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Great GJM paradox | Casualties | A doomed leader
Published on Sat, Jun 28, 2008 at 22:20, Updated on Sun, Jun 29, 2008 at 00:33 in Nation section
Tags: 30 Minutes, Darjeeling Express , Darjeeling
LONG ROAD AHEAD: The struggle for identity brings with it both hope and uncertainty.
Darjeeling: A feeling of homelessness is driving the Gorkhas to demand what was considered impossible a few months ago.
"The Biharis have Bihar, the Punjabis have Punjab. What do we Gorkhas have? We have nothing,” says GJM Women's Wing leader, Yangji Gurung.
Though the West Bengal government is unwilling to budge, it’s unlikely that the rebel Gorkha leaders will settle for anything less than statehood.
GJM Central Committee Member, Amar Lama says, "When we cry for statehood, only then you talk about development. Development doesn't mean giving huge money in the hands of people like Ghising. That is not development."
The people of Darjeeling feel that achieving Gorkhaland is the magical end-all to all alleged deprivations faced by the Gorkhas over the past century.
Kolkata-based filmmaker, Anjan Dutta - who has childhood associations with Darjeeling - however, feels that instead of a separate state the government should look at providing better livelihood to the hill people.
"Just by giving them more autonomy and saying 'ok, now you handle it', is not the right way of going about things. I think more participation, more understanding of each other's differences will actually solve this thing," says Dutta.
However, the GJM leaders feel that other short-term goals like representation in Parliament must be achieved without compromising on the demand for statehood.
"The ministers create so much ruckus in the Parliament, but there is no voice to represent our cause,” says GJM President Bimal Gurung.
Old settlers in Darjeeling, like tea estate owner Rajah Banerjee, think that Gurung and his associates might just deliver to his people what Ghising and his council have failed.
"If the people listen to him, then I am sure he has the makings of a sagacious leader of the future," says Banerjee.
And priority areas for the prospective Gorkhaland government too have been chalked out by the supporters of the movement.
Former Teacher Loreto College, Amar Rai says, "There are no medical colleges, there are no engineering colleges, no technical colleges. All these things have to be there. So I would say prioritise education."
The proposed tripartite meeting between the agitators, the Centre and the Bengal government holds the key to the GJM's next course of action.
"Pranab Mukherjee had rejected Gorkhaland even 20 years ago. Repeating that won't suffice,” says GJM General Secretary, Roshan Giri.
It is this demand for a fresh understanding of the problem that the Centre and the state need to take seriously.
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Western Europe is devided into scores of small countries based on language and they are all developed countries. East European
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Make Darjeeling the summer capital of west bengal. It will give importance to the northern districts, accelerate development and give
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