The agitation for a separate state of Gorkhaland is gathering momentum by the day, with numerous political parties and organisations lending support to the move, besides Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling. It’s been over a week since the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM)-sponsored indefinite bandh in the Darjeeling hills brought life to a standstill in the region. Delivering a snub to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, 43 GJM members have resigned from the 45-member Gorkhaland Territorial Administration — a semi-autonomous, elected body created after the tripartite pact in 2011 between the West Bengal government, the GJM and the Centre (soon after Banerjee took over). The current flare-up goes back to Banerjee’s indiscreet announcement to make Bengali compulsory. While she hastily withdrew the announcement for the hills, where Gorkhas and Nepali language are dominant, the provocation could not be rolled back. The 2011 accord is now in tatters.
However, in political terms, Banerjee holds the upper hand. The BJP, an ally of the GJM, stands embarrassed by the turn of events. It has been reticent on the agitation, which is helping Banerjee run away with the Bengali sub-nationalism plank and project the BJP, which ironically sees itself as a supra-nationalist force, as one supporting the ‘partition of Bengal’. With increasing ethnic polarisation, it may become necessary to grapple with the Statehood demand sooner rather than later. On the face of it, the demand seems reasonable. States have been created on linguistic grounds or, more recently, for socio-economic reasons. Recent States such as Uttarakhand, Chattisgarh and Telangana have been created on the latter basis. Gorkhaland fits the bill on both counts — it is linguistically and culturally distinct from the plains of Bengal and can justifiably perceive Statehood as the answer to its socio-economic concerns. However, unlike the other recent States, ‘Gorkhaland’ is a geo-politically sensitive region. It is encircled by Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Bangladesh and China.
While engaging with the stakeholders concerned to arrest this descent into chaos, it is important to veer away from the current discourse of competing sub-nationalisms. Banerjee is being shrewd in playing the foreign hand, and ratcheting up Bengali sub-nationalism (possibly letting go of her party’s influence in the hills). But to question Nepali sub-nationalism from this framework would be a contradiction in terms. The discourse on autonomy for Gorkhaland should be based on reviving its economy. Addressing the tea gardens crisis would be a good way to start.