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Gorkhaland- a Demand for Identity

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Gorkhaland- a Demand for Identity GORKHALAND- A DEMAND FOR IDENTITY BACKGROUND: The demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland (West-Bengal) has been simmering for the past few decades now and its cause lies in the fight for distinct identity between the Nepali speaking population and the Bengali speaking population of West Bengal. Gorkhaland-Understanding its origin, Geography and Demography: Gorkhaland is mainly composed of the Nepali-speaking people of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and other hilly districts of West-Bengal. The people belonging to these areas have ethical, cultural and language differences with the Bengali community of West-Bengal. The demand of Darjeeling as a separate administrative region is as old as 1907. However, the agitation by Subhash Ghising led Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), further brought this issue in focus and the term "Gorkhaland" was coined in 1980. The Gorkhaland Movement is chiefly concerned with the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland which falls under the Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal, The area covers Duars and Terai region of West Bengal and is known for its popular tea cultivation. Who are the Gorkhas? They are a mixture of castes and tribal-ethnic clans. The caste groups include the KhasParbatiyas including Bahun (Brahmins), Chhetri,Kami, Damai, Sarki, etc. The ethnic group (mostly falling under Schedule Tribes or Other Backward Class groups) include Gurung,Magar,Tamang,Thami,Shrerpa etc Although each of them has their own language (belonging to the Tibeto-Burman or Indo-Aryan languages), the lingua franca among the Gorkhas is the Nepali language with its script in Devnagari. The Nepali language, which is one of the official languages of India, is the common binding thread of all Gorkha castes and clans. Reasons for demanding a separate state: Differences in ethnicity, culture and language. Nepali-Indian Gorkha ethnic culture is different from the Bengali culture. Poverty, skewed development policies and politicisation of the issue. According to some scholars, it was a failure of governance combined with politicisation that bred the Gorkhaland issue. Due to the historical trend, especially post-independence, where the issue erupts only when its pampered by political aspirations, the demand has got even more leverage BRIEF HISTORY OF THE GORKHALAND AREA: Prior to 1780s the area was ruled by Chogyal of Sikkim 1780 Gorkhas invaded Sikkim and captured most part of it which including Darjeeling and Siliguri. They administered it for 35 years. 1816 Nepal ceded its territory to the British in the treaty of Segoulee(1816), after the Anglo-Gorkha war The ceded territory includes Darjeeling, Siliguri, the entire terai, Simla, Nainital, Garwhal hills, Kumaon upto the Sutlej., i.e., the entire region from Teesta to Sutlej. 1835 In 1817, British handed over the territories back to Chogyals of Sikkim(Treaty of Titalia) but was later taken back by the former for political reasons in 1835. 1864-66: British and Bhutan signed the Treaty of Sinchula through which Bengal Duars and Kalimpong became a part of the Darjeeling hills in 1864. Thus the present district of Darjeeling came into existence in 1866. British started tea cultivation in 1865 and the narrow gauge railway line in Darjeeling, a lot of people came here and started residing permanently. These people did not have the modern concept of international borders They understood that the land was under the possession of their king and when they came to work under British enterprise as labourers ,they thought they were actually following the orders of the Gorkha King They always understood that they were in their own land. When these events were happening, India, as we know today, was still not formed and all these people were British subjects, be it a Gorkha or a Bengali. 1907: The demand for a separate administrative unit in Darjeeling was raised for the first time by the Hillmens Association of Darjeeling. 1941: In 1941, it demanded exclusion of Darjeeling from Bengal and to make it a chief commissioners province. POST-INDEPENDENCE DEVELOPMENTS: 1952- The All India Gorkha League submits a memorandum to then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru demanding separation from the state of Bengal. 1955- Daulat Das Bokhim, the President of District Shamik Sangh submits a memorandum to the chairman, State Reorganisation Committee demanding the creation of separate state consisting of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar district. 1977- 81: The West Bengal government passes a unanimous resolution supporting the creation of an autonomous district council consisting Darjeeling and related areas. The bill is forwarded to Central Government for consideration of this matter. In 1981, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi receives a memorandum from Pranta Parishad, demanding a separate state. 1980-90: In 1980,Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) was created under the leadership of Subhash Ghising 1988 - Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council accord is signed by GNLF, the state of Bengal and the Centre. Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council came into action. GNLF drops the demand for the separate state. The demand for Gorkhaland was intensified in the 1980s under the leadership of Gorkha National Liberation Front supremo Subhas Ghising. The movement turns violent during the period of 1986-88, and around 1,200 people are killed. After a two-year long protest, the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) is finally formed in 1988. 2007- At the last phase of left fronts regime, the mass movement for Gorkhaland takes place under the leadership of Gorkha Janmurti Morcha (GJM) supremo Bimal Gurung. The 2007 Gorkha uprising intensifies, following the 2005 Centre and state government initiative for a permanent solution of this region by bringing it to the sixth schedule of the constitution giving some degree of autonomy to a predominantly tribal area. But the Gorkhas opposed this sixth schedule and demand statehood gains pace. The four-year long movement comes to an end after the State Government in 2011 declared the formation of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), a semi- autonomous administrative body for the Darjeeling, and Gurung is made its leader. With the formation of Telangana on July 20, 2013, the movement for Gorkhaland state again intensifies. Why did the recent protests for Gorkhaland happen? The West Bengal government announced recently that, Bengali should be a compulsory subject from Class 1 to 10 in the state. The statement was enough to provoke GJM, which rules the semi-autonomous Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), that interpreted it as an imposition. Nepali is the official language in the hills of Bengal, recognised as an official language of Bengal in 1961. In 1992, Nepali was recognised as one of the official languages of India. Why protests despite autonomy given through GTA(Gorkhaland Territorial Agreement 2011)? Only six years ago GJM signed a peace deal of sorts with this same government, led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee—which in turn led to the establishment of the GTA, the empowered avatar of the erstwhile Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, in 2012. The idea was to give more autonomy to the locals. However, this has met with limited success. There appears to be a trust deficit between GTA and the State government, as GTA claims to be relatively weaker compared to its other counterparts in various states. The historical ethnic and linguistic factors that had given impetus to the Gorkhaland movement were still visible. Therefore, it was an obvious reaction when the State Government made Bengali language compulsory in all schools in the State. The perception is that it is this language imposition that was the immediate spark for the protests. But the Government rolled back the language requirement almost a week ago. Therefore, analysts opine that it is, perhaps, the result of a political turf war between the political parties- Trinamool Congress (TMC) party on the one hand, and the GJM and its ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on the other. On 17 May, the TMC won the civic elections held in the hill districts. The GJM still came out on top in the region—winning Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong—but the TMC win was not very well recieved. The hill parties and the plains parties had an infromal arrangement over the years that except in assembly and parliamentary polls, the latter would for all practical purposes keep out of the formers electoral space. With the Mirik (civic polls) win, the TMC has effectively breached that old arrangement. To leverage greater political representation, TMC has also made an attempt to break the Gorkha strangehold . For example, earlier this year her government carved out Kalimpong district from Darjeeling, clearly with an eye on the 2019 poll. Government has made a socio-political outreach to the regions ethnic minorities, such as the Lepchas, the Tamangs and the Bhutias, with the establishment of “development boards", which has ruflled some feathers in the GJM. For the BJP, which is allied to the GJM and aggressively building its presence in Bengal, this is a positive development. Though the Centre has been quiet on Gorkhaland demands at this time, the BJP, which has an MP in Darjeeling, supports the cause, as it will give them an opportunity to have a political space in the region. In short, Darjeeling will be the theatre of Bengal politics. For the TMC, Darjeeling is the last frontier—the only part of Bengal that is not fully under its control. For the BJP, it is one of its early stepping stones. And for the GJM, this is a battle for survival. Is under development a reason for the perceived deprivation of the hill people? The districts of Darjeeling (and Kalimpong, which was carved out of Darjeeling earlier this year) and Jalpaiguri have been considered as Gorkhaland. The demand for Gorkhaland encompasses almost the entirety of the old Darjeeling district as well as significant parts of the adjoining district of Jalpaiguri.
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