The union ministry of home affairs (MHA) had recently sent a letter to the ruling party in Bengal, Trinamul Congress and Gorkha janmukti morcha’s (GJM) founder Bimal Gurung. The political parties were taken by surprise as the letter stated that the agenda of the meeting was changed from “issue related to Gorkhaland” to “issue related to Gorkhaland Territorial Administration”(GTA). GTA is the local autonomous body in the Darjeeling hills, which is headed by the Binmoy Tamang. He heads a faction within the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. This faction supports the TMC in contrast to the revived demand of separate statehood by the GJM. In the northern districts of West Bengal, Gorkhaland crisis has been brewing and simmering for many decades now. The issue has its origins in the context of ethnicity and language issues which basically precipitate into a Nepali speaking people vs Bengali speaking people conflict. Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and other hilly districts of West-Bengal forming the Gorkhaland are comprised of Nepali-speaking people. There are cultural, ethnic, and language differences between the people belonging to the Bengali community and those hailing from these areas in West-Bengal.

The period around 1907 saw the genesis of the demand for Darjeeling as a separate administrative region. The term “Gorkhaland” was coined relatively recently, in the 1980s. Subhash Ghising, the founder of Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), had coined the term. Historically speaking, before 1780s, the area identified currently as Gorkhaland was ruled by Chogyal dynasty of Sikkim. The Gorkhas had captured Sikkim alongwith most parts of the North East including Darjeeling around the year 1780. Anglo-Gorkha war broke out in 1814 and it concluded with the Treaty of Segoulee in 1815, which was ratified in March, 1816. The treaty enunciated that the British East India Company get control over the Gorkha territory annexed from Chogyals of Sikkim. Under the Treaty of Titalia, in 1817, the Chogyals of Sikkim were reinstated by the British and were given back the territories taken from them by the Gorkhas. The possession of the hills of Darjeeling was taken over the British from the Sikkim (Chogyals) in 1835 through a Deed of Grant. In the Treaty of Sinchula signed between the British and Bhutan, in 1864, Kalimpong and Bengal Duars were added to the Darjeeling hills. In the year, 1866, the district of Darjeeling came into existence.

Gorkhaland Movement is mainly centred around the Darjeeling Hills in Bengal, demanding a separate Gorkhaland state. Duars and Terai regions of Bengal fall in the Gorkhaland area and it is well-known for its natural scenic beauty which adds to its tourist value and tea which also adds to its income. Issues related to language, culture and ethnicity among the resident people of the region have led to the birth of the Gorkhaland movement, which are used by various parties, like BJP, trying to gain political mileage in the Bengal polity. ‘Nepali-Indian Gorkha ethnic’ origin people in the northern Bengal region are asking for separate statehood base on the cultural and linguistic differences. The demand of the Gorkhaland is somewhat different from the demand of the Nagas in that the demand of Nagas is based on historical factor which is a matter of commonality between the conflicting sides in the scenario present in North Bengal.

Apart from identity crisis in the Gorkhaland, there are the prevalent issues of poverty as a result of underdevelopment due to relative disconnection and isolation from the Bengal plains.  This has led to the politicization of the issues by the various stakeholders. Rajat Ganguly, Author of “Poverty, Malgovernance and Ethnopolitical Mobilization: Gorjkha Nationalism and the Gorkhaland Agitation in India” mentioned that the governance failure alongwith politicization of the issues has bred the Gorkhaland issue and kept it alive over decades. In post-independence years in India, the issue has kept erupting time and again due to occasional pampering and flaring up of the tension by vested political aspirations.

Binoy Tamang of the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) had said that the current government’s decision to bifurcate Jammu & Kashmir had left the Gorkha community hurt.  He had claimed that the Ladakh, the Buddhist-majority region now carved into a separate union territory, had never even demanded separation from J&K. He had further added as a note to draw attention that the Gorkhas are yet to get a separate state despite demanding one for 100 years. Almost all of the hill-based parties including the two factions under the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, one led by Bimal Gurung in absentia and supported by the BJP, and another led by Tamang, an ally of the Trinamul Congress, have renewed their pitch for Gorkhaland in the light of the 2019 Kashmir decision of GOI. From June to September 2017, there was another series of agitations in Darjeeling. The protests began when the Bengal government had stated that the Bengali language should be a compulsory subject in all schools across the state. It was perceived by the GJM administered area, with a majority of Nepalese speaking people, as an imposition of an outside culture over Gorkhaland

Recently the TMC had asked the central leadership to come clean on what they want in the north Bengal. The TMC had stated that the centre must make its intention clear about whether it wants to go ahead with the demand of the GJM. Gautam Deb, state tourism minister in Bengal stated that, the centre should stop beating around the bush. TMC has argued that everytime Bengal approaches an election; BJP raises the Gorkhaland issue to create disturbances in the hills. The current announcement to change the meeting-issue topic from Gorkhaland to GTA is seen by TMC as yet another election move by BJP. Mamta Banerjee claimed that BJP is planning to bifurcate Bengal after dividing Jammu Kashmir as the state is heading for 2021 polls. In its tactical response, TMC MP, Abhishek Banerjee and the Party’s poll strategist- Prashant Kishor had recently chalked out a plan for the six districts of the North Bengal after carrying out a SWOT analysis for the TMC in those districts. SWOT analysis involves calculation and understanding of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of any organization in any context or situation.

The demand for Gorkhaland has been a long standing one which has erupted occasionally. It is driven ahead by the Nepali speaking population in Kalimpong, Darjeeling and other hilly areas who are culturally as well as linguistically different from the rest of people in the state of west Bengal. Larger conflicts in the context of this movement had occurred in the 80s with (GNLF) Head Subhas Ghisiing at the forefront. GJM Supremo Bimal Gurung had taken ahead the movement for full statehood. The BJP had won the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat thrice since 2009 by making an alliance with the GJM. Late Jaswant singh, SS Ahluwalia and Raju Bista have won the seat in the years 2009, 2014 and 2019 respectively. Since 2009, BJP has been promising to find a permanent political solution to the Gorkhaland issue. The promises were also mentioned in the BJP’S election manifesto in 2014 and 2019. The various moves and announcements made by the centre looks like they are trying to evade any responsible solution for the region without losing any political hold over the seat and traction over the politics of north Bengal. It must be understood that if the demand remains unfulfilled, then the Darjeeling seat would probably remain with BJP, and it will keep the problem alive. This intention of BJP is probably clearly visible to TMC who are trying to find a peaceful solution to the contentious issue in the region.

 The author is a student member of Amity Centre of Happiness.

Editor Opinion, Biswarup Mukhopadhyay has given important inputs for the article.