Gorkha Janmukti Morcha Brings Up Separate Statehood Again

Darjeeling erupts as the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha brings up separate statehood again. Mamata Banerjee might hit back with an audit of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration

 

- Rabi Banarjee

In the past six years of her rule in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s development slogan has been “Pahar hansche, jungle hansche (the hills are smiling, so are the jungles)”. Her government had, she claimed, solved two problems plaguing Bengal—the Maoist menace in Junglemahal and the Gorkha crisis in Darjeeling.

The Maoists have been suppressed, but the Gorkhas, not quite so. After a few years of calm, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), which had been spearheading the separate statehood movement in Darjeeling, has now vowed to end the 2011 tripartite agreement—signed by the GJM, the West Bengal government and the Central government—which created the autonomous Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).

Said GJM president Bimal Gurung: “We have only one demand to make— give us Gorkhaland. A body like the GTA will not work any longer as we have received nothing, not even the mere autonomy promised to us six years ago. If we do not renew our demand for Gorkhaland now, the people of Darjeeling would not forgive us.”

For the past six years, Gurung had remained relatively silent, pushing his agenda only through pressure tactics. But now, his party has turned to violence, likely because of an emerging political threat—the Trinamool Congress. For the past eight years, the GJM had been the only political force in the hills.

However, Gurung’s power was threatened last month, perhaps for the first time, when the Trinamool Congress, a non-hill party, won a municipal election in the region. Of four municipalities, the GJM won Darjeeling with 31 of 32 seats, Kurseong with 17 of 20 seats and Kalimpong with 19 of 21 seats. However, in Mirik, the Trinamool Congress defeated the GJM, winning six of nine seats.