Mamata Banerjee is all out to crush the Gorkhas

Background: Gorkhas of Darjeeling-Duars (India) have been fighting  for  autonomy and self rule within India since 1907. They have renewed their demand since June 2017.

       Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal is hell bent to crush the Gorkhas’ voice.

       She has crossed almost all the lines/limits now and have often resorted to unconstitutional means to subdue the Gorkhas.

Since June 2017  ……

She ordered to shoot the Gorkhas, killing 11 till September 01 and injuring over 100.

She ordered to raid houses of the innocent Gorkhas and have arrested around 200 by now 

without any valid reasons.

Her police and TMC goons have been harassing the Gorkhas in and around Siliguri and have 

stopped food supplies to the hills. They have even not spared the goods to be supplied to Sikkim 

and the Indian Army.

        Her government planted/exploded bombs across hills and blamed the Gorkhas booking GJM Chief Bimal Gurung  under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosive Substances Act, the West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order Act, section 302, IPC (punishment for murder) and other sections.    

Mamata tried to manipulate things in the recent meeting of 29th August held in Kolkata and 

nearly succeeded in lifting indefinite bandh, that has already sustained more than 80 days in 

Darjeeling-Duars, without committing anything. Her wicked plan/ploy was however foiled by 

the Gorkhas.

Mamata, Chief Minister of West Bengal,  keeps on talking about restoration of peace in the hills 

but she has continued shooting, harassing and raiding the Gorkha households. 

Mamata has banned internet connectivity and all local TV channels in Gorkhaland  for the last 

75 days, directly, challenging the very ethics and principles of Indian democracy.

By-passing all rules, regulations and protocols of the India Federation, West Bengal police 

personnel without intimating Sikkim Police crossed over to the state of Sikkim on September 01 

and raided/arrested Gorkhaland activists and shot dead one activist raising serious national 

security concerns in the Eastern Himalayan Borderland.

Bengal has now almost become a fascist province within India. Mamata Banerjee often claims

that she is a product of revolution but she is the greatest enemy of revolution.

The irony…….

Government of India knows everything but has preferred to turn deaf ear on all the wrong 
doings and unconstitutional activities of West Bengal upon the Gorkhas.

Both State and Central governments are playing politics.

Merger of Darjeeling-Duars into West Bengal: A Treacherous Historical Exercise

Considering the political and administrative history of Darjeeling-Duars, one often wonders why has this region been kept within the administrative preview of West Bengal at the first place? In this connection it is important for the larger public to understand that among other relevant factors for the state re-organisation, State Reorganization Commission (1955) considered language & culture and financial viability important. However, both of these factors were overlooked and Darjeeling-Duars was merged into West Bengal with high level of politics played by BC Roy and the then congress party (see Politics of Autonomy: Indian Experiences (2005) edited by Ranabir Samaddar).

The region was merged into West Bengal without any consultation with the Gorkhas, Adibasis and other people living in the area during early 1950s and against the will of the larger population residing in the region. Absorbed Area Act (1954) also sheds light on the issues of the absorption of Darjeeling district into the West Bengal. Importantly, there was also a very strong lobby to form a state called 'Uttarakhand' consisting of Sikkim, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch-behar that eventually did not fructify.

Therefore, the very idea that Darjeeling-Duars is an integral part of West Bengal and the pseudo cry of ‘banga bhanga hobena’ often publicized by Bengalis and Bengal Government has no teeth. It is unfounded, illogical and just an emotional 'rhetoric'. BC Roy and his team treacherously merged the region into West Bengal without consulting the vulnerable, gullible, peace loving Gorkhas and Adibasis in the 1950s.

Where is the question of division of West Bengal, therefore?  The Gorkhas now want to de-merge the region from West Bengal and have our own governance. It is as simple as that!

Uncomfortable questions on why Gorkhaland

We have been explaining since110 years to different sets of Governments at the Centre and Province on why we want to be separated from (West) Bengal rather defensively!

Given the attitude of the Government of India not to talk of West Bengal.....I think, now we have to change our ways of asking back what is ours....

Now instead of meekly and weakly asking for self rule/determination, lets ask them some serious questions.

I have floated few of the questions in the pages of FB and have also tagged SS Ahluwalia ji , Narendra Modi ji and Rajnath Singh ji. I have also submitted the questions to GMCC's research wing to look for answers. We need to draft series of such questions.

Let the government of India and West Bengal explain to us.

Out of several questions, one last and final question should be wicked and uncomfortable to both India and West Bengal and that is:

Why should the Darj-Kpg- TERAI DUARS region remain a part of West Bengal?.... and if need arises we should be bold enough to question ... in India at large?

Given the history of the region and the record that India is still paying compensation to Bhutan for KPG and Duars, this question, although uncomfortable and wicked, is relevant and has teeth.

The Gorkha Factor in Bengal

In reply to the article:

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/sunday-special/people/the-gorkha-factor-in-bengal/427159.html#comment-3438719366

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In 1891 there was not a single Bengali inhabiting the soil of Darjeeling Terai (Present Siliguri and adjoining area) (Source: Sashi Bhusan Dutt, 1898, Darjeeling Terai Settlement Report). By 1901 Darjeeling District had about 60% of the Gorkhas (Bengal Gazetteer: Darjeeling, 1948) . By 2011, the percentage share of hill populace was 48% while the plain populace largely represented by Bengali speakers was over 50% (District Census Hand Book, 2011). Shubhadeep Choudhury, who are the migrants here? Major part of Darjeeling including terai and duars was ruled by Nepal between 1780 and 1815 and there are evidences of the people of the region paying taxes to the king of Nepal at that point of time (Read history for reference). This clearly proves that the majority India Gorkhas came with the land!

Instead of rumour mongering, why dont you bring in pertinent issues of how Bengal has encouraged illegal Bangladeshi migration over the years into the soils of Bengal and rest of India? Why dont you talk about radical organisations like Aamra Bangali and Bangla-o-Bangali Bhasha Bachao Samiti that often talk about uniting Bengal and Bangladesh?, Why dont you talk about the imminent national security threat because of the rising illegal Bangladeshis often resorting to anti national activities from the soil of West Bengal? Why dont you examine the outstanding 3.4 lakh crore dept of W Bengal making it economically unviable to remain as a state?

Why dont you discuss such crucial issues? or are you also from Bangladesh residing illegally in Kolkata and trying to break the unity of India?

Bengalis have spread like insects across the spaces of Siliguri and Terai in the last 70 years and have eaten up scarce natural resources there without any notable contribution to the growth and development of the region. Why don't you do stories on such issues?

Entire Tea Industry and Sedentary Agriculture of Sikkim, Darjeeling and Southern Bhutan were established by the dint of hard works of the Gorkhas. If you research properly, livestock and dairy industry of entire Northeast India were initiated and established by the Gorkhas. The sacrifices of the Gorkhas on the border of the country is reported every other day! Why don't you explore these issues further and write some good stories on the Gorkhas?

Read the history and geography of West Bengal and Sikkim properly. We don't buy the stories of Ray, Chakraborty and Misra. They are not the trained historians. Tell them to stick to their respective subjects and contribute to their discipline.

Rumour mongering will not help.....that is what you people did in the 1980s and silenced the voices of the Gorkhas with the help of CRPFs...the stray dogs. This is 2017.......we have come a long way now.....economically, intellectually and strategically. If you have guts, come to the table to discuss the truth.

Live in peace and let Gorkhas to live in peace. Our problem is not with the Bengalis but with the system of governance in W Bengal.

Only Gorkhaland is the solution to the #Darjeelingunrest. However hard you try, the truth is Darjeeling and Duars never belonged to West Bengal and separate state consisting of entire Darjeeling dist, Kalimpong dist, large part of Jalpaiguri is inevitable, if not today.....definitely tomorrow. The demand for Gorkhaland is older than West Bengal.

Impact of Gorkhaland Movement

Reportedly, indefinite bandh in the #Gorkhaland have primarily impacted Siliguri City the hardest. According to reports:

1). Siliguri is losing INR 12.5 crore per day.
2.) 75% of the business of Siliguri has been hit due to strike.

3.) Darjeeling Tea Industry has lost INR 340 crore in 19 days
4.) NHPC's TDLP III and IV are suffering a loss of INR 2.5 crore daily.

What do these figures reflect?

While we can have an extended discussion on these figures, in short:

Points 1 and 2 are very critical pointers that Siliguri has no meaning without Sikkim-Gorkhaland or in other words...it means Siliguri owes its existence and maintenance to Sikkim-Darjeeling! They also raise a serious concern that 1,057,438 (as per Census of India, 2011) people residing in metropolitan Siliguri and people living in adjoining Terai have little contribution to the growth and development of the economy in the region. This clearly means, they are big economic burden to the area and the state at large! Who are these people by the way ? and why are they living in Siliguri ? .... This is a big question that we need to seek answer for? Here....the whole issue of Informal Bangladeshi migration needs to be debated!

Secondly, point numbers 3 and 4 make us clear on how important is Darjeeling hills for West Bengal. Such a small place and such huge economic potential! More importantly, It makes us further confident on the fact that #Gorkhaland is an economically viable proposition and after being declared a state would be one of the fastest growing states of the country!

We really need to worry about points 1 and 2 for several reasons and from different perspectives. The national security perspective should be discussed on priority basis.

'Banga Bhanga Hobena' is just an emotional Rhetoric : Constitution of India has provision to break or unite a Province

I hope many of you watched the The Stream debate last night (12/07/17). I have two concerns to share:

First, the anchor read the note of @MahuaMitra on behalf of TMC (Mamata Banerjee), West Bengal, which, as expected, reiterated that Darjeeling-Duars is integral part of WB and therefore, cannot be divided at any cost. Upendra Pradhan, rightly, countered the statement by declaring the statement as unconstitutional. There is provision in the Constitution of India to divide or unite a province/state based on relevant factors.

Moreover, it is important for the larger public to understand that Darjeeling-Duars was merged into West Bengal with secret works of the persons like BC Roy. The region was merged into West Bengal without any consultation with the Gorkhas, Adibasis and other people living in the area during early 1950s and against the will of the larger population residing in the region. You can read this whole political drama in the State Reorganisation Report (i guess it is online). Absorbed Area Act (1954) also sheds light on this. There was also a very strong lobby to form a state called 'Uttarakhand' consisting of Sikkim, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch-behar that eventually did not fructify.

Therefore, the very idea that Darjeeling-Duars is an integral part of West Bengal has no teeth. It is unfounded, illogical and just an emotional 'rethoric' as rightly highlighted by Swaraj Thapa in the debate yesterday. Therefore, where is the question of division of West Bengal? BC Roy and his team deceitfully merged the region into West Bengal without consulting the vulnerable, gullible, peace loving Gorkhas and Adibasis in the 1950s. Now we want to de-merge it from Bengal and have our own governance. It is as simple as that!

Secondly, my friend, Satya Brat, who also contributed to the debate said, among other things, 'the region is rich in bio-resources' but eventually suggested for 'Feasibility Study'. Now, we are not working so hard to undertake Railway, Hydro-Power or High Way projects that we shall undertake feasibility study.

One should understand, Darjeeling District alone roughly contributes over INR 2000 crore per annum to the state exchequer. We are yet to workout the revenue generated by Duars. Unlike Goa (the smallest state of India) that depends solely on tourism, the proposed Gorkhaland has diverse resource bases including Tea, Tourism, Forest, Water, Aesthetic Beauty, Culture, heritage, Border Trade and many more. Therefore, there is no question of 'Feasibility Study'. Once the Centre agrees (we are not concerned with the state), we will have referendum in disputed areas like Siliguri Terai and Jalpaiguri Duars and straightaway carve a new state!

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Is Darjeeling a Killing Field for Centre and State Forces?

Seven (07) people have been killed in Gorkhaland (Darjeeling) so far during June 17 -July 10, 2017 and we do not know if this figure will go up with time. The Gorkhas are fighting for a separate State of Gorkhaland within India.

The first three were shot dead on June 17 when they were marching towards Patlebas located few kilometers away from Darjeeling Town. Security forces also resorted to violence in Kalimpong by open firing on the peaceful protestors on July 05, but no deaths were reported.  However, an unarmed Tashi Bhutia was shot in the midnight of July 07 while he was on this way home in Sonada after procuring medicine. The following day three more were shot dead. Two were killed while protesting the death of Tashi in the heart of Darjeeling Town and third shooting was made at Singmari area of the town reportedly without any valid reason. Many are in the hospitals fighting for their lives, we do not know how many of them will finally survive.

Reportedly, they are all killed by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans, a force maintained by the Government of India. A critical point to be noted here is that, all the victims were shot on their heads and were killed on the spot. West Bengal either through Gautam Deb or Mamata Banerjee herself has been repeatedly clarifying that the security personnel have not fired/shot at the protesters. In fact, when Aniket Chettri succumbed to his injury recently after his truck caught fire near Kalizora along NH10; TMC Minister Gautam Deb spent no time in accusing the Gorkhas for his death.

It is important for the larger public to understand that the Gorkha protest started peacefully, initially to oppose the imposition of Bengali Language as compulsory teaching in all the schools and later took a bigger form when the Gorkhas revived their 110 years old movement for the separate state of Gorkhaland. Violence actually started due the lathi charges and shooting of June 17 on the peaceful protestors by security forces and consequent death of the three Gorkhas. Therefore, who is the culprit here? Who is responsible for the subsequent violence that ravaged the entire hills of Gorkhaland (Darjeeling)?

My bigger concern, however, is: why are the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans so excited to shoot? Why do they resort to violence when the protesters are unarmed and protesting peacefully? Who orders them to shoot? Why do they shoot only on the heads and not on other parts of the body? Is the state government via District Magistrate gives order to shoot or is it the larger and murkier ploy of the Central Government.

We really need to delve upon these questions, discuss them seriously and seek for the answers.

And lastly, if Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) shoots on its own without the order of the State or Central Government, let these jokers be sent to the borders. Let them replace the Gorkhas there. Let them fight the Pakistani terrorists. Let them fight the Chinese. Killing unarmed protesters doesn't make them security force. I don't think these cowards will stand more than 24 hours on the border!
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Added on 12 July, 2017: One more (Ashok Tamang)  succumbed to bullet injuries on 11th morning making the total death to 08.

Political Profile of Darjeeling District and Adjoining Duars

Look at the Political profile of Darjeeling. I may have missed here and there but this is by and large a rough political path traversed by Darjeeling and its neighbouring geographical milieu in the last three centuries.

Looking at this profile, do you think Darjeeling-Duars should be a part of West Bengal? Why should there should be any problem for the TMC led government of West Bengal to recognise and respect the Gorkhas' demand for a separate state of #Gorkhaland consisting of Darjeeling District (Kalimpong included) and the Duars region?

Prior to

1706:                The present district of Darjeeling was part of the Kingdom of Sikkim.

1706:                Kalimpong hills along with the adjoining Duars were annexed by Bhutan.

1800:                Darjeeling along with its adjoining hills (Kurseong) and adjacent Terai (Siliguri) was taken over by Nepal.

1835:                Darjeeling along with its adjoining hills (Kurseong) was ceded to British India.

1850:                The adjoining Terai (Siliguri) was taken over by British India and included in Jalpaiguri District

1865:                Kalimpong hills along with adjoining Duars were annexed by British India and included in Jalpaiguri district.

1866:                The hills of Kalimpong were included in Darjeeling district leaving the Duars

under Jalpaiguri district.

1880:                Siliguri was taken out from Jalpaiguri and included in Darjeeling district giving final shape to the Darjeeling district.

1905:                The district in the present shape (including KPG) was included in the Bhagalpur

of Bihar (Undivided Bengal).

1912:                The district was included in the Rajshahi (now in Bangladesh).

1947:                After the independence, the district was put under the state of West Bengal.

Therefore, 'banga bhanga hobena' has little logical meaning. 

Gorkhaland: Need of the hour

Critics/Detractors/Enemies of the separate state of #Gorkhaland have following three major reasons to argue against the division of West Bengal:

1) Small Geographical Area and Population of Darjeeling Region

This is one of the very important factors often debated in mainstream policy and academic circles against the formation of Gorkhaland. However, this argument is unfounded and has little rationality. Take a look at the figures of two smallest states of India.

Sikkim
Geographical Area: 7096 Sq KM
Population: 6.5 Lakh (2011)
Arable area: 11%
81% of the total geographical area of Sikkim is under Forest Department.

Goa
Geographical Area: 3702 Sq KM
Population: 18 Lakh (2011)

Proposed Gorkhaland (Dists of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Bengal Dooars)
Geographical Area: 7217 Sq KM
Population: More than 40 Lakh (2011)
Arable land: over 50%

Are area and population, therefore, reason why #Gorkhaland should not be created?

2) Darjeeling is an integral part of West Bengal and there is no question of bifurcation

The Bengali politicians, journalists and even Bengali academics mostly throw this argument. Any conscious and informed citizen of India knows that Darjeeling along with its adjoining Dooars/Terai was never part of the larger political/administrative landscape of Bengal till mid 19th Century. Therefore, this theory has no relevance and can be challenged left, right and center!

3) Strategic location of Darjeeling Hills and National Security Concerns

This is the most important theory often put forth by the #Gorkhaland detractors both in New Delhi and Kolkata. However, this theory is also groundless and desperately propagated by the vested interests.

In fact, forcefully keeping Darjeeling-Dooars region with its unique history, socio-culture and economy within West Bengal posses serious national security threat to the country. The region is a melting pot of ethnic diversity. It is dynamic in nature and evolving with time. However, Bengal government in the last 60 years has systematically destroyed the dynamic socio-cultural, economic and political fabrics of the region by 1) resettling the Bangladeshi refugees in the region and 2) by massively encouraging illegal Bangladeshi migrants in North Bengal particularly in the Darjeeling-Dooars region.

The Report of Darjeeling Terai Settlement (1891) by Sasi Bhusan Dutt clearly highlights that there was not a single Bengali soul on the soil of Darjeeling Terai during the period.

Resettlement of Bangladeshi refugees and massive illegal migration in the strategically located Darjeeling-Dooars region in the last 60 years has seriously compromised the security of the nation as well as human security of the region.

Contrariwise, therefore, it is only after the separation from Bengal and formation of a separate state of #Gorkhaland that the security of the nation and the region can be truly ensured!

Mamata Banerjee, Narendra Modi PMO India : Now you say, why should there be no separate state of #GORKHALAND comprising of Darjeeling and Dooars region? What stops you from fulfilling the century long demands of the #Gorkhas of #Darjeeling and their brothers/sisters in #Dooars?