Darjeeling: Forty-four year-old Dhiraj operates a tourist taxi in Darjeeling. He has grown up and lived a life witnessing political unrest in the Hills. “Another political strife seems to be staring us in the face. This time it could engulf the whole of North Bengal, further worsening matters,” said Dhiraj.
On the heels of a group of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders raising the demand for a separate North Bengal state or a Union Territory recently, there are many like Dhiraj who are apprehensive of unrest in this region. This demand has further resurrected all the ethnic statehood demands throughout North Bengal.
The state-level BJP leaders have conveniently distanced themselves from the issue stating that the party has nothing to do with it whilst a group of BJP MLAs and MPs continue to fuel it.
The COVID-19 pandemic in its second year has already robbed people of their livelihoods. On top of that, political unrest would be the final nail in the coffin for North Bengal, opined the masses.
Representative image. Workers prepare flags of the BJP. Photo: PTI/Ashok Bhaumik
Demand for a separate state gets fresh lease of life
The demand for a separate state of North Bengal has given a fresh lease of life to other past demands based on ethnic lines. However, questions are also being raised on the timing and motive behind the issue.
“Why the need for a separate state suddenly? Why from Bengal to North Bengal? How will the common man benefit?” questioned Sujata Minj, a non-teaching staff of a private school in Alipurduar.
While the West Bengal government’s stance on separate states remains steadfast, many have questioned the stand of the BJP-led Union government. The Bengal government has made it clear that they will not allow any further division of the state.
“The aspiration of the sons of the soil have always been self-governance, hence, they support the ethnic demands. The stand of the Union government is sketchy regarding separate states. Much will depend on the central leadership of the BJP and their sincerity towards the cause,” remarked Suresh Chandra Roy, teacher, Mekhliganj College.
Roy stated that during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections the BJP party election manifesto had talked of recognising Kamtapuri language. “So many years have passed, we are still awaiting the inclusion of the Kamtapuri language in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, as was assured in the BJP election manifesto,” stated Roy, while speaking with The Wire.
On the other hand, the Bengal government has created the Kamtapuri Language Academy, Thakur Panchanan University along with raising a Narayani battalion in the police force for the Rajbongshis and Kamtapuris, added Roy.
Also read: Can Bimal Gurung Change the Equations in Bengal’s Himalayan Foothills?
All ethnic groups want a chunk of the North Bengal pie
The river Ganges divides Bengal into South Bengal and North Bengal. The northern half of the state comprises Malda, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Kalimpong and Darjeeling districts.
The strategically important Siliguri corridor, popularly known as the “chicken’s neck”, connecting the entire North East region with the Indian mainland is located in North Bengal. The region is surrounded by four international borders including China, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
The region is home to multiple ethnic groups demanding creation of separate states. The prominent separate state movements include Gorkhaland, Kamtapur and Greater Cooch Behar. Interestingly, the boundaries of these proposed states overlap.
Gorkhaland supporters in a protest rally in Darjeeling. Credit: PTI
The boundaries of the proposed Gorkhaland state raised by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) stretches from Darjeeling to Kumargram on the Bengal-Assam border and includes Darjeeling Hills, Kalimpong, Siliguri, Odlabari, Chalsa, Banarhat, Dhupguri, Hasimara, Kalchini and Buxa. The Kamtapur and Greater Cooch Behar movements have also incorporated all these areas in their proposed maps, which could become a reason for possible ethnic conflicts if statehood demands are fuelled by the Union government without a plan. Other states in the North East, which have been in the grip of insurgency movements, have also been in the middle of such sectarian clashes because of such overlaps.
The proposed Kamtapur state comprises all the eight districts of North Bengal and four contiguous districts of Assam namely Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Dhubri and Goalpara.
The boundaries of the proposed separate state of Greater Cooch Behar comprises seven districts of North Bengal (excluding Malda district) along with the Bongaigaon, Dhubri and Kokrajhar districts of Assam.
Caught in the quagmire of political unrest
“We have wholeheartedly participated in all the separate state agitations in the Hills. We have adhered to what the leaders instructed. We have spent time hiding from security forces in the jungles. We have gone to jail. After all this, what have we achieved? Our condition seems to have worsened by the day. We would not like a rerun of this for our future generations,” stated Manoj Rai, a tea garden worker in the Lebong Valley, Darjeeling.
Rai feels that with the state government, Union government and political parties, not having a uniform standpoint, and with each of them having to serve their own political interests, unrest is inevitable in case of a demand for a separate state.
“The tea industry cannot tide over any future political upheavals. Certain political outfits are indulging in divisive politics. This is purely against the interest of this region and nation. It will destroy both the economics and the social fabric,” opined Zia Ur Alam, coordinator of Tea Joint Forum, while speaking with The Wire.
The tea industry is the largest revenue generating sector of North Bengal with an annual turnover of approximately Rs 6,000 crore at the wholesale level. There are 320 tea gardens in North Bengal along with 200 bought leaf factories. The industry employs 4.5 lakh workers and sustains around 15 lakh people indirectly.
The tea industry employs 4.5 lakh workers and sustains around 15 lakh people indirectly. Tea garden workers pluck tea leaves at a tea garden estate in Poteya village, about 75 km from Siliguri April 26, 2006. Credit: Reuters/Rupak De Chowdhuri/Files
“We support the statehood demand but repeated political unrests and prolonged bandhs have negatively impacted livelihoods. The region is largely dependent on the tourism industry. At present, the pandemic has already robbed the Hills of tourists. We can’t bear the brunt of another political unrest on top of that,” said Suman Baraily, a hotelier.
Around 50,000 people are directly connected to this industry along with an additional five lakh indirectly dependent on this industry. It is the economic mainstay of this region.
Every year around eight lakh domestic and 40,000 foreign tourists visit this region. A day of shutdown in this region during the peak tourist season results in a whopping loss of Rs 25 crore, claimed tourism stakeholders.
Owing to the pandemic, the tourism industry has come to a grinding halt since March 2020 with the exception of a few days in between when the COVID-19 infections had come down.
“Under these conditions if there is political unrest, the tourism industry will be totally crippled. Making any political demand is a democratic right, but our appeal to political parties and groups is to abstain from any form of unrest or bandhs,” said Tanmoy Goswamy, coordinator, Himalayan Hospitality and Tourism Development Network.
Unrest could lead to ethnic clashes
After a lull, chances of another unrest, has brought back memories of clashes between various ethnic groups.
In the past there have been attempts by GJM leader Bimal Gurung-led Gorkhaland movement to spill the agitation to the foothills of Terai and Dooars. These regions had been witness to many a flashpoint, taking on the colour of communal strife, with Adivasi communities checking the advances of Gurung and his men.
“There will be lots of trouble with overlapping boundaries of the different statehood demands. Such demands have to be examined critically on a broader perspective and for the greater good rather than to fulfill the ambition of a political outfit,” opined Amar Rai, former vice- principal of Loreto College, Darjeeling.
Rai who was the member of various study and think-tank groups of the Gorkhaland movement expressed doubt on the sincerity of the BJP- led Union government.
“The West Bengal government led by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has been steadfast in its stand of no further bifurcation of Bengal. However, the Union government has never come out clear. Whenever such demands are raised we are transformed into mere political pawns,” remarked Rai.
The region being geopolitically sensitive, prolonged strife would have long drawn consequences on national security, believed Rai.
“The BJP-led Union government has a design of dividing Bengal into three parts, namely North Bengal, Paschim Anchal and the remaining third part. This is to ensure that BJP’s hegemony continues in areas where the party’s performance has been comparatively better,” Abhijit Majumdar, Darjeeling district secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation told The Wire.
The eight districts of North Bengal have always been a fertile ground for the saffron brigade’s expansion plans in the state. The BJP bagged seven out the eight parliamentary seats in North Bengal in 2019.
Though being routed in West Bengal, BJP still holds sway in North Bengal. Out of the 54 seats in the recently concluded assembly elections, 31 fell in the BJP’s kitty; 22 went to the TMC and one to an independent candidate in North Bengal.
Majumdar alleged that the BJP has been tacitly supporting all identity politics-based demands in order to increase its vote share in the region. “Now they are trying to merge these demands. How can all the ethnic demands coalesce into a single one? It will lead to protracted clashes,” opined Majumdar.
Since his childhood days, Majumdar has been a witness to political movements in this region, especially the landmark peasant movement with roots in Naxalbari, Darjeeling. Sixty-year-old Majumdar is the son of legendary Charu Majumdar, one of the founders of the Naxalite movement.
A pandora’s box ready to be opened
On the heels of BJP MP John Barla’s demand of the creation of a North Bengal state, Bishnupur BJP MP Saumitra Khan has demanded the formation of a separate state of Rarh Bengal, popularly known as ‘Jungle Mahal’. His demand includes the carving out of Birbhum, Burdwan, Asansol, Purulia, Bankura, Bishnupur and Jhargram, West and East Midnapore and parts of Hooghly into a separate state.
Other prominent separate state demands throughout the country include Bodoland, Vidarbha, Bundelkhand, Poorvanchal (east UP) Harit Pradesh/ Pashimanchal (west UP,) Tipraland along with the upgradation of Delhi NCT, Ladakh and now Kashmir into full fledged states.
Recently, the governor of West Bengal, on a visit to Darjeeling from June 21-28, met Hill political parties. They demanded Gorkhaland, UT status for the Hills and also a merger of Darjeeling with Sikkim. BJP MPs and MLAs of North Bengal too met the governor in Darjeeling.
“Our prerogative is peace for all round development of this region. It took a lot of effort to instill peace in this region. We will not allow it to be disrupted. Public should not step into any provocation,” appealed Anit Thapa, general secretary, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (Binoy faction).
Also read: BJP to Divide Bengal? Only on Our Terms, Say Leaders of 3 Identity-Based Movements
The ‘separate state’ demands on ethnic lines
Gorkhaland
Dubbed to be more than 100 years old, the separate state demand found prominence with Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) president Subash Ghising raising the demand for “Gorkhaland” in 1986.
After 28 months of violent agitation culminating in a 40-day long bandh, the Union government, state and the GNLF worked out a solution in the form of an administrative body called the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) for the Hills.
Later, disgruntled GNLF leader Bimal Gurung floated the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) on October 7, 2007. The GJM managed to oust Ghising and the GNLF from the Hills. They in turn resurrected the Gorkhaland agitation.
After rounds of talks between the GJM, state and the Union government, the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) was formed in 2012, replacing the DGHC. Since then the Hills have been a witness to a number of agitations and series of bandhs.
A Gorkhaland agitation in 2017 spearheaded by Gurung ended in a 105-day long bandh and a change in guard. Dissident GJM leaders Binoy Tamang and Anit Thapa took charge of the party with Gurung and his close aides absconding. The party later suffered a vertical split with Tamang leading one faction and Gurung the other.
Kamtapur
The Kamtapuris, an indigenous group, have been agitating for a separate state of Kamtapur. They had even launched an armed struggle under the aegis of the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO.)
The militant outfit KLO was formed on December 28, 1995, by students from the indigenous Rajbongshi or Kamtapuri community who were interested in breaking away and forming an independent Kamtapur state. KLO’s proposed Kamtapur comprises the eight districts of North Bengal; Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Dhubri and Goalpara districts of Assam and Kisanganj district of Bihar and Jhapa district of Nepal. KLO has been banned by the Government of India.
Greater Cooch Behar
This movement is for the creation of a Greater Cooch Behar state. The proponents of this movement claim that the British Raj had taken charge of the Kingdom of Cooch Behar through various treaties from 1773 to 1901.
However, on September 12, 1949 the Kingdom merged with India as a C category state (centrally administered) through three treaties.
Again on January 1, 1950, by invoking old British laws and an old map, the kingdom was bifurcated and became parts of West Bengal and Assam. The movement is to reverse this and to constitute a Greater Cooch Behar state on the lines of the Kingdom of Cooch Behar.
The movement gained momentum with a clash between agitators belonging to the Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association (GCPA) and security forces in Cooch Behar in 2005. Five people had lost their lives, including two police personnel and the additional superintendent of police, in the clash.
