The Final Countdown

Hari Prasad Pradhan, senior Congress (I) affiliate termed it the “political murder”, Dipak Subba called it the “royal sabotage” and Siddharth Shankar Ray had said “Natun Audhyay Suru Holo…” (A new chapter has begun).

1971
Different people had different opinion, when the district of Darjeeling, which once spread from the heights of Sandakpu to the Sunkosh river in the plains, which once encompassed all the Gorkhali dominated areas of the Darjeeling Hills and the Terai and Duwars (Doors), was divided by the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Siddhartha Shankar Ray to create a new geographical set up, the district of Darjeeling and the district of Jalpaiguri. Very few people like you and me (ordinary citizens) saw what Mr. Hari Prasad Pradhan or Mr. Dipak Subba had seen way back in 1971….. We the Gorkhalis were being divided, right in front of our eyes and we did not react.

I agree, I was not even born then, and I presume so were many of you, but the fact remains that we as a community were perceived as a threat by the Govt of West Bengal even before Subash Ghishing had written his now (in)famous Nilo Choli.

Darjeeling (then undivided) had repeatedly elected an MP who was favorable to them, Siddhartha Shankar Ray, saw the threat in allowing the Gorkhalis to determine as to who would represent them, he was all powerful and Naxalite movement was moving towards a crescendo, he did what any politician worth his salt would have done. He divided the Gorkha dominated areas in such a manner that the Gorkhalis were not the only factor in determining the fate of MPs elected from this region. He cut off the Gorkhali dominated areas of Terai and Duars and added it to Jalpaiguri; he then went on to add Islampur and Chopra in the Darjeeling district area without any murmur of protest…. remember Congress (I) was all powerful then and the Chief Minister was akin to god…… I finally understand now the slogan from 1980’s… “Islampur Chopra Chahindaina…. Siliguri Duars Farkaidey…” (We don’t want Islampur and Chopra… return us our Siliguri and Duars).

2008
The government of West Bengal called a hurried meeting of all the parties in order to sabotage and derail the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland. All the parties except Trinmool Congress and SUCI attended the meeting which passed the resolution against the formation of Gorkhaland….. Priya Ranjandas Munshi another Congress (I) leader went a step further and called on all his frontal organization members, Chattra Parishad (CP) and Youth Congress to unequivocally support the communist lead West Bengal government. He further declared Darjeeling Hill Congress (I) leader Nakul Chettri to be an outsider and not even a primary member of the party, when he (Mr. Chettri) attended and signed the resolution for formation of Gorkhaland… But this time there was a twist in the tale awaiting him, the Darjeeling Hills Congress (I) President and MP Dawa Narbula refuted these charges and said that “we represent the people of the hills and we represent their aspirations… people of Darjeeling are demanding Gorkhaland and we as peoples representatives support the demand”.

Much has changed and much still remains the same, we travel round and round in the same loop, which by the way is getting smaller. The West Bengal government had the audacity to pass the resolution of re- organizing the West Bengal constituencies, on one hand it completely ignored the demand for a separate Ghoom-Jorebunglow constituency (including Mirik) on the other hand Siliguri has been declared a separate constituency in the West Bengal assembly, which means that Ashok Bhattacharjee’s seat will remain intact in the coming days. Unfortunately, the decision making powers of the Gorkhalis have been further reduced and marginalized and all (no) thanks to Siddharth Shankar Ray and CPI(M), we are now not just unable to make our voice heard in the parliament but we have been rendered deaf and mute in the West Bengal assembly as well.  

2007-08
The state and the central government seem to have been successful not only in dividing our mandate, but over the years they have been successful in dividing our community as well… What do you mean??? You may all question….. How else can I describe our Gorkhali leaders engaging themselves in petty fights and one upmanship or the feeling of “tyo bhanda moi bhainkar…. Tyo bhanda moi besi janney (I am better than him/her… I know more than him/her)??? “

Dawa Narbula (MP) should resign so says Madan Tamang, who is in turn not allowed to address a public rally by the GJM members, who in turn are being accused of trying to stop CPRM members from attending a protest rally in Kolkata.

I want to shout out loud “why are you fighting amongst yourselves???”, but who’s listening??? In this time of crisis when all the political parties in West Bengal can come under one roof and unequivocally protest against Gorkhaland, why can’t our so called leaders or political parties unite as one force??

I see a pattern emerging, an invisible hand playing its cards which keeps us from uniting, which keeps us from fighting our enemies rather than ourselves. That invisible hand could be ego, superiority complex or state government agents hell bent on ruining our unity.

Madan Tamang is a very powerful orator and he has the facts and data to support many of his claims, further he has a very imposing personality (often accused of bordering on arrogance)…. I feel that he would be the perfect person to represent us in the national media; his oratory, presence of mind and his nick for facts can be very handy when it comes to any national debate or TV presentation. He can out speak and out do any politician or media personality on any given day, thus making him the perfect person to represent the cause of Gorkhaland at national level. I guess he can be the best spokesperson and media representative for Gorkhaland.

Dawa Narbula and R B Rai have the experience of Parliament and they understand the nitty-gritties of the Parliamentary process. It is often said that Dilkumari Bhandari (the then MP from Sikkim) single handedly begged and plead with other MPs to ensure the recognition of Nepali as one of the official languages of India. If she could do it alone why can’t our MP do it?? With of course help and support from R B Rai (former Rajya Sabha MP) Dawa Lama (former Rajya Sabha MP) and Mrs. Bhandari. They are a formidable group and they can form a strong Gorkhali lobby in Delhi and together they can convince MPs from other regions such as North-East, Telengana, Bundelhand etc to support the demand for Gorkhaland.

Bimal Gurung is the leader of masses. His charisma and personality along with his simple and straight forward speaking has touched the heart and minds of Hundreds of thousands of people across Darjeeling, Terai and Duars, he has emerged as the icon for the liberation of Gorkhaland, hence he is required at the home front. He is a very effective public speaker and his ability to remain grounded has endeared him to people across the proposed Gorkhaland region, his focus should be to rally more and more support for Gorkhaland at the local level, while keeping the West Bengal government vulnerable and exposed at all times. He is the unifying force that has brought about mass support to Gorkhaland demand not only in the Darjeeling hills but also in the Terai and Duars region. He should continue to play his role and generate more support for Gorkhaland.

Rest of the leaders and supporters of Gorkhaland can involve us in generating more and more public opinion and making Gorkhaland the talk of the nation. We need to ensure that every Indian understands what is Gorkhaland and why are we demanding Gorkhaland. The levels may vary but each of us can influence at least one person outside the proposed Gorkhaland region and if we thus begin it won’t take long to convince the whole nation and the world that Gorkhaland is the only solution.

We can achieve anything and every thing the only requirement is the belief in oneself and the need to understand that the goal of achieving Gorkhaland is nobler and more important than any personal benefit or power trip. We are fast approaching the end of our journey, and the end can be a happy one if only all of us unite and speak with one voice.

Remember this is the final count down and we need to overcome the invisible hand if we are to achieve our goal… Gorkhaland.

Finally, I leave you all with the immortal lines as stated by J F Kennedy… “The unity of freedom has never relied on the uniformity of opinion”

Hope! I made some sense.