Not their job: Schoolchildren participating in a rally / Photo: Salil Bera
But today, Father Kinley is an unhappy man. “I’m worried about the students in my school and other schools in the region,” said Kinley, rector of St. Joseph School and president of the Anglo-Indian schools association. “Instead of teaching students about the various aspects of life, I have to send them to attend political rallies, something they hardly understand. I am in favour of Gorkhaland. I think the Government of India should give the people of Darjeeling their state. But an educational institute is not the right place to raise such demands.”
Angry with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which is spearheading the movement for a separate state, Kinley told the party chief Bimal Gurung if such a thing continued, the children of Darjeeling would not get education and will learn the language of hatred instead. His efforts have paid off as there has been a decrease in incidents of students being forced to attend a rally, though it has not stopped completely.
A centre of excellence for education, Darjeeling has been a popular destination for children belonging to affluent families and even European royalty. Freedom fighter and spiritualist Aurobindo Ghose studied here, so did the longest serving finance minister of an Indian state, Asim Dasgupta of West Bengal. But over the years, because of the unrest, there has been a sharp drop in the number of foreign students studying here.
For Kinley, what is frustrating is the lack of interest that the government has shown in preserving this centre for education. “Why hasn’t the state government done anything?” he asked. “Darjeeling is also a part of the state, isn’t it? The West Bengal government has abandoned us during crisis. We cannot expect help from them any more. The place which has produced many scholars does not deserve such a punishment from its own government.”
One positive thing that has emerged from the agitation is that Gorkha children, who were earlier studying in ordinary schools, can now study in the best schools in the hills. Gurung and his mentor-turned-adversary Subash Ghisingh, leader of the Gorkha National Liberation Front, have facilitated a massive exodus of students from the hills.
Like Kinley, advocate B.K. Pra-dhan, too, is unhappy with the West Bengal government’s lackadaisical attitude towards Darjeeling. President of the local civil society, which erupted in anger after the gruesome murder of social activist and political leader Madan Tamang in 2010 allegedly by the GJM activists, Pradhan knocked on the doors of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee seeking justice. But nothing happened.
“I met the chief minister after Tamang’s murder which was televised live across the world,” said Pradhan. “But he showed no interest in our problems. The impression I got after meeting him is that, ‘let Darjeeling die, he is least bothered’. With this attitude, why do you want us to remain a part of Bengal? Let us go our way.”
Following Tamang’s murder, there was a massive slide in the support base of the GJM. “We could not take lightly such highhandedness of a political outfit,” said Pradhan. “We wanted to teach the GJM a lesson and for that we wanted the West Bengal government to step in. I even requested the chief minister to visit the hills. But he refused.” Pradhan argued that the “mysterious” escape of the main accused, Nicole Tamang, a GJM leader, from custody raised serious doubts about the credibility of the police force in the state. “People believe that the West Bengal government has entered into an understanding with the GJM. That has made them disillusioned and they have stopped protesting,” he added.
Though it is not clear why the CPI(M)-led government in West Bengal did not take advantage of the change of mood in the hills in the aftermath of Tamang’s murder, the Centre was prompt in asking Gurung to show his strength by winning the polls. The GJM has been an ally of the BJP since the last Lok Sabha election, but the tripartite talks, involving the GJM, state government and the Centre, have brought it closer to the UPA. The positive response to the talks resulted in the GJM getting a series of benefits from the Centre and it also put the Buddhadeb government in a fix over accepting freebies given to the GJM by the Centre.
For many years, most people in Darjeeling have learnt to say “no vote” during elections. But this year is an exception as almost all political parties, including the GJM, that had rejected the importance of the West Bengal Assembly, have entered the poll fray. The GJM is fighting from all three seats in the hills without giving any seat to the BJP.
Gurung told THE WEEK that the BJP figured neither in the ongoing tripartite talks nor in its poll plans. “The BJP has never shown any interest in the Assembly elections, though they have an MP [Jaswant Singh] from here with our support,” he said. “So we have decided not to leave any seats for them in the hills. In the future, we will renew our ties with the BJP.” Though he has not declared it openly, Gurung has severed his link with the BJP.
The GJM has decided to support the Congress and the Trinamool Congress in all 14 seats in the plains. “We want Mamata Banerjee to come to power,” said Gurung. “We want the Left Front government to be finished forever. They have always backstabbed us. The ongoing talks collapsed because of them.” The GJM’s agenda for the polls is development. “Yes, the Gorkhaland demand will be there. But development also needs to keep its pace in Darjeeling,” said Gurung. “The people of Darjeeling deserve development. Mamata Banerjee has promised she will develop Darjeeling if she comes to power. Therefore, we are supporting her.”
The slain leader Madan Tamang’s widow, Bharati Tamang, is also contesting from Darjeeling. “I am amazed to see the people whose hands are stained in blood shouting for votes,” said Bharati, who was made the chief of the All India Gorkha League after her husband’s death. “My husband’s murder was shown live on TV. Still no one has done anything against these people.”
Cup of joy
Angry with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which is spearheading the movement for a separate state, Kinley told the party chief Bimal Gurung if such a thing continued, the children of Darjeeling would not get education and will learn the language of hatred instead. His efforts have paid off as there has been a decrease in incidents of students being forced to attend a rally, though it has not stopped completely.
A centre of excellence for education, Darjeeling has been a popular destination for children belonging to affluent families and even European royalty. Freedom fighter and spiritualist Aurobindo Ghose studied here, so did the longest serving finance minister of an Indian state, Asim Dasgupta of West Bengal. But over the years, because of the unrest, there has been a sharp drop in the number of foreign students studying here.
For Kinley, what is frustrating is the lack of interest that the government has shown in preserving this centre for education. “Why hasn’t the state government done anything?” he asked. “Darjeeling is also a part of the state, isn’t it? The West Bengal government has abandoned us during crisis. We cannot expect help from them any more. The place which has produced many scholars does not deserve such a punishment from its own government.”
One positive thing that has emerged from the agitation is that Gorkha children, who were earlier studying in ordinary schools, can now study in the best schools in the hills. Gurung and his mentor-turned-adversary Subash Ghisingh, leader of the Gorkha National Liberation Front, have facilitated a massive exodus of students from the hills.
Like Kinley, advocate B.K. Pra-dhan, too, is unhappy with the West Bengal government’s lackadaisical attitude towards Darjeeling. President of the local civil society, which erupted in anger after the gruesome murder of social activist and political leader Madan Tamang in 2010 allegedly by the GJM activists, Pradhan knocked on the doors of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee seeking justice. But nothing happened.
“I met the chief minister after Tamang’s murder which was televised live across the world,” said Pradhan. “But he showed no interest in our problems. The impression I got after meeting him is that, ‘let Darjeeling die, he is least bothered’. With this attitude, why do you want us to remain a part of Bengal? Let us go our way.”
Following Tamang’s murder, there was a massive slide in the support base of the GJM. “We could not take lightly such highhandedness of a political outfit,” said Pradhan. “We wanted to teach the GJM a lesson and for that we wanted the West Bengal government to step in. I even requested the chief minister to visit the hills. But he refused.” Pradhan argued that the “mysterious” escape of the main accused, Nicole Tamang, a GJM leader, from custody raised serious doubts about the credibility of the police force in the state. “People believe that the West Bengal government has entered into an understanding with the GJM. That has made them disillusioned and they have stopped protesting,” he added.
Though it is not clear why the CPI(M)-led government in West Bengal did not take advantage of the change of mood in the hills in the aftermath of Tamang’s murder, the Centre was prompt in asking Gurung to show his strength by winning the polls. The GJM has been an ally of the BJP since the last Lok Sabha election, but the tripartite talks, involving the GJM, state government and the Centre, have brought it closer to the UPA. The positive response to the talks resulted in the GJM getting a series of benefits from the Centre and it also put the Buddhadeb government in a fix over accepting freebies given to the GJM by the Centre.
For many years, most people in Darjeeling have learnt to say “no vote” during elections. But this year is an exception as almost all political parties, including the GJM, that had rejected the importance of the West Bengal Assembly, have entered the poll fray. The GJM is fighting from all three seats in the hills without giving any seat to the BJP.
Gurung told THE WEEK that the BJP figured neither in the ongoing tripartite talks nor in its poll plans. “The BJP has never shown any interest in the Assembly elections, though they have an MP [Jaswant Singh] from here with our support,” he said. “So we have decided not to leave any seats for them in the hills. In the future, we will renew our ties with the BJP.” Though he has not declared it openly, Gurung has severed his link with the BJP.
The GJM has decided to support the Congress and the Trinamool Congress in all 14 seats in the plains. “We want Mamata Banerjee to come to power,” said Gurung. “We want the Left Front government to be finished forever. They have always backstabbed us. The ongoing talks collapsed because of them.” The GJM’s agenda for the polls is development. “Yes, the Gorkhaland demand will be there. But development also needs to keep its pace in Darjeeling,” said Gurung. “The people of Darjeeling deserve development. Mamata Banerjee has promised she will develop Darjeeling if she comes to power. Therefore, we are supporting her.”
The slain leader Madan Tamang’s widow, Bharati Tamang, is also contesting from Darjeeling. “I am amazed to see the people whose hands are stained in blood shouting for votes,” said Bharati, who was made the chief of the All India Gorkha League after her husband’s death. “My husband’s murder was shown live on TV. Still no one has done anything against these people.”
Cup of joy
Known as the ‘champagne of tea’, the Darjeeling tea is the finest and the most sought after tea in the world. A kilo of high quality tea would cost between ?6,000 and Rs:60,000. Uniform distribution of rain and suitable climate make Darjeeling an ideal place for growing tea. The tea from the gardens is auctioned in Kolkata and around eight million kilos are sold in some 50 countries across the world.
Export of tea is a good source of revenue for the country but, for the 55,000 workers in the tea estates it is a raw deal. These workers are paid Rs:67 a day. But this election season has brought them some cheer. For the first time, their pay has been increased by Rs:23. The wage for tea workers is negotiated once in three years. Last time, the increase was around Rs:11.
The hike came after the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which leads most tea workers’ unions in Darjeeling, imposed an embargo on plucking of tea leaves and auctioning to negotiate the wages. The revised wages, which were to come into effect from April 1, have been deferred in view of the elections.
Export of tea is a good source of revenue for the country but, for the 55,000 workers in the tea estates it is a raw deal. These workers are paid Rs:67 a day. But this election season has brought them some cheer. For the first time, their pay has been increased by Rs:23. The wage for tea workers is negotiated once in three years. Last time, the increase was around Rs:11.
The hike came after the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which leads most tea workers’ unions in Darjeeling, imposed an embargo on plucking of tea leaves and auctioning to negotiate the wages. The revised wages, which were to come into effect from April 1, have been deferred in view of the elections.
Post a Comment
We love to hear from you! What's on your mind?