Few Chauvinistic Bongs

The father of our nation once famously said, “It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.” I strongly feel that some of the Bong politicians and some of the editors of regional dailies should seriously reflect on this saying.

Last year when an indefinite strike was called in the Darjeeling hills region protesting against the police atrocities meted out against our ex-servicemen in Siliguri, Mr. Subash Chakraborty a Minister in the West Bengal government said on camera, “if they can shut down the hills then we can and we will shut down the supply of goods from the plains.” As a minister of the state under which Darjeeling region currently falls, was it appropriate for him to make such a comment? But he was not done; I found his statement “Khetye diyechhi, sutey chhai?” [we have provided you with food, now you want a place to sleep?] which he said towards the end of that interview, most hurtful and humiliating.

He practically called us “the Gorkhas” foreigners on national television. I wondered how Mr. Suman Pathak, Mr. Sangdopal Lepcha, Mrs. Moni Thapa et al. must have felt. Here was their party colleague labeling their entire community as being foreigners, and meek, selfish or stupid as they are, they did not even utter a word of protest.

Mr. Priyaranjan Das Munshi former Central Minister for Water Resources and Mr. Ashok Bhattachrjee current Municipal Affairs Minister, West Bengal may not agree on anything except for their unequivocal protest against the formation of Gorkhaland. Mr. Bhattacharjee went all out in his protest and last year called us “Outsiders” and urged the tourists not to visit Darjeeling. His logic was that, since Darjeeling in dependent on tourism, with no tourist visiting Darjeeling people will not have the economic resources to keep on demanding Gorkhaland. What the arrogant Minister seems to have forgotten is that economic depravity is one of the main causes that drives our demand for the creation of a separate state.

As for our Chief Minister Mr. Buddhadev Bhattacharjee, I will need a separate write up just to include his mistakes. However, the least he could have done as the Chief Minister of a state of which we are still a part, is to chastise his errant Ministers like Mr. Subash Chakraborty and Mr. Ashok Bhattacharjee. His silence on issues like these in itself speaks volumes about his true feelings and explains the fact that when the head itself is not functioning properly, the tails will continue to wag unchecked and uncontrolled.

Ms. Mamta Banarjee, whose election slogan “Maa, Maati, Maanush” saw her make inroads into the virtual red-fort and her party won most number of seats from West Bengal in the recently concluded parliamentary elections. For someone who places mother, motherland and its people as being prominent, she did not shrink from trampling the rights of the minority Gorkha community. The very next day after winning the historic elections she claimed from her pulpit, “Aamra Bangal K Kono Dini Bhag Hotey Dibo Naa” [we will never allow Bengal to be divided].

For someone who has seen the struggle of the people and who has herself struggled for democratic rights, be it within her former party [She formed Trinmool Congress as a protest against lack of democracy within West Bengal Congress (I)] or be it against the atrocious       CPI (M). The fact that she vehemently refuses to even consider our democratic right in itself reeks of hypocrisy of the highest order, and it shows the double standards that she and Bong politicians like her have demonstrated over the years. When it comes to the democratic rights of the Bongs she will fight to death, but for other minorities, she is not even willing to consider our democratic demand. May be for her we are not “Maanush” enough.

Mr. Pranab Mukherjee the Finance Minister of our country recently said, “we will not allow another division of Bengal” and this is not the first time he has made this statement. Last year when he was the then foreign minister, he had said, “there is no question of creating a separate state of Gorkhaland.” This statement in itself reeked of the typical condescending and disdainful attitude shown by most Bong politicians towards the minority Gorkhalis and our legitimate demand for a separate state. This statement goes against the Indian Constitution, Article – 3 of which allows for the formation of new states. It is not appropriate for a Central minister to makes unconstitutional comments like these, as I believe that India is still a democratic country and not a personal property of some politicians. And every citizen is enabled by the Constitution of our great country to demand anything that is safeguarded by our constitution. Be it the right to vote or a separate state. Moreover, is the “rule of law” not applicable to Central ministers?

Last year this statement [“there is no question of creating a separate state of Gorkhaland.”] had set the blogosphere on virtual fire with many Indians asking questions like, “Is he speaking as an Indian foreign minister or a Bengali foreign minister? They are not fighting to break away from the Indian union. They are asking for a state that reflects their identity within our union borders. Again, what’s wrong with such a demand?” [www.mutiny.in]

This same site started a debate with the introduction, “Is the Government of India bending its flexi spine to protect West Bengali sense of identity? Why can’t we have Gorkhaland as a state? I’m all for having smaller states, they are easier to manage. I can’t think of even one reason why we can’t have the state” [www.mutiny.in]. Debates like these raged on across the internet in popular social networking sites like Orkut, Facebook, Hi5 and so on. Many people both for and against the formation of a separate state of Gorkhaland contributed to the discussion.

The overarching theme was that, most of those who did not support the formation of Gorkhaland felt that the 1) Gorkhalis/Nepalis were foreigners and thus do not have the right to place any demand in India. 2) Many felt that Gorkhaland could be given provided Siliguri and adjoining Terai and Duars areas were not included. 3) If Gorkhaland was formed then non-Gorkhas would be kicked out. In return those who supported the demand claimed 1) this was exactly the reason why we were demanding Gorkhaland, as even after 62 years of Independence and over 101 years old demand for an administrative set up separate from Bengal, most Bengali politicians and arm chair academics considered us Gorkhalis as un-Indian. 2) Duars and Terai are an integral part of the proposed Gorkhaland state and have been so since time immemorial  and 3) Gorkhaland is for everyone and not just Gorkhalis.

The debate across different social sites and blogs became so intense that a regional daily The Statesman took notice and gave it a chauvinistic twist, the headline read “Gorkhaland: Netting support” [January 23, 2009] and it went on to publish all fabrications. At one point the report reads, “Though the identities of the owners of these communities are unknown,” which I know for a fact is not true, because I owned one of the Facebook community mentioned in the report [Free Gorkhaland] and all my personal details were there, the reporter did not even try to contact me or others who supported the demand for Gorkhaland. This same report further stated, ““Said Mr Santosh Sarkar of Jalpaiguri: "The scraps, postings and introductory descriptions in these groups are replete with false claims and provocative propaganda, which are a veritable threat to communal harmony among Indians."” I mean, come on. This reporter did not have the patience to contact some of us through email and we are to believe that he went to Jalpaiguri for comments? Yeah Right!!

Another regional daily The Telegraph, published an article, "Fight for A New Home" on April, 2nd 2008, written by some Mr. Sumanta Sen. This article accuses all the Gorkhalis living in Darjeeling and Terai region as being foreigners. Mr. Sen blatantly writes ““Strictly speaking, the Nepalese in Darjeeling can be dubbed ‘foreigners’ because they have come from another country.” The blogosphere was once again on fire, and many people wrote to The Telegraph asking for an apology including an online petition [signed by 467 people from around the world] asking for the same. But, unsurprisingly enough, none of the protest letters to the editors were ever published, including an excellent rejoinder written by eminent contemporary historian      Dr. Sonam B Wangyal. Instead of apologizing, The Telegraph continues to publish many write-ups of this nature and Mr. Sen continues to write with peremptory glee. So much for the objectivity of the press, the fourth estate of a democratic country.

Honestly, I stopped subscribing to both The Telegraph and The Statesman and I hoped that others would also do so as a mark of protest. Don’t know how many have done it, but I am glad I protested in the best way I could.

A well meaning Bong friend of mine, who teaches at a famous college in the hills, once asked me, “Why do people blame the state government for what Darjeeling is today? DGHC could have developed the hills, but it did not, the leaders skimmed off all the money that came for development and no one said anything.”

I agree, our leaders were at fault, but then again, I feel that the DGHC was never meant to solve our problems. It was just a consolation prize, given to appease Mr. Subash Ghishing. If Bengal government was really serious about us, why did it not conduct any CAG (Comptroller Auditor General) audit in the hills? Why did they let GNLF run DGHC like their own private fiefdom? Even today, is the West Bengal government taking any fiscal accountability into consideration before they sanction funds to DGHC [which has been officially dysfunctional since 2005]? The prevailing logic seems to be, give these people enough rope and they will hang themselves, which is chauvinistic and disdainful in itself.

As I write this, I cannot help but pause and thank those million other Bongs who do support the formation of Gorkhaland. I would especially like to mention Mr. Jaideep Mazumdar who was formerly associated with Outlook India and is now Senior Special Correspondent at RPG Publications. While at Outlook his column “Kolkata Korner”, provided the healing balm to millions of Gorkhalis across India and the world. When our so called Ministers were busy calling us foreigners, his column argued and counter argued against the gross apathy and chauvinism of these Bong politicians. In fact he restored my faith in Bengali intelligentsia and for that Mr. Mazumdar will always remain a special person, who despite being threatened, continued to write the truth without any bias.
I would also thank WTI [We the Independents] of Jadavpur University and Independent Consolidation [IC] of Presidency College, which were the first student’s body outside of Darjeeling region to openly support the formation of Gorkhaland. I would also like to thank many Bongs who have on their own initiatives made documentaries in support of Gorkhaland. I cannot thank every individual Bongs who have supported our demand for equality and justice, but I want to say this, you all make us feel stronger and more dedicated.

Finally, I would like to leave you all with this comment made on the Outlook magazine by a Mr. Pradipto Biswas, a Bong himself, “…I would like to respond to concerns about Bengalis losing land. Just because we have lost land to the Muslims, does not mean we oppress others. Darjeeling et al. have never been Bengali land. They have always belonged to the Gorkhas. They are merely part of West Bengal for administrative purposes. If we cannot look after them well, they perfectly have the right to ask for a separate state. I would like to ask my fellow Bengalis where all this rage was when Muslims were killing and driving out Bengalis during Partition or where all this rage is when the Communist government encourages illegal settlers from the other side to come over and demographics of entire districts of WB are changing. It is always easy to oppress the weak, true courage comes from standing up to someone as big as you."

Hope! The chauvinistic Bong politicians and editors see some light in the positive direction.

Upendra