It’s been 100 years and more; the longest
statehood demand in India’s history, the one for Gorkhaland has reached
its peak many times. Yet, it has always come tumbling down. Time and
again, the unfulfilled aspirations of people have been doused by
temporary promises and in 2017, the ‘Queen of Hills’, Darjeeling, was
under siege as Gorkhas all around the world stood in unison against this
incessant predicament of proving their identity as Indian citizens.
Despite it dating back to 1907, why is it that the demand for Gorkhaland
has always fallen into deaf ears? Why is it that despite agitations and
protests, the issue still lays unresolved, pushed into the corners of
nothingness – like a dormant volcano that erupts from time to time, only
to be silenced again. What is it that reignites this movement time and
again at regular intervals and leaves it without any solution?
History of Gorkhaland Demand
The demand for a separate administrative unit in Darjeeling has
existed since 1907, when the Hillmen’s Association of Darjeeling
submitted a memorandum to Minto-Morley Reforms demanding a separate
administrative setup. Also, it may be mentioned that in 1947, the
undivided Communist Party of India (CPI) submitted a memorandum to the
Constituent Assembly demanding the formation of Gorkhasthan comprising the Darjeeling district and Sikkim.
In the 1980s, under Gorkha National Liberation Front’s (GNLF) Subhas
Ghising, the movement reached its peak. The years 1986-88 were some of
the most violent years of the protest: approximately 1,200 people died.
The agitation ultimately led to the establishment of a semi-autonomous
body in 1988 called the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) to govern
certain areas of the Darjeeling district. Eventually, Ghising faded away
from limelight and in 2008, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) began
spearheading the movement. In 2011, GJM signed an agreement with the
state and central governments for the formation of Gorkhaland
Territorial Administration, another semi-autonomous body that replaced
the DGHC in the Darjeeling hills.
The 2013 agitation was also one to remember wherein for the first
time in 106 years, all the major political parties of the hills agreed
to come together and jointly take the agitation forward. Even in 2017,
the agitation bore no fruits. Protests first started on June 5, after
the West Bengal government announced their intention that the Bengali
language would be made mandatory in all schools across the state. People
of Darjeeling and the adjoining areas who are predominantly Nepali
speaking, saw this as an imposition of an alien culture upon them.
Fuelled by the determination to preserve their own culture, identity and
language, the protest soon turned into a full-fledged resurgence of the
agitation for a separate state of Gorkhaland. July 30, 2017 saw the
Gorkhas (and also some non-Gorkhas) all over the world taking part in a
Global Rally for Gorkhaland. And as the Gorkha Global Rally completes a
year in 2018, the issue still remains unresolved at large.
Where The Problem Lies
As is evident from history, several agitations and semi-autonomous
bodies have not been able to provide any respite to the Gorkhas’ demand.
What is clearly lacking here is an accountable and transparent
leadership – one that inspires not only a group of people but that which
motivates everyone to come along with him/her and move forward for a
common cause with renewed strategies and fresh perspectives.
On these lines, Shankar Pandey, a lawyer from Shillong opines,
“Talking about leadership, accountable and transparent leadership is the
need of the hour. It may be recalled that during Subhash Ghishing’s
time, everybody looked up to him in the hope that he would give them
Gorkhaland on a platter but the results proved otherwise. In 2017 again,
it was the same state of affairs. However, a closer look at the 2017
agitation will show a difference in strategic approach. It has been seen
that people have learnt their lessons and GJM chief, Bimal Gurung was
at the centre of the storm as people were on the lookout for
accountability and transparency.”
It has been seen time and again that the major problem with the
Gorkhaland movement is the attitude of shifting responsibilities from
one person to a group of people who display a level of ‘so-called’
leadership which is not even visible to common masses. It is significant
to realise that the onus of Gorkhaland falls upon each and every Gorkha
residing in any part of the world. Another major problem with the
Gorkhaland demand is the presence of a power corridor – a sense of
democracy needs to be instilled in the minds of leaders.
“Gorkhaland is purely a matter of safeguarding identity,” Mr. Shankar
adds. “When we compare the demand for Gorkhaland to those of Telangana,
Uttarakhand and the likes, we see that the demand for these states was
solely made from the developmental point of view; but this is definitely
not the case with Gorkhaland. However, this does not mean that
development is not a major factor in the Darjeeling hills. Identity,
however, is a primary force while all others feature subsequently”, he
states.
The problem of identity crisis has been haunting the Gorkhas in India
from time immemorial. Hence, this is not a fight for a separation from
India but a fight of Indians to retain who they are!
Mr. Shankar makes an important point when he says, “The issue of
identity can only be solved by statehood and not by any form of
autonomous body of governance that has been seen as a solution to douse
previous agitations. This is an attempt to dilute the greater demand.”
What is the solution?
“There is a need to set up a mass network of which each and every
Gorkha can be part of on a larger platform. The movement should not be
confined to only the hills of Darjeeling but to all over India.
Everybody should come together and take responsibility. There should be
Gorkhaland campaigns and we should hold our leadership accountable to
us. There is no proper information dissemination. Knowledge is power and
lack of knowledge makes the people and movement weak,” says Mr.
Shankar.
The need for alternate leadership with young people from all fronts
of life is the need of the hour. Youth should take up the responsibility
to cover up the limitations in the movement. A fresh approach is
needed. Darjeeling is lagging behind in every front in terms of overall
development as compared to other parts of West Bengal, which all the
more justifies the need for demand of separate statehood.
It is a test of endurance and this is not the time to fade away into
oblivion. This is in fact the only movement that says that Gorkhas want
to be part of India with an identity of their own. It is not about
‘Azaadi’ here, it is about ‘Identity’ while upholding the saying ‘Bharat
Maata ki Jai!’
“Gorkhaland is not only about protests and agitation. It is time to
understand that there are other, more influential methods of demanding
the same. It is high time we change our approach and work together
smartly for a common cause. Even at the grassroot level, it is important
for people to know what the movement is all about so that they can form
opinions and work towards attainment of a larger cause. Ignorance in
this case is definitely not bliss,” he adds
Founding Vice Chancellor of Sikkim University, Mahendra P Lama, while
addressing a gathering in Shillong, Meghalaya on the Gorkhaland
movement last year also drew focus to an important point when he said,
“The problem of Gorkhaland does not belong to Darjeeling alone but it is
a national issue. The identity problem with Indian Gorkhas has
increased manifold as we do not have a proper state representation.” Mr
Lama was the pro-vice chancellor of IGNOU and at the age of 45, he
became the youngest vice chancellor of a central university in India.
He emphasises on the need to create a central committee to bring
matters concerning all Gorkhas into the fray. For this, Mr. Lama
stresses on the need for an organizational structure in the form of a
central body that would over-arch the national body and the inclusion of
a national negotiating team as well. Following this, the next step
would be to take the Gorkhaland issue to the National level with
Parliamentary discussions on it. The issue should reach political
parties, national civil society and other stakeholders including
industrial and business houses.
He goes on to state that the orientation of the movement should
undergo a major shift from emotional outpourings to more concrete
discussions and debate. Tangible restructuring and reorientation of
leadership pattern and political action should be carried out while also
focusing more on central government to solve the issue rather than
approaching the state government, thereby confining the movement only to
local fronts. It is important that a central committee should comprise
of credible faces and influential minds so that the union government
will take the plunge and be serious about negotiations.
Gaurav Lama, a supporter of Gorkhaland movement, adds, “The movement
in 2017 gained much more attraction due to social media. While it is
good that the common man was honestly and strenuously involved, we must
strive to strike deep into the BJP camp to make inroads. We must try to
convince top BJP heads to push this matter forward.
The ruling government must prove to be more than just another power
greedy party. They must come forth and stand by their promise of working
on making Gorkhaland a reality. This can be achieved only if the senior
BJP leaders are serious about Gorkhaland and if there are a bunch of
people who shall talk to and remind the BJP senior hierarchy that they
have their promises to keep.”
As Mahendra P.Lama rightly said, “We have to tread the unorthodox path. A desperate situation requires a desperate solution.”
The writer can be reached at shwetarajkanwar@gmail.com & shweta@thenortheasttoday.com
https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/
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