The future, however, didn't hold much promise for the old woman trudging down a tea garden in Phuguri with a bundle of dry sticks that she would sell in the market. "I am a Gorkha too, but what future do I have? I somehow make both ends meet doing odd jobs. No leader ever considers the plight of people like us. When bandhs are called, we go hungry," she mumbled, struggling under her heavy burden.
It was as usual a busy Sunday market at Dudhiya and nobody - neither buyer nor seller - seemed too concerned about the goings-on at Pintail village. "Nothing will change for people like us. We will have to keep on fighting for our survival whether a separate state is formed or not," said Rajib Gurung while loading supplies into his car.
Mirik Raibari, the orange capital of Bengal, remained the sleepy hamlet that it is. Children played on the streets and women washed clothes. Men at a tea stall looked disinterested when Gorkhaland cropped up in the conversation.
Discontent, meanwhile, continues to brew among the sizeable non-Nepali population in the foothills of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri district over the use of the name Gorkhaland in the agreement. While some GJM leaders have claimed that with this they have crossed the first hurdle towards the formation of a new state, several Adivasi and Bengali groups have already started an agitation against the event and some have even threatened to disrupt proceedings on Monday. Security has been tightened throughout Siliguri.
Mamata Banerjee reached Bagdogra airport on Sunday and visited the proposed site for the North Bengal secretariat. In the evening she visited the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary and spoke to officials on how to develop it further.
~TOI
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