Enforcing Bengali-a strategic blunder

As protests for a separate state called Gorkhaland continue to take place in Darjeeling, more violence broke out on June 17, with clashes between protestors and the police forces.

This came on the heels of a police raid that took place in the office of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), the political party at the heart of this movement.

Protest Turns Violent

For many years there have been factions in Darjeeling, a town in West Bengal, who have called for a separate state of their own. However, the state government has been able to pacify the Gorkhaland separatists through promises. However, tensions started to boil over when the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee said that the Bengali language would be made compulsory across the state for students studying in school. Making Bengali a compulsory language was not acceptable to the people of the region which is dominated by the Gorkhas and include the Lepchas, Tamangs, Gurungs and others, who mostly speak Nepali.

Thus, the protests began on 8^th June, when those mobilized by the GJM party marched to the venue where the cabinet meeting was held by Mamata Banerjee. The issue aggravated with supporters of GJM setting fire to a Public Works Department in the region on June 12^th.

On June 15^th, the police raided the main office of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and the President of GJM, Bimal Gurung, called for an indefinite strike. During the third day of this strike, the police arrested Vikram Rai, the son of a GJM MLA.  By June 17, more violence had broken with the supporters of the women’s wing of GJM clashing with the police forces.

The Gorkhaland issue

Historically speaking, Darjeeling wasn’t always a part of the state of West Bengal. It was annexed by the British in 1850 from Sikkim and remained a part of Bengal even after the States Reorganization Committee in 1955 arranged the various states according to languages spoken in the specific regions.

The demand for Gorkhaland has persisted for a long time. In the 1980s, a violent agitation was led by the Gorkha National Liberation Front that led to the creation of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, a local government body to which the state government transferred some administrative powers. A 2007 agitation led by GJM, led to the formation of the Gorkha land Territorial Administration (GTA).

Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, is the largest party in Darjeeling that has been campaigning for a Gorkhaland. In 2011, Banerjee promised that the Gorkhaland issue would be resolved but there has not been much success. Bimal Gurung, GJM leader has accused the Chief Minister for not providing funds to GTA and applying the policy of divide and rule by forming various developmental boards for specific minority community while ignoring the Gorkhas. In 2013, the demand for a separate statehood for Gorkha land saw a new upsurge when a resolution for the creation of Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh was passed.

Assessment

Darjeeling is economically important to West Bengal because it a popular tourist destination and it is famous for its tea plantations. Thus, West Bengal does not want to secede it. It would also be politically detrimental to the ruling state party. Mamata Banerjee has already come under tremendous scrutiny for her call to make Bengali compulsory with many labelling the move to be a blunder. It is time for the Centre to look into the issue and intervene in order to bring about peace to the region.