuation with a local girl named Sita and strong attachments with the societal practices, community living styles in Shillong. He realises and accepts that there lies uncertainty in his new destination but like a true soldier he is ready to bravely face death. A sense of sacrifice and unenviable attachment to their motherland prevails in him, something with which Gorkhas are born with. He imagines that flowers will bloom in his cemetery and passersby could assume it to be a magnificent garden. This is the way he personifies the life of a soldier who devours his physical being at the frontiers of battlefield—a superb personification where one is born to die but meaningfully like a Gorkha soldier.

Good bye Shanti! Good bye Bire! 
Good bye my friend Dhane! 

Good bye Manu! What do I say to you 
Never will come that day 

Good bye Hari 
Good bye to all of you! 
The symbols of quietness—my dear Sita 
You are like a Goddess 
Shall always wrap and unfold you into my own story 
My rude sister Maily 
Shall meet you during my dejected moments. 

do say my goodbye to that sister 
who accompanied me to Suna-Kurung falls 
Please count these goodies to the one 
who quietly peeped me from her window panes 

Oh now the bugle is sounding 
I have to go for a ‘fall in’ 
Where a Gorkha has not reached? 
everywhere whether ‘fall in’ or in no ‘fall in’ 

Against the grumping sound of boots 
Six tonner vehicle moved with noise 
We are moving to the next camp 
It’s just a recollection once again 
So many Mannus were killed in Marmma 
Many Danus were left behind in Burma 
Camp is uprooted once again 
I am on a move as a soldier 
Donot know what awaits us 
there in the unknowns, 
May be I will remain dead flat 
in the battlefield not seen now 
And there will blossom bouquet of flowers 
On the cemetery I will remain in 
Some stranger walking past could think it to be a garden 
My bare bones and other remains 
would then quietly narrate my story 
Chanting the gregarious call of Aayo Gorkhali 
(here arrive the Brave Gorkhas) 
I shall reach far beyond 
Good bye forever ! Good bye and again good bye 
My dear Sita 
Forever be near me and nearer me.

His short stories are absorbing and gives us fresh waves of joys and shocks of acute pain and of course, penetrating anguish. He is a deadly connoisseur at creating something that is beautiful. His short story Banani Banki Sundari (beauty from Banani forest, published in Bharati, Kalimpong, 1973) and reviewed in the prestigious Masterpieces of Indian Literature  (National Book Trust, New Delhi, 1997) by this author refreshed memories about the rebellion in Mizoram. In this complex and chilling story, Lainsemi lived with her mother in Mizoram hills and had developed intense love for Captain Raj who was posted there to supervise the operations against the rebels. These rebels once forcedly took away Lainsemi from her home, took her to their camp and invaded her morals from her soul and sent her back bereft of physical value. On her way back, she meets her Captain-lover who was returning from Darjeeling from a short leave. And then she narrates to him all that happened.

‘Gorkha’ Rai-jyu will ever be remembered for many generation to come. Saraswati, one of his three daughters, took the cudgels of bringing together his memories and contributions in a volume. What is of critical importance for his family and friends is to recollect and re-document what he left for posterity as oral history and unpublished manuscripts. Somewhere in the preface of one of his books he wrote:

“I must confess that I have this habit of writing poems and singing them as songs whenever I get the right moment, theme and actors. ... I never took care of these papers which were drafted and corrected from all sides. Many a times I just tore them into several unrecognisable pieces and forgot them for all the time to come.”

Saraswati could revisit his papers and bring them to public purview as societal intellectual property. This phenomenon is universal among the Gorkhas all over. The ‘oral history’ programme, the ‘winter sojourn’ project and the ‘book discussion’ event and of course ‘Ethnicity and Biodiversity Museum’ which we initiated in the very first five years (2007-2012) of building Sikkim University, a national university, in Gangtok have been exactly aimed at realising these objectives.

We started documenting our rich but unrecorded intellectual heritage through ‘oral history’ (Maukhik Itihas) programme. Our teachers and students visited villages and rugged terrains looking for the custodians of this knowledge and interviewed them, recorded them and transformed them into documents and unusual sets of knowledge base and intellectual capital. In the past we steadily lost so much in terms of knowledge and wisdom when our parents and grandparents faded into oblivion. No one documented them and we lost the game. Whereas same traditional knowledge base was capitalised by the Chinese, Japanese and companies like Coca Cola to generate huge development resources and extend and ensure human security. Therefore, in order to connect the oral history programme with the societies and communities in and around Sikkim we simply said:

Baje Mare Boju Mareen, 
Duiwata  pustakalaya  lierai  gae 
Aba yesto  huna dinnau hai

Thereby meaning:

Grandfather passed away, 
Grandmother crossed the horizon, 
Along, took away two beautiful libraries, 
We shall not let it happen again

The ‘winter sojourn’ (Hiundo Yatra) project aimed at connecting the University and higher education with the communities. The students and teachers will go to a destination in Sikkim and around to study themes like water, brooms, cardamom, trafficking of women, cultural heritage, health, pastime games, forest, local women vendors, etc, from an inter-disciplinary perspective. This helped our students and teachers to understand and assimilate the issues within the locales of their university and also connecting the village folks and city dwellers with the higher education. This generated adequate researchable local and regional issues from within our geography, natural resources and communities so that we steadily move to ‘globalisation of locals’ (knowledge, culture, traditional medicinal systems, adaptation story of climate change, food, literary heritage, and also disaster management techniques etc) and not what is dominantly happening now the ‘localisation of globals’ (Jeans, Samsung, Apple, Pizza, Hamburger, KFC, Honda and Toyota). ‘Book discussion’ (Pustak Chalphal) event was designed to imbibe reading habits among the younger generation and take them nearer to their roots where language, literature, culture, music, sports and young talents profusely flourished in the past.

And finally in the initiation and building of Ethnicity and Biodiversity Museum the aim was not only to realign the locals, national and global citizens with the extravagant and prolific cultural heritage and biodiversity of this region but also make museum as a bastion of research and sustainable development discourses.  This is perhaps the first such museum in the entire Eastern Himalayas which was designed by our own teachers and students and management staff with the help of National Museum, National Archives of India and British Council. Rather a proud moment for the hill folks around. There was public fund guzzler-political ‘leaders’ who do not value institutions as they live in the ideology of individualism and destruction of what nature have endowed. Sikkim University initiated all these programmes and built all these institutions blatantly ignoring and sometimes durably exposing this political class with myopic vision and chicken-like thinking. These are the ways forward for all of us who value culture, literature, heritage and renegotiating our children and communities to their glorious past. ‘Gorkha’ Rai-jyu’s writings and speeches very much allude to all these.

Lama is a professor of South Asian Economies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Also served as the Founding Vice Chancellor, Central University of Sikkim. Considered as the architect of the reopening of Nathu la trade route between Sikkim in India and Tibet Autonomous Region in China after 44 years in 2006, he is a member of Eminent Persons Group on Nepal-India Relations from India


Via ekantipur

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Nepali and Darjeeling: The importance of the language in Gorkhaland movement

11:27 AM

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WBCS

Writes Premankur Biswas 

April 23, 2016 Earlier this week, when the State Bank of India included Nepali in the revised list of official languages for its recruitment procedure in West Bengal, the Gorkhaland movement in North Bengal received boost of sorts.

Since 1907, the Gorkhas of north Bengal have demanded a separate administrative unit in Darjeeling, and the Nepali language has played an important role in the scheme of things. Even in this year’s Assembly Election, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, the most prominent party of the area, has actively campaigned on this very issue.

In 1917, in a petition of the Hillmen’s Association to Edwin Montague (the then secretary of state for India) it was stated that “Darjeeling’s inclusion in Bengal was comparatively recent and only because the British were rulers common to both places. …Historically, culturally, ethnically, socially, religiously and linguistically there was no affinity whatsoever between Bengal and Darjeeling.”

Nepali was recognized as an official language of West Bengal in 1961, and in 1992 was recognized as one of the Official Languages of India under the VIIIth Scheduled of Indian Constitution

According to Michael Hutt’s seminal book on the Nepali Diaspora— Being Nepali without Nepal: Reflections on a South Asian Diaspora, in the 1951 census the then District Census Officer A. Mitra, (ICS) stated that only 19.96% of the population (numbering a total population 88,958) in Darjeeling district spoke Nepali. He did this by presenting only Kami, Damai, Chettri , Brahmin, and Sarki as Nepali speaking– while the rest of the hill populace Limbu, Gurung, Rai, Mangar, Sherpa, Newar, Lepcha and others whose lingua franca was also Nepali were counted as separate entities on the grounds of having their own dialects. According to Hutt, the total Nepali speaking population in Darjeeling District at that time was 66% (2.90 lakhs). Based on this manipulated data, Nepali was not included as the national languages of India.

Finally in 1961, Nepali was recognized as an official language of West Bengal, and in 1992, Nepali was recognized as one of the Official Languages of India under the VIIIth Scheduled of Indian Constitution.

However, till date Nepali is not offered as an optional subject in the West Bengal Civil Services Examination.

However, in 2011, right after coming to power, CM Mamata Banerjee had included Nepali as one of the six “second official” languages of the state. She also included Nepali as one of the languages for answering question papers in the examinations by the Public Service Commission in February this year. However, The Darjeeling Chronicle, an online civil society forum, which has been actively campaigning for the inclusion of Nepali language as an optional language in the WBCS examination, says that it’s not same thing. “To be able to answer the questions in Nepali is not the same thing as having Nepali as an optional paper,” said Upendra Pradhan, activist from the Darjeeling Chronicle.

Via indianexpress

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Nepali‬ Language Included in State Bank of India Recruitment Process

7:09 PM

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West Bengal

Thanks to  the Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia efforts, Nepali and other minority languages of West Bengal - Hindi, Urdu, Santhali, Oriya and Punjabi have been included as an optional regional languages. The State bank has also extended the last day of application to the 28th of April so that people from our region get to fill out the forms.

This is also one of the reasons why we should not remain a part of West Bengal, for the Central government had no problem in paying heed to our request and respecting it, while West Bengal government is yet to include Nepali in WBCS.

Revised State Bank of India Recruitment

[Please note that the notification just came out, and online application portal is being updated to reflect the same... for now you can apply with Bengali and change the language option once the SBI updates their portal]
...............................

After reports of Non-Inclusion of Nepali Language Option in State Bank of India Recruitment  on social media,  Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia Writes to Finance Minister

Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia has taken strong note of non-inclusion of Nepali language option in State Bank of India recruitment and has written to the Finance Minister as well as the Chairperson of SBI demanding inclusion of Nepali language option, and extending the application deadline to allow for youths from Darjeeling, Terai and Dooars region to complete the application formalities.

MP Shri. Ahluwalia has also demanded that Nepali being a national language of India, should be offered as an optional language in all states of NE and rest of India where a large number of ethnically Nepali people reside.

Here is the text of his letter to the Finance Minister.

To,
Shri. Arun Jaitley
Hon’ble Finance Minister
Government of India

Re: Exclusion of Nepali speaking candidates from SBI Recruitment

Dear Arun ji,
I want to draw your attention to the plight of the Gorkhali community in India, whose mother tongue is Nepali. Recently the SBI through the advertisement number CRPD/CR/2016-17/01 dated April 3, 2016 has sought applications for the post of Junior Associates (customer support and sales) for which there are close to 15000 vacancies that have opened up all over India, out of which around 2000 have opened up in the state of West Bengal.

When youths from my constituency logged online to apply for the post, they were taken aback to realize that the only linguistic option that they could chose for official language in the state of West Bengal was Bengali. Where as in Darjeeling, Terai and Dooars region majority of the people learn and speak Nepali and not Bengali.

Perhaps the SBI Human Resources Department is not aware of the fact that Nepali is one of the 22 National Languages of India that have been duly recognized as such, under the VIIIth Scheduled of our Constitution since 1992. It also seems that the SBI Human Resources Department is not aware of the fact that Nepali is one of the Official Languages of West Bengal along with Bengali and has been so since 1961.

In not allowing aspirants from Bengal to chose Nepali or any other official state languages – Hindi, Urdu etc, the State Bank of India has effectively disqualified those whose mother tongue is not Bengali, even before the recruitment process has begun.

I strongly feel that this is against the constitution guaranteed right of every national language being treated as equal, and also this is infringing upon the fundamental rights of my constituents to be able to chose their mother tongue, which is a recognized national language of India, as a linguistic option. I also feel that in not allowing the Gorkha aspirants to chose Nepali as a language option anywhere in India, the State Bank has turned them into a 2nd class citizen, whose language – even though recognized by our Constitution as one of the national languages – is actually not considered worthy of landing a job with a Government of India entity.

It is because of such instances of repeated discrimination, even by a Central government enterprise, the Gorkhas have been agitating for decades, asking for autonomy for themselves towards ensuring that they will not be discriminated against, on the basis of their language, ethnicity, or culture.

I therefore request you to kindly instruct the State Bank of India and all other Central government entities to ensure that Nepali language and other languages that are actually recognized as Official Language of our state should be made optional during the application process in West Bengal. In addition, Nepali should also be made optional in all the North Eastern states, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi where Nepali speaking people reside in a large number.

Also, since this application process started from 5th of April, 2016 and is only going to last till the 25th of April, all the applicants from my constituency have not been able to fill up their forms so far, due to the linguistic barrier.

Given this, I request you to kindly instruct the State Bank of India to extend the date by when the application can be filled in to 15th of May 2016, so that all those youths from my constituency who have been deprived from applying for these said posts are able to do so.

I look forward to a positive response from you at the earliest.
Kindest regards

SS Ahluwalia
MP, Darjeeling

Included Nepali

Via TheDC

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Reflect on the "Identity Crisis" We ‪Gorkhas‬ Face, and Why ‪Gorkhaland‬ is Necessary

8:47 AM

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Opinion

How a Bollywood Movie Stereotype Made Me Reflect on the "Identity Crisis" We ‪Gorkhas‬ Face, and Why ‪Gorkhaland‬ is Necessary
Writes: Abriti Moktan*

I was doing a project on the "identity crisis" faced by the Gorkha communities in India and after having worked on it I have become more sensitive towards the issue. My brother friend who graduated from IIM Bangalore had once told me that identity crisis can be checked only by the community itself by earning a credible name in every sector through hard work and perseverance. But now it makes me wonder even after having luminaries in every field from literary, social activism, journalism, education, sports, fashion, music, corporations, bureaucracy, politics to science, the country still thinks the Indian Gorkhas who are ethnically Nepalese and whose mother tongue is Nepali to fall in the servant class.

It was indeed very sad to have encountered a small part in the “Kapoor and Sons” where Alia Bhatt’s caretaker servant is portrayed to be a Nepali. The locale of the movie is the hill station Coonoor, which also resembled my hometown Darjeeling in many ways, with its tea plantations, view points, and the curvy roads. The movie was intriguing with the kind of story it depicted. The audiences can relate to it and enjoy every bit of emotional upheavals which was so very played by all the characters. A small world with the complexity in every relationship where the differences among the family members is finally resolved. Tears rolled down my eyes too, but something in the movie left a very bitter taste, the depiction of ‘Kishore’, a character in the film.”

Gorkhalis burning Indo-Nepal Friendship Treaty in 1986 which lead to the Kalimpong Massacre,
thus leading to violence in the hills in which over 1200 Gorkhas were killed

“Kapoor and Sons” is directed by Shakun Batra, and featured Fawad Khan and Alia Bhatt, two of my favorite actors. Alia’s (Tia) caretaker servant is portrayed to be a Nepali/Gorkha guy.

Interestingly the writers this time did not stick to the conventional name “Bahadur” and named the servant as ’Kishore’ The movie was smoothly running until when “Kishore” entered the frame and asked Tia (Alia Bhatt) if he could go and watch a Nepali film that has released in the town. Tia asks him to go and watch it alone as she doesn’t understand the Nepali language. The second time “Kishore” enters the frame is when he offers help to Tia when the electricity is down in the house.

Well, the whole scene of this Nepali Servant might not even have lasted for more than two to three minutes but it left a lasting impression on me.

The locale of the movie is Coonoor which made me curious of the fact that the hilly place must have been chosen for some reason. When I recollected the number of Bollywood movies shot in Darjeeling and researched, I was surprised to find that one or the other kind of misrepresentation has happened in the past too.

After I have done all my research on the ‘identity crisis’ for my university papers, perhaps I am now more aware in understanding how outsiders perceive about us and our Identity. My brother’s friend who graduated from IIM Bangalore had once told me that “identity crisis” can be checked only by the community itself by earning a credible name in every sector through hard work and perseverance. But now it makes me wonder, even after having luminaries in every field from literary, social activism, journalism, education, sports, fashion, music, corporations, bureaucracy, politics to science, the country still thinks the Indian Gorkhas who are ethnically Nepalese and whose mother tongue is Nepali to fall in the servant class.

Mr. Shakun Batra, the director who happens to be the co-writer too, I just have one question for you. “When you wrote about “Kishore” did u think of him to be just an immigrant from Nepal or an ‘Indian Gorkhali?’

Either ways there is an illustrious history of Nepalese people from Nepal and the Indian Gorkhalis residing in India. Time and again portraying a particular community to be a servant class does not get digested well. The cliché that has been attached to the Nepali community needs to be DROPPED.

For those of you who are interested in reading my University presentation, here is the detailed paper I have researched on the identity and political history of the Gorkhas in India.

Demand for a separate state Gorkhaland vis-à-vis Identity Crisis
The queen of the hills Darjeeling found in the lap of the Himalayas is located in the northern region of West Bengal. This territory of Darjeeling was transferred to the Bengal presidency in 1935 when the British rulers faced difficulty in its administration. Ever since it has been a part of Bengal. The denizens of this region are ethnically, linguistically, culturally and traditionally different from the rest of Bengal. The everyday experience of this community of people known as the Gorkhas has given impetus to the “identity crisis” which has been felt by them since time immemorial. The identity crisis can be seen to be a social construct but when the Gorkhas have to face an insult on an everyday basis the demand for national identity becomes all the more relevant and valid for them.

Before Telangana state was formed, a friend from Darjeeling who lives in another city had posted this conversation, which explains how the "identity crisis" manifests:

"Monday morning on my birthday day... had gone to the temple... and the conversation followed:
Pandit Ji: Where are you guys from?
Me: Darjeeling
Pandit Ji: So you guys are Nepali?
Me: Ethnically, yes...
Curious random stranger from Kerela: Where are you from?
Me: Darjeeling
Pandit ji: That's in Nepal?
Me: No, it’s in India
Pandit Ji: Oooooo which province?
Me: West Bengal
Curious random stranger from Kerela: O so you guys are Bengali?
Me: No... I am a Nepali... whose state is West Bengal
Curious random stranger from Kerela: So you are from Nepal?
Me: No uncle ethnically I am a Nepali, and I am from India
Pandit Ji: So how are you in India? did you guys immigrate?
Me: No Panditji, we came with the land, that's why we are demanding Gorkhaland... our own province to end this confusion."

The first deputy Prime Minister of India Shri Vallabhai Patel stated his doubt over the patriotism, loyalty and the sincerity of the Gorkhas. Prime Minister Moraji Desai termed Nepali the mother tongue of the Gorkhas as a “foreign language.” The prominent political figures of the West Bengal state Dr.Mukund Majumdar, CPI(M) leader Asok Bhattacharjee and many other Bengali scholars like Sumanta Sen continue to claim the ethnic Gorkhas as foreigners and intruders. Mr. Chandra Kumar Bose the grand nephew of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose who is contesting for the upcoming legislative assembly election in Bengal went on to say that “slogans like ‘Bharat ki Barbaadi’ and ‘Gorkhaland’ attack the integrity of India” (Darjeeling Times).

Here is a short historical fact. Darjeeling and the Terai areas was a part of the Kirat kingdom Bijaypur, after the disintegration of this kingdom Darjeeling was annexed with Sikkim and Bhutan. Thereafter the Anglo-Nepalese war of 1814-1815 ensued; Treaty of Sugauli was signed between the Nepal and East India Company in 2nd December 1815 and implemented in 4th March 1816. Under this Treaty Nepal had to cede away a huge expansion of its territory to the Britishers. The east India Company after forcing the treaty upon the Nepal king returned Darjeeling to Sikkim through Treaty of Titaliya (Datta, 2014). Britishers when encountered the Gorkha warriors they saw in them the everlasting fire of bravery and proclaimed them to be a martial race. They recruited them in the British army and established the Gorkha regiment in the year 1814.

Later Darjeeling was leased out to the British by the Maharaja of Sikkim to build a sanatorium (Datta, 2014). The Britishers had thus discovered the Queen of the hills with its native populace. Down the years in order to establish their base through construction of infrastructure and industry the colonizers facilitated the migration of people from Nepal for more manpower.

The highlanders under the suppression of the colonizers had managed to form ‘The Hillmen Association’ which put forward the demand for a separate administrative set up for Darjeeling in 1907. This is taken to be the first demand for the separation of Darjeeling. This was followed in similar suit in the subsequent years of 1917, 1920, 1929, 1930, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1941, 1943 (Wangyal).

In 1947 the CPIM members of the hill demanded for a separate nation Gorkhasthan comprising of Nepal, Darjeeling, Sikkim to the vice president of the interim government pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. This was followed again by the demand for a separate administrative set up in the years 1949, 1952. In 1986 which happened to be the 23rd demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland within India was spearheaded by Shri Subash Ghishing the leader of the Gorkha National Liberation Front. The trigger for this movement had been the ‘Bhumiputra - son of the soil movement’ in the north-east which had led to the eviction of the Gorkhas from the state of Meghalaya and Assam. The 1986 agitation saw a scenario like the tragedy of Jallianwalla Bagh; on 27th July 1986 the protesters in Kalimpong while burning the Indo-Nepal treaty of 1950 were fired at indiscriminately which resulted in the death of 13 people and leaving 50 injured.

The hill people regard this day as the Black day in the history of the Gorkhaland movement (Rai, 2005). Thus from 1986 to 1988 Darjeeling saw an agitation wherein 1200 Gorkhas were left dead. This Gorkha Movement was termed as antinational by the then CPIM government. The official 1987 report of the state government claims that the basis of separation from Bengal by the hill people did not have any strong ground.

Subash Ghising had written a letter to the king of Nepal and UN regarding the situation of the Gorkhas in India wherein they were subjected to the discrimination and eviction within their own country. He had written to the benign majesty stating the suffering of the Gorkhas who had been the victims of the movement of border of their own land. This act of Subash Ghising was taken to be ‘anti national’ and ‘secessionist’ (WB Govt official document 1987).

The state government vehemently opposed the silence of the central government on this matter. But the Gorkhas had already gained momentum in their movement, they had an armed Gorkhaland Volunteer Cell to counter the state sponsored arms against them, together with the atrocities of the central reserve police force. The state government claims that GNLF had intimidated the common people and were imposing their diktats, nowhere in the official document the government mentions about the atrocities imposed by them on the Gorkhas.

It is a fact that there was a division in the hills for the demand of Gorkhaland. The CPIM in the hills were against it and hence they had the support of the state government even in terms of illicit arms. But the state claims that a majority of people were anti-Gorkhaland and thus GNLF was not a mass movement of the natives. Contrary to this, it is a known fact that in Darjeeling GNLF was the single largest party enjoying the support of all the classes of Gorkhas.

The state even goes against the fact that Darjeeling was a part of Nepal and hence does not validate the Treaty of Sugauli which happens to be the integral part of the history of Darjeeling. The state of Bengal terms the very word Gorkha misused by the natives of Darjeeling. But the scholars of Darjeeling state that Gorkha is an umbrella term unifying the communities living in the Darjeeling area under one roof.

The natives/ aboriginals of Darjeeling include Lepcahs, Limbus, Rai, Dukpas and the Mangars. Following the subsequent wars prior to the British taking over Darjeeling region the Gurungs, Thapas, Chettris, Newars, Sunwars, Brahmins, Kamis, Damais, Bhutia, Thami, and Tamangs came to the region. But the state considers only Lepchas to be the natives. The state government refutes the argument of the Gorkhas that the Indo- Nepal treaty 1950 which facilitates the free movement of citizens between the two countries has endangered their national identity. The state government claims that Darjeeling stands fourth in the per-capita income and the literacy rate is also high as compared to other districts of Bengal (Official document, 1987). Thus, they claim that the hills is neglected in terms of education, economic development is considered baseless.

The then Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi, and Home Minister P. Chidambaram did recognize the agitation as a national problem but did not agree with the state government for terming the GNLF movement as anti-national. The state clarifies itself by saying that the GNLF movement was anti national but not the Gorkhas which in itself reflects the paradoxical argument. The bloodshed, the continuous strike for 42 days had crippled the life of the Gorkhas in the Hill. Their unsolicited faith in the leadership for bringing a separate state was crushed when Subash Ghising signed for the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) on 22nd august 1988 in a tripartite meeting comprising of the state, central and the GNLF.

DGHC failed to bring regional autonomy to the Gorkhas. It was designed to be financially crippled. Nevertheless, Subash Ghising run his writ and consolidated his position firmly. The politics in the hills took a turning point in 2007 when Gorkha lad Prashant Tamang made it to the finals of the popular talent show Indian Idol (Rai, 2005). Gorkhas were adamant to make him the winner in the show which would be a projection of their identity as well. This resulted in the formation of fan clubs for the voting process. Subash Ghising might not have thought about the gravity of the situation when he failed to render any support to the aspiration of the denizens. He got alienated from the masses and this resulted in the birth of Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJMM) in the latter half of 2007 under the leadership of Bimal Gurung, a former confidant of Shri Ghising.

Within a year GJMM took upon its shoulder the onus to raise the demand for Gorkhaland once again which would be the 26th demand for a separate state. GJMM emerged as the strongest political party in the hills with no opposition of its stature. It put forth the demand for a separate state on the basis of some strong arguments that were analyzed and studied thoroughly by its intellectual wing. The identity crisis was projected as “strive to gain a space not only in the political arena but also in the social cultural set up.”

The apathy towards the Gorkha people can be seen in any of the fields. The absence of a university and technical or vocational institutes, specialty hospital, the slag in the tourism industry, the tea industry where the tea workers are equivalent to bonded laborers, the railway where the locals have no stake, the forests which are subjected to heavy deforestation, no proper disaster management strategies or trained personnel and simply the exclusion of the locals in the administration (GJMM, 2008). The Bengal administration has been no less than the colonizers to the Gorkha community wherein they were and still are absorbing the rich and natural wealth of the Darjeeling and transferring it to the other parts of Bengal.

The GJMM claims that the revenue generated from the hills are invested only in the plain areas. The west Bengal government formed Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority to which it provides with a hefty grant despite the fact that Siliguri is actually a subdivision of the Darjeeling district (GJMM, 2008). The GJMM questions this treatment of the state towards the Gorkhas in every sector. The Gorkhas are marginalized and oppressed, every time their demand has been crushed using different strategies by the state and the centre.

The Bengal government has violated the constitution of India in its governance policy in the hills. Since 1989 there has been no election for three-tier panchayat, therein violating article 243E of the constitution. There has been no election to the Gram Panchayats since 2004. Siliguri Mahukuma Parishad an intermediate tier of the panchayat was elevated to the Zilla Parishad against article 243B. The party also alleges the Government sponsored infiltration of the Bangladeshis for the vote bank politics which is considered to be a sensitive issue as the Siliguri corridor is considered to be the ‘chicken neck’ which connects the north east region to the rest of India.

Bimal Gurung states that only through the formation of Gorkhaland these issues would be addressed and countered. The patriotism of the brave Gorkha soldiers are questioned by some public figures in the country. The GJMM counters the critics by putting forth the contribution of the Gorkha soldiers against the colonizers for the freedom struggle, the participation of the Gorkhas braves in the Chinese aggression 1962, Indo- Pakistan war 1971, and the Kargil aggression. The Gorkha are termed to be the only ones who are not even scared of dying.

Time and again why do the Gorkhas have to prove their patriotism towards the country for which they continue to shed their blood? The Gorkhas are demanding for a separate state within the Indian nation which is very much their constitutional right as Article 3 implies that the boundaries of the state are not immutable. The aspirations of the Gorkhas are compromised by their very leaders who fall into the meticulous trap of the centre and the state. GJMM after spearheading a strong movement has followed in the footsteps of its predecessor by trampling the aspirations of the Gorkhas by signing the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration on 18 July 2011.

GTA is an autonomous body with financial, executive and administrative powers but devoid of legislative powers (Bagchi, 2012). This argument was well crafted by the Trinamool Congress government headed by the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. It was an outcome of the tripartite dialogue among the state, GJMM and the center. GJMM had helped the TMC to overthrow the CPIM regime little realizing the fact that it would not but them the assurance for the separate state of Gorkhaland. Mamata Banerjee has been boastful about the fact that she has brought about normalcy in the hills within months of her taking power in the office. She might have projected to have a soft corner for the demand of the Gorkhas but ultimately she has like any other political figure from West Bengal shown possessiveness for the Queen of the Hills. She would definitely not support the separate state for the Gorkhas at any given cost.

The statehood demand of the Gorkhas is 109 years old now. They are till date subjected to the beatings of the migration theory that the rest of the country believes to be the truth. Little knowing the fact that the Nepali speaking Gorkhas who are Indian citizens are not migrated individuals but are the son and daughters of the soil that became a part of the Indian nation. The quest for the identity is not just confined to the Gorkhas of the Darjeeling hills but also encompasses the Gorkhas living in the other parts of the country where they are treated as the second class citizens. They also aspire for the fulfillment of Gorkhaland because then they too would have an identity in the political, cultural and social space of the Indian nation.

The struggle has now been running into more than a century but the Gorkhas should not let their faith in the aspiration of separate state of Gorkhaland waver at any circumstance because-
“What we call beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning
The end is where we start from” – T.S. Eliot

REFERENCES:
• Rai.R. (2005). From the Mountain to the Ocean. Chap 8 & 9.
• Bagchi.R (2012). Gorkhaland Crisis for Statehood. Part 2 & 4. Sage publications
• Pradhan.U.M. Gorkhaland- Facts versus Myths. Darjeeling times. http://darjeelingtimes.com/…/6283-gorkhaland--facts-vs-myth… 
• Wangyal.S.B. The never ending wait for Gorkhaland
• http://www.darjeelingtimes.com/…/The-Never-Ending-wait-for-… 
• Gorkha Janamukti Morcha. (2008). Why Gorkhaland?
• Datta.P.(2014). Gorkha Ethnicity: Cultural Revolution and the Issue of Gorkhaland. International Journal of Humanities & Social Science Studies
• Golay.B. (2006). Rethinking Gorkha Identity outside the Imperialism of Discourse, Hegemony and History. Peace and Democracy in South Asia
• Gorkhaland Agitation Facts and Issues (1987). Information Document Government of West Bengal
• Kansakar.V.B.S. (1984). Indo Nepal Migration Problems and Prospects. Tribhuvan University.
• Shrestha.B.N.(2005) What is Sugauli Treaty ? AIMSA Collection for Study
• Sharma. D. What Gorkhaland means to a non Darjeelingey Gorkha http://www.gyasa.org/…/dinesh-sharma-what-gorkhaland-means-… 
• Special Thanks to Mr. Dinesh Sharma of Gorkha Youth and Students' Association of India - GYASA
....................................

*Ms. Abriti Moktan is from Darjeeling and is currently pursuing her MA Degree in Environment and Development from Ambedkar University.

Via TheDC

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Darjeeling demanding Gorkhaland - Story of every election in West Bengal

6:34 PM

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West Bengal

Why Gorkhaland is still a hot issue in Darjeeling when azadi from West Bengal is a non-starter

Delhi and Kolkata have both effectively shut the door on a separate hill state for the Nepali-speaking district.

It is the story of every election in West Bengal: Darjeeling demanding Gorkhaland, a separate hill state, partitioned from the plains of Bengal. And it is the same as it votes on Sunday in the West Bengal Assembly elections.

Political demands are always contested, but it is true that the Darjeeling region was never politically a part of Bengal in any form. It was annexed by the British Raj in 1850, taken from an exceedingly weak Sikkim, a princely state itself annexed by India in 1975. Bundled into the Bengal presidency by the British, Darjeeling has remained in Bengal even after 1947. This is even after the 1955 States Reorganisation Committee had successfully arranged Indian states according to language. Nepali-speaking Darjeeling district, therefore, is an incongruous part of Bangla-speaking West Bengal.

Darjeeling demanding Gorkhaland

Amar Singh Rai, the Darjeeling constituency candidate for the Gorkhaland Janmukti Morcha is clear that the demand for Gorkhaland is based on ethnic identity. “We want a homeland for ourselves ­–­ for our own identity,” he said. “Although we are bona fide Indian citizens, we are still called ‘Nepali’. To get rid of the stigma we feel it’s essential that we have our own state.”

Popular demand
The Gorkhaland Janmukti Morcha is the largest party in Darjeeling and it campaigns on almost a single-point agenda: the creation of a Gorkhaland state. The popularity of the Gorkhaland demand can be seen from the fact that in the 2011 Assembly elections, the GJM picked up 79% of all votes caste across the three constituencies in Darjeeling district. In Darjeeling town, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), widely seen as a Bengali party in the hills, received all of 3.5% of the votes cast.

Rai alleges that there is ethnic discrimination at play here, with the hills being ignored by the Kolkta's Bengali rulers. “Gorkhaland is a right of self-determination for us since West Bengal is oblivious to us,” Rai charged. “They don’t care about the tea industry or the rights of the tea garden workers.”

Support for Gorkhaland is starkly visible across Darjeeling town. Stores invariably list their address as “Gorkhaland” rather than the “West Bengal” it officially is.

Anup Chhetri sells winter wear in the busy Chowk Bazar area of Darjeeling town and is clear in his support for a new state. “We who live here need to decide what will happen with our land,” he argued. “How can people sitting in Kolkata or Delhi decide things about our home?”

Pie in the sky
In spite of this fervour, the Gorkhaland demand is now widely seen as a pipe dream. The demand has existed in some form or the other for a century now, culminating in a violent agitation in the 1980s led by the Gorkha National Liberation Front. The agitation led to the creation of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, a local government body to which the state government transferred some administrative powers. A 2007 agitation led by a new party and current incumbent, the Gorkhaland Janmukti Morcha, led to the formation of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, with its powers expanded vis-à-vis the earlier Hill Council.

The revenue from the tea and tourism industry, though, means that Kolkata is extremely reluctant to let go of Darjeeling completely. And while the final decision to create a new state rests with the Union government – and not West Bengal – given the tiny population of Darjeeling, no ruling party in Delhi would wish to antagonise Kolkata. The political trade-off in terms of support from Darjeeling is simply too small.

Cracks in Gorkhaland
Recognising this ground politics at play, critics of the all-or-nothing demand for Gorkhaland have also emerged. From the Kalimpong constituency, the Gorkhaland Janmukti Morcha is being opposed by Harka Bahadur Chettri, who broke away from the GJM in 2015, complaining that their voluble demand for Gorkhaland was simply a ploy to garner votes and one that was actually harming the development of the region.

This is not the only dissension at play. During her term as chief minister, Mamata Banerjee created multiple “development boards” aimed at specific minority ethnicities, other than the majority Gorkhas ­– a move that Amar Singh Rai angrily characterised as a “policy of divide and rule”. In the past five years, Kolkata has formed six boards for the Lepcha, Tamang, Rai, Sherpa, Bhutia and Mangar communities. Even the Trinamool candidate from Siliguri town, another Gorkha-Bengali contested space, is a Bhutia – India’s best-know footballer, Baichung Bhutia.

These ground realities mean that no matter the fervour on the ground and its use as a vote catcher, the creation of an actual Gorkha state seems quite unlikely.


Via scroll.in

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The Darjeeling Chronicle Editor's Interview That Was Never Published by Catch News

10:23 PM

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TMC

In the process of their election coverage, Catch News had interviewed TheDC Editor Ms. Rinchu... but perhaps her answers were not what the national media were looking for... perhaps they wanted to hear her rants on GJM vs. JAP rivalry again, perhaps they were not happy with the fact that our editor highlighted the TMC failures instead of going on anti-GJM or anti-JAP tirade... they didn't publish the interview... so we are putting out the same...

Thanks Catch News, our time was well spent after-all

CATCH NEWS: In the past 5 years, how much development/improvement in infrastructure have you seen in Darjeeling?
RINCHU: One of the most visible signs of improvement in the infrastructure is in the sphere of road constructions; relative improvement has been seen in the road connectivity from Siliguri to Darjeeling. Our’s is perhaps the only border region in India which touches three countries Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, and Tibet (China) is just beyond a hill, and yet our National Highway – 55 is shut down since 2010. Given this, we did not have a proper highway connecting Darjeeling with the rest of India. Thanks to powers that be, they repaired and widened the existing Rohini Road which has gone on to become the lifeline of Darjeeling hills. Of late we have seen slight improvements in the subsidiary road connectivity as well. Even within the Darjeeling municipality, the roads are finally being looked after, after many years of utter neglect.

Most important infrastructure development has been in terms of rural electrification, where numerous villages that had never gotten electricity finally got connected to the grid. Earlier around 167 villages did not have electricity connection in Darjeeling region, today around 60% of those villages do.

In terms of education new College buildings have been completed in Mirik and Bijanbari, and other colleges are being constructed in Pedong, and Gorubathan, model schools have been constructed in Sukna and other parts of Darjeeling hills.

In terms of Darjeeling municipality region, they have started a few pay toilets which were much needed, and over all cleanliness of the municipality region is currently being undertaken.

Other than these there have been minor improvements in terms of provisioning drinking water and proper drainage in small streams, cemented roads or stairs that reaches right up to people’s doors in rural areas and so on.

However, I must highlight that there is way more avenues and scope for improving infrastructure in our region. There are numerous villages that don’t have road connectivity, numerous villages that don’t have basic infrastructure in place – access to drinking water, proper hospitals, schools and colleges, roads and so on.

Even Darjeeling town reels under acute water-crisis every winter, and so do the town of Kurseong, Kalimpong and Mirik. So the infrastructure development we have seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg in relative terms of what needs to be done.

CATCH NEWS: How happy are the locals since the implementation of GTA?
RINCHU: To be honest, NO ONE is happy with the formation and implementation of GTA. Everyone feels that GTA is a premature baby that was thrusted upon us as a compromise, that our idiotic politicians conceded to. GTA does not fulfill any of our aspirations, and it does not do justice to the sacrifices numerous Gorkha brave-hearts have made for our nation as well as for the cause of Gorkhaland.

However, the blame primarily lies with Bengal government, as they did not live up to their side of the bargain. They did not transfer all the departments that they were supposed to, they also did not transfer the powers associated with the functioning of those departments they had transferred to GTA; they continued and have continued to interfere in the day to day running of the GTA.

Moreover, with the Bengal government establishing the so called “Development boards” on divisive ethnic lines has created a huge chasm in the hills, and these boards are being run as a proxy representation of Trinmool party in the hills.

Furthermore, Darjeeling region hasn’t seen Panchayat elections since 2005, we are perhaps the only region in India where the provision for Panchayati Raj Under Article 40 of our Constitution and guaranteed by the73rd Constitutional Amendment Act (1992) has not been implemented. Even after the formation of GTA in 2011, the Bengal government hasn’t taken any initiative to implement Panchayat raj in our hills, which is why our rural population is suffering as none of the Central government schemes have reached our rural regions.

The youth are particularly unhappy, as the Bengal government was supposed to have established a separate Subordinate Services Commission, School Services Commission and College Services Commission for GTA region, yet in the past 5 years none of these have been done. All our educated youth are today forced to head to other parts of India or abroad for employment opportunity.

I feel that GTA is today much less powerful than the Zilla Parishad, hence none of the locals are happy with GTA.

As if that was not enough, the party in power Gorkha Janmukti Morcha ran GTA as their fiefdom and allegations of rampant corruption and nepotism abound against GTA and its functionaries.

Having said that, there is a section of population, I call them “Perpetually Optimists” that is moderately happy with GTA, as they feel that even though the real power is vested with Bengal, yet for them GTA represents (to some extent) a degree of autonomy and authority that the Gorkhas have earned for ourselves. Moreover, GTA provides a political space where we can elect our own representatives, whose aspirations align with the aspirations of the majority of the local people.

Most important of all, people are thankful that we don’t have to rely on Bengal to meet our basic needs and wants. GTA is after all something we have earned through our struggles, and to a certain extent it has kept the focus on Gorkhas and our aspiration for Gorkhaland state in the national psyche, imagine in a country with over 1.2 billion populations - that is something which we keep in mind.

CATCH NEWS: Among The Candidates In Darjeeling, Who Do You Believe Is A Better Bet For Darjeeling?
RINCHU: I think from among the choice of candidates that we have, definitely Prof. Amar Rai is hands down the best candidate for Darjeeling MLA seat. He is first an educator, and has over 35 years of experience teaching Political Science to graduate students. From what I have heard from his students, he is very popular among his students. Unlike some other “intellectuals” who require appointments to meet them made through their PAs, Prof. Rai is grounded and accessible, with no unnecessary airs or sense of “intellectualism” about himself. He is the current Chairman of the Darjeeling Municipality so he has enough administrative experience as well; moreover he is perhaps the only Municipal Chairman in Darjeeling’s history who does not use government issued vehicle. He walks to his office and back and uses his private vehicle for all his personal needs. He is widely respected and with this background he is more inspiring as compared to all other candidates.

CATCH NEWS: Do you want the TMC to find its ground in the hills? Do you think that will be good or bad or the people of the hills?
Rinchu: NO I would never want any Bengal based party to find grounds in the hills, be it TMC or earlier CPI(M), as the moment they gain power in Bengal, they tend to treat the hill people as 2nd class citizens. They tend to distort our history, narratives surrounding our place and people and threaten our language, diverse culture and tradition, our unity, question our identity – in short our very existence.

TMC, Good?? Hahaha... what worries me is the fact that TMC has already through its various proxies started to dig its roots in the hills. The formation of so called “development boards” is in and of itself an indication of how low they are willing to stoop to gain power in the hills. What the British did in India, TMC is already doing that – divide and rule. One of my main concern is that TMC is a autocratic party and has no room for dissent, we have already seen how they managed to curtail all voices of protest and dissent during the Gorkhaland agitation. We have seen how deceptive they can be in their not living up to the GTA agreement. We can feel how divisive they can be in the boards that they are forming, I fear that if TMC comes to power in the hills, then the Gorkha community will be divided in such a way that the umbrella term Gorkha which defines us will cease to exist, eventually our very existence, our history, our connections to our place will be eradicated... we will become so distorted that we will cease to exist. It will be genocide of the other kind, a more modern, a more evil and a more pervasive form of genocide.

TMC doesn’t has a fixed ideal or ideology, they are the most opportunistic and power hungry party that will never stop till it devours all that stands between them and power. Sadly some of our hill leaders, particularly of the “intellectual” variety are paving the way for TMC to walk on.

CATCH NEWS: How will the formation of Gorkhaland help the cause of the people of the hills according to you?
RINCHU: Gorkhaland statehood itself is the primary cause of the people of the hills, Terai and Dooars. In India, the Gorkhas are seen as immigrants, where as our history is proof that the majority of us did not immigrate, rather we came with the land. When someone says they are a Bengali, people in India naturally assume they are from West Bengal and no one asks them if they are from Bangladesh. If someone says they are Punjabi, people naturally assume they are from Punjab, and no one asks them if they are from Punjab in Pakistan. If someone says they are Tamil, everyone assumes they are from Tamil Nadu, and no one questions if they are from Sri Lanka. Whereas when we say we are Gorkhas, people ask us if we are from Nepal. When we say we are from Darjeeling in West Bengal, people ask us if we are Bengali, then we say no we are Gorkhas, then they ask us when did we immigrate? This is the “CRISIS OF RECOGNITION” that we have lived and continue to live with. Ironically we are asked this question even in Kolkata, which is supposed to be the capital of the state we live in. We do not have a place-based identity - Our identity was derecognized, when Bengal colonized us after absorbing our district on the 13th of April 1954.

Moreover Bengal has always treated Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars as its colonial outpost, from which they have drained out our resources and wealth for the past 7 decades without making any repatriation. We are literally to Bengal, what India was to the British, a colonial outpost meant to be plundered, robbed and pillaged from.

So formation of Gorkhaland state means restoring back our existence, our control over our land and resources, our control over the wealth that we have always created through tourism, hydro, trade and other avenues.

Our languages will get due recognition and respect. Though Nepali is one of the recognized national languages of India under the VIIIth Schedule of our Constitution, recognized so since 1992, and it is also the Official Language in West Bengal since 1961; and we can choose Nepali as an optional paper in IAS examination, yet till date we cannot opt for Nepali as an optional paper in WBCS. Our language is treated as a 2nd class language, just as we are treated as a 2nd class citizen. When Gorkhaland is formed, this discrimination towards us and our language will end.

Gorkhaland statehood will ensure that we will be able to “live the kind of life that we value living.”

CATCH NEWS: Who will you vote for and why?
RINCHU: I won’t tell you who I am voting for, but I will tell you what I am voting against. I am voting against the division of our community on the lines of development boards. I am voting against the injustice – discrimination, apathy, indifference and subjugation that our people have had to face under Bengal for decades. I am voting against the systematic and systemic marginalization of our community. I am voting against the short-sighted vision of the “intellectual” leaders. I am voting against those people who are power-hungry and put themselves before the cause of Gorkhaland. I am voting against those forces and alliances that are threatening our very existence.

I am not voting for change this time, I am voting for the continuation of the 100 year old struggle that our forefathers had initiated, so that we – the Gorkhas could live the life with dignity, equality and opportunity that our great nation has promised us.

I am voting for Gorkhaland.


Via TheDC

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बंगालको क्याबिनेट मन्त्री हुने डा. हर्कबहादुर छेत्रीको सपना आगामी 19 मईको दिन नै तहस-नहस हुनेछ - गोजमुमो

1:39 PM

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Politics

आगामी 19 मईको चुनाउ मतगणनापछि डा. हर्कबहादुर छेत्री आइसीयूमा हुनेछ, किनभने मुख्यमन्त्री ममता व्यानर्जीको अनुग्रहमा चुनाउ जितेर बंगालको क्याबिनेट मन्त्री हुने उनको सपना आगामी 19 मईको दिन नै तहस-नहस हुनेछ।

कालेबुङबाट गोरखा जनमुक्ति मोर्चाको अन्त गर्ने धाक पिट्ने डा. छेत्रीलाई कालेबुङवासीले आजको जनसभामार्फत नै जवाब दिइसकेका छन्। सबै कालेबुङवासी डा. छेत्रीजस्तो अवसरवादी अनि जाति विरोधी छैनन् भन्ने प्रमाण गोजमुमोको जनसभामा उपस्थित जनसमुद्रले नै प्रमाणित गरिदिएका छन्। कालेबुङवासीको ह्रदयमा आजसम्म पनि गोरखाल्याण्ड अनि गोरखा जनमुक्ति मोर्चा सुरक्षित रहेको छ यसैले मुख्यमन्त्रीले दिएको सिटी फुकेर गोजमुमोको ट्राफिक जाम गर्ने धाक पिटिरहेका डा. छेत्रीको राजनैतिक औकात आगामी 19 मईपछि ट्राफिक हवल्दारको जति पनि रहनेछैनन्। आगामी 19 मईपछि डा. छेत्रीको क्याबिनेट मन्त्री बन्ने सपनासितै उनको राजनैतिक करियर पनि अन्त भएर जानेछ। किनभने गोरखाल्याण्डको विरूद्ध राज्य सरकारले रचेको षड़यन्त्रमा साथ दिएर डा. छेत्रीले डेड़ करोड़भन्दा धेर गोरखाहरूसित विश्वासघात गरेका छन्। गोरखाहरूको इतिहासमा उनले लगाएको कलकंको प्रायश्चित गर्ने मौकासमेत डा. छेत्रीलाई जुर्ने छैन।

चुनाउ आचार सहिंताअनुसार आजदेखि चुनाउ प्रचार गर्ने मियाद समाप्त भइसकेको छ। समग्र गोरखाल्याण्डप्रेमी जनतालाई आगामी 17 अक्टोबरको दिन गोरखाल्याण्डको सत्-प्रतिशत म्याण्डेट प्रदर्शन गरेर गोरखाल्याण्डविरोधी तत्वहरूलाई उचित जवाब दिने आह्वान गर्दछौं। जनताले कुनै भय, संकोचबिनै मोमबत्तीको चिह्नमा मत प्रदान गरेर विधानसभामा गोरखाल्याण्डको आधारशीला राख्नेछ भन्ने हामी पूर्ण विश्वस्त छौं।

अन्तमा, आगामी 17 अप्रेलको चुनाउ सबैक्षेत्रमा शान्तिपूर्वक सम्पन्न गराउनको निम्ति कुनै क्षेत्रमा पनि हिंसा अनि अशान्ति नगरिदिने पनि हामी समग्र जनतालाई आह्वान गर्न चाहन्छौं।

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