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End violence in Darjeeling

Kashmir Times. Dated: 6/22/2017 1:28:23 PM

Along with the dialogue process to resolve the crisis, steps should also be taken to empower Gorkhaland Territorial Administration

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s call to initiate a broad-based dialogue process for bringing to an end the violence and agitation in Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal is a welcome announcement. But this announcement is an anti-thesis of the NDA-government, which does not believe in resolving the vexed issues in Kashmir and almost all the North Eastern states of the country. This is despite the fact that all contentious issues around the world have been resolved through a dialogue process. Even the countries which have been at war with each other in various parts of the world have ultimately realized the futility of the conflict and negotiated all issues by sitting the table. Unfortunately, the members of the Sangh Parivar, who are ruling the roost in the corridors of power at the centre want to have their way and push ahead with their agenda, which does not coincide with the thinking of the democratic and civilized world. The NDA-government’s stance on Gorkhaland is a departure from its avowed attitude because it co-opted Gorkha Janmukti Morcha as an ally in the recently held local bodies elections in Darjeeling Hills. In this area, many issues such as the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland cannot be wished away with a magic wand. The WB chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the central government appear to think otherwise as if political tactics and tokenism are enough. WB state government had claimed to have solved the Gorkhaland issue after agreeing to semi-autonomous Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in 2011, following a series of agitations by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM). In the years since its establishment, nothing significant has been done on the ground to transfer many of the subjects to the body as was promised, rendering the notion of autonomous rule in the Hills rather moot. The hold of the GJM in the Hills was sought to be broken by reaching out to indigenous communities in the region through the creation of various tribal development boards. The GJM, on the other hand, believes that the GTA is just a stepping stone for the creation of a separate state. Legitimate grievances with the WB government on transfer of powers to the GTA aside, the GJM, which has ruled the Authority, too has been guilty of lackadaisical approach in governance. The party also mirrors Trinamool Congress in petty political tactics, such as dovetailing with the Bharatiya Janata Party in parliamentary elections alone so as to secure support for the statehood demand. The ad-hocism and tokenism shown by these two political parties in West Bengal are responsible for the renewed violence in the Darjeeling Hills. For its part, the BJP is caught in a piquant situation - it seems to be sympathetic to the statehood demand, allied as it is to the GJM in the Hills, but is afraid to articulate it openly as it has political ambitions in the rest of the state.
Keeping in view these motives of the NDA allies in mind, Mamata Banerjee suspected a deep-rooted conspiracy behind the violence and agitation in Darjeeling Hills after BJP joined hands with GJM. But on the other hand, the main cause for the flare-up in the Hills appears to be the state government’s announcement that Bengali should be compulsorily taught in all schools in West Bengal till Class X. Earlier this month, the government had also held a cabinet meeting in the Hills after many years, drawing a sharp reaction from the GJM and other separatist political forces that saw this as a ploy to undermine the GTA’s authority. Mamata Banerjee later clarified that Bengali was optional in the hill district, but this was not enough to assuage sentiments as the GJM sought to use this point to ramp up agitations. The whipping up of passions in the Hills has coincided with the rise of Bengali chauvinism in the plains in the past few years. This polarisation in this region does not portend well. The TMC-government must reach out to the GJM and work out a way to transfer powers to the GTA as was promised in 2011. A signal in this direction will go a long way in cooling down the anger of violent agitation. It should also abandon its wishful thinking that political tactics and short cuts can solve the long-pending Gorkhaland issue, which is culturally rooted among the local people.