By Ashima Makhija
78 days after an indefinite bandh was announced by the hill parties of northern West Bengal, the CM and Trinamool Congress supremo, Mamata Banerjee decided to thaw the ice by convening an open dialogue between the state government and the prominent Gorkha parties to restore normalcy and peace in the WB hills.
The meeting, held at the State Secretariat in Kolkata, was attended by the top bureaucrats, senior leaders of the cabinet, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, the Gorkha National Liberation Front, and the Jan Andolan Party. Though the demand for a separate Gorkhaland continued to meet frictional resistance from the CM, she is positive that the journey towards a negotiated settlement of the bandh and towards accommodation of the Gorkha identity in the plural Indian society has commenced.
Will Bengal be divided again?
The principal demand of the Gorkha outfits is the time-worn demand of a separate state. The struggle for an independent state for the hills of West Bengal has been imminent since Nehrus reign. The people belonging to these areas hardly have any connection with the Bengali community and are different in ethnicity, culture and language.
After a series of successive violent movements in the 1980s and in 2007, the CM Mamata Banerjee pacified the Gorkhas with the creation of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), which is chiefly under the command of the GJM. However, the decision of the state government to make Bengali a compulsory subject re-ignited the struggle for Gorkhaland and on June 9, 2017, the hill parties announced an indefinite strike.
Other than complete autonomy, the Gorkha outfits highlighted demands like withdrawal of police cases against Gorkhaland activists and NIA to probe recent ‘condemnable’ blasts in Darjeeling. These violent secessionist movements have led to eight deaths so far. The parties have demanded CBI probes into all the deaths and compensation to the injured and to the families of the dead.
A Cordial, yet Inconclusive Meeting
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said the talks were fruitful, constructive and positive, adding that the government had requested for withdrawal of the strike in the tourist town. The parties, as well as the government, underlined the need to restore peace in the tourist town and end the impasse.
PTI reported that she clearly said a separate Gorkhaland was beyond the states jurisdiction. You can raise your voice as it is your democratic right, but the state government has its own jurisdictions, some constitutional obligations and bindings, Banerjee said, according to IANS.
Banerjee also stated that she will not allow the division of West Bengal and that the Centre was also opposed to the creation of a separate Gorkhaland. However, since her government did not believe in bulldozing or suppressing someones voice, this meeting was intended to simply call for a withdrawal of the bandh that has crippled the lives of the ordinary Darjeeling citizens.
Gorkha Janmukti Morchas Assistant General Secretary Benoy Tamang had said that the party will discuss with the Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee, which is a platform of unity for all the Gorkha parties, and then decide on the withdrawal of the strike, The Hindu reported.
The Gorkha Verdict
After the Gorkha parties receded to their central cocoon committee session in Darjeeling, GJM supremo Bimal Gurung announced in an audio message that, “There is no question of calling off the shut down until and unless the state government begins a dialogue on the one point agenda of Gorkhaland. So many people have died. We have some duties and responsibilities towards the people of Darjeeling”.
But the political chief of the Gorkha clan seemed resilient. Despite the olive branch extended by the West Bengal government, Gurung has reiterated that a separate Gorkhaland continues to be the single-point agenda of the agitation.
With the next round of talks scheduled for 12 September 2017, it is perhaps time for the state and central government to retrospect. The lives of ordinary citizens, deprived of adequate food supplies, internet services and basic security, are at stake here. The history of northern WB is lined with violent struggles for an independent identity.
Various constitutional remedies and policy-based decisions have failed to resolve this century-old issue. It is time to recognize their cultural and linguistic distinction from the Bengali population and introduce reforms for the inclusion of these Nepali-speaking Indians. What is crucial at this point is continuity of the bilateral discussions and adoption of a more flexible approach both by the Gorkha radicals and the administrative machinery.
Featured Image Source: Visual Hunt
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