Thinking Ahead – For Gorkhaland

Thomas Jefferson, one of the greatest Presidents of The United States of America once said, “Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period and pursued unalterably through every change of ministers, too plainly proved a deliberative, systematic plan of reducing [a group of people] to slavery”

 The words spoken by Mr. Jefferson all those years back in America, is an indicator of the political maturity of a politician, a true leader. But sadly for us, our politicians and so called leaders in India have continuously refused to acknowledge the systematic slavery of the people of Darjeeling and Dooars by the West Bengal government and going by the current trend our politicians will continue to do so in coming years as well.

The Trinmool-Congress combination has wrecked havoc on the Left parties in West Bengal and kudos to them. Unfortunately even this extremely good news fails to bring hope in our lives. The very second day after winning 26 parliamentary [MP] seats, Trinmool Congress chief Ms. Mamta Banerjee categorically stated that she will never entertain the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland. In her own words she said “Aamra Bangal K Bhag Hotey Dibo Na” (we will not allow Bengal to be separated again). Clearly indicating how she views our democratic demand.

With every changing government at the Centre or the State, the politicians and leaders have refused to hear our voices. Hence it is important for us to focus on doing the right thing and taking the right step.  

What next

“We had no choice but to support BJP this time around” asserts a GJM leader and I agree. Congress bound by the political compulsion would not support our demand before the elections; there was no hope of CPI (M) or any other national level party for that matter entertaining any demand relating to the welfare of the Gorkhalis.

But the million dollar question is “what next”?

I strongly believe that by supporting BJP we have joined forces with a very strong group of politicians and this group can be vital in helping us realize our 102 years old dream. However, we need to do some work of our own.

To begin with, no matter what action GJMM takes from now on, it needs to be well thought out, and most important of all the programmes undertaken from now on should be something which can be sustained in the long run. For instance, we cannot and should not have haphazard indefinite strikes only to reopen everything after the tourists have left with a very negative impression of us.

Next we need to demand the reorganization of Darjeeling district as it was prior to 1971. Islampur and Chopra were thrust on us and were never actually a part of our district. By doing so, we will have then entire area of proposed Gorkhaland under one umbrella, consisting of areas belonging to the proposed Gorkhaland state (Darjeleing hills, Terai and Daurs). There by making it geographically easier to relate to. This is I feel fundamentally important, as this will bring by all those areas demanding and supporting Gorkhaland under one administrative set up, instead of multi-district as we currently have.

Further we need to open dialogues with every other ethnic group that was part of the original Darjeeling district, which includes, Rajbanshis, Kocheys, Mechyes, Totos, Adivasis and “Ghoti” Bengalis [Bengalis from India and not Bangladesh]. We need to convince these groups that the formation of Gorkhaland is going to benefit us all and not just the Gorkhalis as asserted by every Bengali politician. We should also be able to assure these groups that the formation of Gorkhaland will not drive away those who are settled here, but rather, it will protect the right of these groups not just to settle but also to prosper and grow.

We already have a functional relationship with most groups except the Adivasis, however, with patience and positive approach and given our common heritage the Adivasis should be able to see that our goals are the same i.e. freedom from Tyranny of West Bengal and a right to self-determination, which we have been deprived of for so long. However, it is our responsibility to approach them.

Next we need to convince the nation in general and Bengali politicians in particular that the original district of Darjeeling was historically never a part of Bengal. This is one area where we need academicians and scholars to play the lead role. The ounce of proving to the nation and Bengal that formation of Gorkhaland will not lead to breaking up of Bengal all over again is upon us and we need to start working towards this goal. This can be done by organizing seminars, conferences, meetings and debates across India and West Bengal.

The next step would be to demand through the BJP the formation of Second State Reorganization Committee (2nd SRC) as soon as possible. Given the fact that Article 3 (C) of the Constitution provides for creation of a new state based on the language, I am positive that a constitutional body such as 2nd SRC will definitely recommend the formation of Gorkhaland.

We need to convince the nation as to why Gorkhaland needs to be formed. For this we need to create consensus among young politicians across party lines be it Rahul Gandhi, Muhammed Hamdulla Sayeed from Congress or Varun Gandhi from BJP in favour of Gorkhaland. The young guns of India are idealistic and thus will be far more favorable to our democratic demand, than the older bunch of corrupt politicians. Someday one among these young MPs will be able to decide the future of our country and we “for sure” need to inform them of our plight.

I support the idea of GJMM fighting panchayat and municipal elections in the Terai and Duars area it’s a positive move. But I am doubtful of the success of non-cooperation movement.

To begin with the non-cooperation movement needs to be lead by leaders and not just the followers. We cannot have our leaders using West Bengal number plates while common man and woman have to use GL plates all over again. Further, the nation will pay attention when the likes of Mr. Bimal Gurung, Mr. Roshan Giri and Mr. jaswant Singh sit for hunger strike instead of a bunch grassroots level party workers. Hunger strike by any of these three leaders is going to have more impact not just at the national level, but will also energize the base, in the same manner as Gandhiji used to energize our freedom fighters.

The point being our actions will determine how rest of India will view us, thus we need to be careful in how we project ourselves. Instead of being seen as troublemakers and rabble rousers we should be seen as people, who have been wronged against, deprived and who should be supported.

Finally I leave you with immortal lines as stated by Tyron Edwards a great American theologian, “Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action; actions form habits; habits decide character; and character fixes our destiny.”

Hope!! I made some sense.

By Upendra