The battle for Gorkhaland

The cynicism inside a cafe on the outskirts of Siliguri is palpable. The intent, however, remains earnest. Local businessman Thubten Sherpa, 35, backs the separatist unrest in and around Darjeeling that’s crippled the region’s famed tea and tourism industries and rattled the picturesque hills for a fortnight now. 

His father and uncles have been part of the previous agitations for a separate state of Gorkhaland for the area’s majority Nepali-speaking ethnic Gorkha community within West Bengal. Some of them are still fighting court cases. Thubten wants protesters to be realistic and cautious.   

In the 1980’s, about 1,200 people were killed as the agitation turned violent. Another round of unrest gripped the region from 2007 to 2011. The last bout took place in 2013.      

“In 2013, the leaders asked us to stop paying the bills. For months, no one paid the electricity bills, the water bills, and the telephone bills. There are people today who are still paying those arrears; my sister had to pay Rs 90,000,” Thubten recalls. “So today, when we go out on the streets, we make sure we pay our bills first.” 

There are many differences between the previous agitations and the present one that began in mid-May at the height of tourist season after the West Bengal government angered the Gorkhas by announcing plans to make Bengali the third compulsory language, after English and Hindi, in all state schools. The most important difference, as Thubten tragicomically puts it, is the people. The last two movements, fuelled by people who hit the streets, were taken over by charismatic leaders. The current agitation stands proof of the futility of the earlier two.

A battle zone

Protests soon broke out in Darjeeling, with a large number of people coming out on the streets against what they felt was the imposition of Bengali on the local Nepali-speaking population. Thousands of Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) supporters called a strike on June 15. Police action sparked large-scale riots and arson. Three people have been killed and several injured in clashes between protesters and security forces. 

What started as an agitation against a change in the school curriculum quickly escalated into a revival of a century-old demand for Gorkhaland. 

Darjeeling, known for its sprawling tea gardens and panoramic views of snow-clad mountains, has turned into a battle zone, and hundreds of Indian and foreign tourists, besides students of its famed boarding schools have fled the area since the unrest began. The green, white and yellow flags of GJM fly from homes, shops and cars. Jai Mahakali, Ayo Gorkhali, the war cry of the feared Gorkha soldiers reverberates across the streets.

The state government has blocked mobile and broadband Internet. Youngsters in Darjeeling are angry. “Does this look like Kashmir to you? This is a violation of our human rights,” says Rabgay Rai, who studies at a local college in Darjeeling.

Who are the Gorkhas?

The Nepalese inhabitants of the Darjeeling hills have been viewed as migrants from Nepal and therefore ‘foreigners,’ even though their history in the area long predates an independent India. Nepal ceded some of its territories, including Darjeeling, to the British in 1816 following the Anglo-Nepal war. India retained these territories after Independence. Darjeeling and its adjoining areas later became a part of West Bengal. This sparked an ethnically-driven battle for Gorkhaland. Gorkhas feel Bengali-speaking outsiders have exploited their resources and imposed their culture on them. 

The GJM’s symbols are the sun, the Himalayan mountains and two crossed kukris, used by the famously fierce Gorkha soldiers, from Nepal and India. 

The bloodied fight 

Post-Independence, the demand for Gorkhaland found its voice in Subhash Ghising, a charismatic leader, who started out by forming a political party, Nilo Jhanda, in 1968. He made his first claim for a separate state during an agitation in 1979. A year later, he formed the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF). Over the course of the next decade, he launched a bloodied struggle during which over 1,200 Gorkhas lost their lives. The agitation ended on August 22, 1988, when the GNLF signed a tripartite agreement with the state and the Centre to form the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, a semi-autonomous administration.

The last two bouts 

Ghising’s reign waned over the years. In 2007, Darjeeling boy Prashant Tamang, who was on the popular TV show Indian Idol, was called a watchman by an FM channel host. The community felt offended. This is when Bimal Gurung made his move. Gurung, who was a close Ghising aide and was then heading the Gorkha Volunteer Corps — a militant outfit maintained by the GNLF — went around town asking for votes for Tamang. Frenzied canvassing metamorphosised into a political upsurge. Gurung surfed the wave of ethnic pride and won by a huge margin, launching two careers — one for himself, and the other for Gurung. 

In 2007, Gurung launched his first agitation for Gorkhaland. 

The West Bengal Assembly passed a Bill for the creation of the Gorkhaland Territorial Authority (GTA) on September 2, 2011. A Memorandum of Agreement to form the GTA was signed on July 18, 2011 between the then Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and GJM leaders. 

Under its administration, the GTA had three hill sub-divisions: Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kalimpong, Mirik and parts of Siliguri. In the last few years, the West Bengal government formed eleven welfare boards within the GTA, which the GJM opposed.

What lies ahead 

The GJM has vowed not to lift the strike till security forces are withdrawn and the Centre holds talks to discuss its demand for Gorkhaland. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also toughened her stance, vowing she will not allow the state’s division. This time, with the help of social media and the press, the agitation is a closely-watched one. A wrong step could lead to a long-term ouster for any one of the leaders. And, as for the bills, they will, for now, have to go hand-in-hand with the protests.

A BRIEF HISTORY

1907: The first demand for Gorkhaland submitted to Morley-Minto Reforms panel. 
1952: The All India Gorkha League submits a memorandum to then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru demanding separation from the state of Bengal.
1981: Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi receives a memorandum from Pranta Parishad, demanding a separate state.
1980-90: The demand for Gorkhaland intensifies with Gorkha National Liberation Front chief Subhas Ghising. Around 1,200 people killed. Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council formed.
2007: At the fag end of the Left front’s regime, Gorkha Janmurti Morcha supremo Bimal Gurung launches agitation. 
2011: New CM Mamata Banerjee forms Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). Gurung is its leader.
2013: With the formation of Telangana on July 20, 2013, the movement for Gorkhaland again intensifies. Gurung resigns as the head of GTA.
2017: The West Bengal government’s move to make Bengali mandatory in all state schools sparks a fresh round of agitation for Gorkhaland. 

Opposition unity

The current strife has brought together all Opposition parties in Darjeeling under one roof. A convention saw parties as diverse as the GJM, its predecessor Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), Jan Andolan Party (JAP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), among others. The leaders declared that the movement is now no longer about a single party or an individual; it is now about Gorkhaland. 

Who is Gurung? 

Many say that GJM chief Bimal Gurung is a man who operates by fear. There were whispers about a spate of secret killings that were allegedly carried out by the GVC under him. In 2010, Madan Tamang of the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League, one of the most vocal detractors, was hacked to death by GJM workers. Tamang had levelled charges of corruption against Gurung. In 2015, Gurung was charged with Tamang’s murder. 

Mamata’s stand

On June 5, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said Bengali would not be made compulsory in the hills. This sparked anger. Widespread protests prompted the West Bengal government to ask for the deployment of the Army. The troops were withdrawn on June 24, but protests continued. As the protests grew louder, Mamata Banerjee called Bimal Gurung and his men “corrupt”. She has vowed not to allow the division of West Bengal. 

BJP’s flip-flops  

The BJP’s silence over the issue has also led to several furrowed brows. In its 2014 manifesto, the party said that it would “sympathetically examine and appropriately consider the long-pending demand of Gorkhas.” BJP’s West Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh has now said that the party never supported the division of the state. “We never talked about Gorkhaland. If we were to divide the state on linguistic groups, then Assam has more Gorkhas than Bengal. What will happen there?”