A Crown Never Caress to Shine: Talks of the State of Gorkhaland
- Swaroop Chetry
The valiant Gorkhas painted as martial race are born to serve the nation, be it the Kargil War or the Chinese aggression, and it is an irony that these brave and decorated soldiers who sacrificed their lives fighting on the enemy lines in the service of the nation do not find a home land in their own country to rest in peace. This is an emotive issue which the policy makers sitting in their ivory towers in New Delhi overlook time and again.
Tripartite talks between the Government of India, Government of West Bengal and the representatives of GJM on 11th August 2009 agreed upon the dissolution of the defunct DGHC, and the overtures of Government of India that the state bill first needs to be endorsed by the West Bengal assembly before it is placed in the Indian Parliament, all suggests that the menu on the table is definitely delicate and equally sensitive. New Delhi may not be too adverse against Gorkhaland, as a federal entity within the ambit of the Indian constitution, if noises from the Congress party secretary in charge of Sikkim and Ex- CM of Goa is to be believed, his remarks perhaps, may be to woo the voters in the state of Sikkim in the recently concluded state election.
The next round of talks is scheduled for mid December 2009, till then GJM has to come out of Jaswant’s hangover, although Jaswant Singh’s victory from Darjeeling served two purpose, one it pumped in the much required oxygen to propel the movement at the national arena and two Jaswant Singh becoming the spring board for the protagonist to capture media attention, however the Jaswant-Jinnah fiasco seems to take its toll on the Hill movement now.
Going by these development, the state of Gorkhaland may be on the verge of its inception, but for Bimal Gurung and his intellect cohorts must be supremely fit and incredibly brave to make important concerted decision to cash on this opportunity, integration of all civil society of the hills into a single unified command to work in tandem and voice in unison to achieve the common objective of statehood may worth be pondering upon, keeping aside the vertical differences, as other wise the opinions expressed may have a tangential effect on New Delhi.
It will indeed be wise to rope in and engage experts from policy research institutes of social sciences to make a stronger case in New Delhi, as Gorkhaland has to be portrayed not only a popular demand in the region but also economically viable and a vibrant state which is equally strategic for India. Darjeeling and Dooars apparently is more closer to Kathmandu then New Delhi if we are to go by the aerial distance and therefore requires much sympathy and apathy from New Delhi. The Chicken Neck is indeed very fragile to be ignored for too long.
In a bid to take a sting out it, the West Bengal Government seems to be rushing for a piece meal arrangement, and to dole out interim relief but the people in Darjeeling and Dooars believe no other arrangement would actually suffice their cause of statehood, for they know once bitten twice shy, obviously the era of autocratic Subhas Ghising and DGHC is fresh in people’s mind. All of it is apparently not going too well with the Communist West Bengal Government leaving aside the Mamata factor.
If we see through the prism of human development index (HDI) of Darjeeling and Dooars, the picture is crystal clear, Governance never took its roots, perhaps the region remained neglected for too long, Central sponsored development funds never saw the day light, State sponsored development schemes are at its lowest ebb, narrow highway with pot holes and under laid carpets, villages without proper sanitation, hygiene and potable water, intermittent or no power supply all though the potential of power generation is huge, rural connectivity abysmally low, Government run Schools with no basic amenities, PHC’s and CHC’s ill equipped, Employment generation avenues left high and dry, even the World Heritage Toy Train and its track ill maintained, delivery mechanism seems to be totally missing and inclusive growth a far cry. The crown of the hills is starting to fade its luster.
All along, the Government of West Bengal only took it as their backyard tourist destination for short pleasure trips, were the majestic Kanchenjunga shines and concentrated much on the royalty of the so called Darjeeling tea and revenues from Tiger Hill tourist, both of which is now on the down slide because of obvious reason, they seem to be blind folded on every perspective of the Hills and its dismal growth. All of these issues is acting as a super catalyst for the popular demand, nevertheless West Bengal sees Darjeeling as its crown and the people in Darjeeling feel it is worth a crown but never caress to shine.
chetry_swaroop@rediffmail.com

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