The Gorkhaland Chronicle

Gorkhaland: History and Facts. News and Information.

THE NEVER-ENDING WAIT FOR A HOMELAND -

Dr. Sonam B. Wangyal
THE NEVER-ENDING WAIT FOR A HOMELAND
-Dr. Sonam B. Wangyal
The following is a chronicle of the long and enduring struggle of a peoples’
movement for a separate homeland for over a hundred years. It is not a
testament to ridicule or chastise our Bengali counterparts but simply to let
them understand the sense of helpless predicament that a minority
community suffers under the weight of an overwhelming majority population,
the helplessness under the dark cloud of political chauvinism, and the
helplessness in suffering financial nepotism.
This is also a testament to illustrate many states in India have had the good
sense to agree to a partition(s) without feeling a loss of prestige even when
there was a possibility of another bifurcation. Assam has been split more
times than Bengal can even dread of, and it is still alive and kicking, despite
the threat of even more partitions. Consider the strong and proud martial
state of Punjab which was partitioned into Punjab and Haryana, it was further
partitioned with the formation of Himachal Pradesh and a third partition
created Chhandigarh. Punjab still survives not humiliated, not politically
weakened and not financially at any great loss. The partitioning of Madhya
Pradesh created Chhattisgarh; Andhra Pradesh was a result of the partition of
Madras (Tamil Nadu), and Jharkhand was a result of partition of Bihar.
New states have been created but the partition or the process and the
subsequent evolvements have never reduced the prestige and the standing
of the ‘mother’ states. Examples abound and my prayer is that Bengal
politicians should draw lessons form history. I am absolutely confident that a
Bengali will be at home in Gorkhaland as a Gorkha will be in Bengal as has
been for a Sardar in Haryana or a Jat in Punjab. The exercise is basically to
give an identity to a community, race or language, in the form of a separate
homeland.
I seriously empathized with one of my good friend, a Bengali from Cachar in
Assam, who used to feel isolated, violated and insulted, for his community
was an absolute minority with Cachar and its Bengali population like an
island surrounded by non-Bengalis. I would request my Bengali friends to co-
relate the plight of the Cachar Bengalis in Assam to the dilemma of the
Gorkhas and tribal people in West Bengal and then fashion one’s opinion.
One is naturally inclined to believe, and even entirely agree, that Bengal has
always been above fair and square with the hills but the present Chief
Minister himself is on record commenting that enough had not been done, a
statement that comes after 61 years of independence of India and 73 years
after the creation of Bengal Legislative Assembly. It is therefore not
surprising that numerous Bengali intellectuals are openly espousing
Gorkhaland and that is so because history is their testimony, not misplaced
sentiment, undue pride or jingoistic political fuss. Of course some
confrontational groups of Bengalis and a few politicians do share a different
opinion, and the former has over-reacted occasionally and the latter harps on
non-acceptance of another partition, but in the end history and reality have
to be respected, agreed upon and accepted. No where in India has a
community ever had such a profound and protracted struggle like the toil,
effort and endeavour for a homeland and I for one believe that an amicable
separation is any day better than a rancorous and a bitter divorce.
The story of a struggle for a creation of a separate homeland unfolds in
1907, in the last century, and even continues to the present one. As a non-
political observer I find it amazing that despite the Bengali politicians
generally being highly cultured, refined, well-educated and staunch believers
in human dignity and rights to self determination feels no embarrassment in
retaining Darjeeling and the Dooars as parts of West Bengal.
1907: The FIRST DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
Following the division of Bengal the Darjeeling district was put under
Bhagalpur Division in Bihar. This did not solve the problem for us because
even in Bihar we were still a wretched minority. The very act of shunting the
district from one division to another became a proof that the British did not
quite know where to place the district. This must have stirred into an
awakening amongst the educated people in the district on the feeling that
their hills were doomed to exist as a minority through attachment to a bigger
state in the plains. Whether Darjeeling was thrown into Bihar or Bengal the
hillmen would be an ineffective minority amongst the teeming millions of
plainsmen. Furthermore, educationally or financially the hillmen were no
match against the plainsmen who had established colleges, universities and
commercial industries.
Then came the news of the Morley-Minto Reforms (1909)[1] which promised
constitutional changes and some voice to the Indians in deciding public
matters. This must have appeared like a small light at the end of the tunnel
and so two years before (1907) the actual reforms came into practice the
“leaders of the Hill people” submitted to the government a joint petition on
behalf of the Bhutias, Lepchas, and Nepalis demanding a “separate
administrative set-up” outside the influence of Bengal. At that period of time,
most of the new states that have come up in the past decade or two, had not
even been conceptualized, let alone demanded or struggled for.
Nothing materialized out of the 1907 petition and it could be called a failure
except for the fact that it was for the first time the three major communities
had come under one umbrella, united for a common cause, to seek a
homeland of their own. Despite the government’s indifference the year in
history did not draw a total blank for Kurseong and Siliguri obtained
municipality status in that year.
1917: The SECOND DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
After a gap of ten years on 5th December, 1917, The Hillmen’s Association
petitioned Edwin Montague, the Secretary of State for India that “Darjeeling’s
inclusion in Bengal was comparatively recent and only because the British
were rulers common to both places. …Historically, culturally, ethnically,
socially, religiously, linguistically there was no affinity whatsoever between
Bengal and Darjeeling.” The petition further stated that, “In laying down the
plans for the future, the Government should aim at the creation of a separate
unit comprising of the present Darjeeling District with the portion of
Jalpaiguri District which was annexed from Bhutan in 1865.”[2] This would
translate as Darjeeling and the Dooars and it was the first demarcation of the
homeland in the minds of our forefathers as far back as 1917. It is of no
surprise that the Prant Parishad, Gorkha National Liberation Front and the
Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha sought or seek nothing more than that. The
petition also proposed the formation of North East Frontier Province (cf. North
West Frontier Province) which would include Darjeeling District, Dooars,
Assam and NEFA (Arunachal Pradesh). Signatories were S.W. Laden La, Dr.
Yensingh Sitling, Khardgabahadur Gurung, Meghbir Singh, Lachman Singh,
Narprasad Kumai, and Deonidhi Upadhaya.
1920: The THIRD DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
The Hillmen’s Association once again appealed to Edwin Montague on 11
February 1920. The Ninth Dispatch on Indian Constitutional Reforms had
placed the district as a “Backward Tract” but the Association rejected this
label as derogatory and also as a camouflage to keep the Hills under Bengal.
The Memorial stated, “It appears to us that our case has been somewhat
obscured by including the dispatch under “Backward Tracts” and our prayer
for separation from Bengal has been misunderstood…We respectfully ask
that at the present time, when the question of our political future is being
determined, we should be granted the recognized rights of self-
determination. We do not wish to be dominated by the people of the plains.
We are sure that if we were, we would be swamped by the millions of Bengal
and our own people would not get their rightful place in the Government of
their own country. …Moreover, if our original proposal be adopted, viz., that
the portion of the Jalpaiguri District which (along with the Kalimpong Sub-
Division) was annexed from Bhutan in 1865, should be excluded from
Jalpaiguri and included in our unit, then, we should have a population about
as large as that of New Zealand. ”
1920: The FOURTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
In 1920 something strange and unexpected occurred. The Darjeeling
Planters’ Association and the European Association of Darjeeling along with
the Hillmen’s Association petitioned the government to create an “Excluded
Area” comprising of Darjeeling District and the Dooars. Of interest here is
that the first two associations’ memberships consisted entirely of Europeans
and it becomes apparent that even they felt their interests threatened under
the increasing power of native Bengali administrators. The Europeans had
huge investments in tea, real estate and hotels and they calculated they
would be better protected if the area was administratively detached from
Bengal. It is not any great task to imagine the fear and insecurity the hillmen
must have endured considering that even the members of the ruling race
were worried scared of a continued existence under Bengal. Because of this
one joint petition with the British subjects very occasionally some
mischievous people try to subject all other later petitions as being influenced
by the Darjeeling resident British people. The British were never admitted to
any of the hill organizations and they were never taken into confidence nor
sought out for guidance or advice, never.
N.B. Statehood for Chattishgarh was first mooted in this year by Rangpur
Congress Unit, Thirteen years junior to our demand. The agitation for a state
commenced only in the mid-1960s and the first united all party movement
came about only in 1990 under Chattishgarh Raj Nirman Manch. In 2000 a
new state was born. They were chronologically years behind us but they
passed us by because in 1990 all Parties came together including the
Congress and the BJP in a bid to create a new state. Maybe there is an
important lesson here for our leaders: Chhutay-ra chhuttai rajya paonu garo
chha, ektamai hamro jeet chha. A year later in 1921 Thakur Chandansingh
(Dehra Doon) formed the Gorkha League,[3] predominantly consisting of
retired Gorkha soldiers. In 1921 Mahatma Gandhi launched the Non-
cooperation Movement in which Dalbahadur Giri from Darjeeling and
Chhabilal Upadhaya from Assam contributed appreciatively.
1929: The FIFTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
The Hillmen’s Association’s demand of 1917 was reiterated once more when
Simon Commission visited India in 1929.[4] This was the year that the First
memorandum for a Jharkhand state was placed, junior to our demand by 22
years. In 1947 the All India Jharkhand Party was formed followed by Sonat
Santhal Samaj under Shibu Soren in 1969, both junior to out All India Gorkha
League by 4 and 26 years respectively. Nothing much happened till when the
Maoist Communist Centre once more reiterated the demand in 1971. By this
time we had already petitioned the government 18 times. In 1972 Soren
formed the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and coincidentally we too have a Mukti
Morcha. Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council was conceded to in 1995 but
even this was junior to our autonomous Hill Council by 7 years. AND yet
Jharkhand became a state in 2000 and we are still languishing even today. If
Jharkhand’s famous wicket-keeping son M.S. Dhoni had been born in our hills
he would have surely questioned “How’s that?” Yes, how is that possible?
1930: The SIXTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
On 25th October 1930 the “Gorkhas settled and domiciled in India” placed
before the government a demand for homeland stating, “Darjeeling, where
the Gorkha population predominate, should be excluded from Bengal and
treated as an independent administrative unit, with the Deputy
Commissioner as the Administrator, vested with much more powers than
that of a District Magistrate, and assisted by a small Executive Council,
representative of all the interests in the administration of the area.”[5]
Signatories: Rai Saheb H.P. Pradhan (President, Hillmen’s Association,
Kalimpong), Lt. Gobardhan Gurung (President, Gorkha Army Officers’
Association), P.M. Sundas (Secretary, Gorkha Library, Kurseong), N.B. Gurung
(Secretary, Hillmen’s Association, Kalimpong) and P.P. Pradhan (Secretary,
Hillmens Association, Darjeeling).
1934: The SEVENTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
The Hillmen’s Association had pleaded for a separate homeland five times
and each time the government had failed to respond positively. So on 6th
August 1934 the Hillmen’s Association once more submitted a memorial to
Sir Samuel Hoare, Secretary of State for India which stated: “No
consideration had been given to the hill peoples” (this is in reference to the
previous appeals) “…whereas all minority communities in India had received
due consideration of their claims …your memorialists emphatically urge that
the District of Darjeeling should be totally excluded from Bengal by the
creation of an Independent Administrative Unit with an Administrator the
Head of the Area assisted by an Executive Council … the area should be
placed directly under the Central Government, the Governor of Bengal acting
as the Agent to the Governor-General.”[6] The signatories to the memorial
were S.W. Laden La, Lt. Gobardhan Gurung, and Madan Thapa.
1935: The EIGHTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
Rupnarayan Sinha appealed to The Bengal Government in 1935, on behalf of
the Hillmen’s Association, and opposed the 1915 Act, as did almost every
responsible Indian. But Sinha went a step further and he even added a
demand for the creation of a Separate Homeland.
1937: The NINTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
Rai Saheb Hari Prasad Pradhan, the former President of the Hillmens
Association (Kalimpong Unit), indirectly appealed to the government that the
hills should be separated from Bengal.[7] “The Hill people as a minority in
the Province under the new Constitution have not failed to realize the
drawbacks and disadvantages of the present arrangement and they are now
apprehensive that their social solidarity and their existence as a community
is being threatened with serious disruption owing to various factors coming
into play chiefly by the realization by many of them that the hill people’s
welfare is now dependent on the exigencies to party politics in the Bengal
Assembly and their utter helplessness to make their voice heard.” How very
prophetic!
1941: The TENTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
There are some people who claim that up till now the hill people had only
resorted to petitioning, or paper pushing, and the absence of any aggressive
move had stalled the creation of a homeland. The opposite opinion is that
there were no political parties till then and in the absence of any political
organization the best that could be done was to place repeated petitions
before the government. When the 1940s came the emergence of political
parties also became a reality and the disintegration of the Hillmen’s
Association became imminent. The Association made its last appeal in 1941
with a petition to Lord Pethik Lawrence, Secretary of State for India, for a
creation of a separate Chief Commissioner’s Province.
Two years later, 1943, the All India Gorkha League was formed by
Dambarsingh Gurung. The Darjeeling unit of the Communist Party of India
was also formed in the same year and surprisingly these communists also
became members of the AIGL.
1944: The ELEVENTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
There is a little known story of the next plea for a homeland and this was not
addressed to the British government, despite India not having attained
independence then. In Bhagirath Rawat’s Matoko Maya, 1982, page 32, we
learn that when Mahatma Gandhi and M.M. Jinah came to Darjeeling, a
deputation had met them and had demanded that the hills be separately
treated else the hillmen would suffer in the fields of security and
development. It appears that our forefathers had the common sense to
realize who the next masters were going to be. The approach was correct but
as in the previous cases the response was nothing short of indifference. In
the following year (1945) the communists dissociated themselves from the
AIGL. In this year the AIGL mouthpiece, a periodical called Gorkha mooted
the idea of ‘Gorkhastan’ (Year 1, issue 12).
1947: The TWELFTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
In 1947 India was to become an independent nation but the hill people were
far from being locally independent. In this year of our national independence
the Communist Party of India (Darjeeling District Committee) made one of
the most preposterous demands ever made by Communists. The Communist
Party of India (Darjeeling District Committee) tendered a Memorandum to the
Constituent Assembly (6 April 1947), addressed to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
(Vice-President of the Interim Government of India) and Liaquat Ali Khan
(Finance Minister of the Interim Government of India and leader of Muslim
League). The memorandum stated: “The Communist Party of India…demand,
after making necessary revisions of the existing boundaries, the three
contiguous areas of Darjeeling District, Southern Sikkim, and Nepal be
formed into one single zone to be called ‘GORKHASTAN’.” Since Gorkhastan
is not designated as a country it would technically fall under India. It sounds
all very well but not when it comes out of the mouths of die-hard
communists. The thought of robbing Sikkim of all its fertile lands and fleecing
Nepal of its sovereignty is quite incomprehensible. The whole idea reeks of
colonialism. Had the brainstorm come from capitalists, imperialists, and the
bourgeois beasts it would have been understandable but what is even more
surprising is that not a single enlightened communist criticized the
memorandum. Whatever be the merit or demerit of the demand one can
safely say that this was another demand for a separate homelamd. This was
a period when the All India Gorkha League could have also voiced a demand
for a separate homeland and with its huge following, possibly also uniting
with the Communists, a strong point could have been made. It is unfortunate
that the AIGL leadership was too busy with lesser causes to have a vision of
the greater goal.
Even in those days the politicians had their own axe to grind but our
litterateurs also proved to be no less and they commenced the verbal war of
Gorkha versus Nepali. After decades it has settled to the language being
designated Nepali and the community as Gorkha.
1948: The THIRTEENTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland (1948)
After the death of Dambar Singh Gurung a shift in the thinking of the AIGL
could be noticed. The new President of the All India Gorkha League, Nar
Bahadur Gurung, wrote to the Prime Minister Pandit Nehru proposing three
alternatives in regard to a separate homeland:
1. A Separate Administrative Unit under the Central Government.
2. A Separate Province comprising of Darjeeling district and neighbouring
areas.
3. The district of Darjeeling with the Dooars be included in Assam
In this year the Territory of North East Frontier Agency (later Arunachal
Pradesh) was formed and was placed under the administration of the Union
Government. In 1972 it was declared a Union Territory and on February 20,
1987, it became a full-fledged state. It did not require dozens of petitions,
years of peaceful struggle, violent agitation or a no non-cooperation
movement for this to materialize. In this same year (15 April) Himachal
Pradesh was declared a Centrally Administered territory and despite the
State Reorganization Committee’s strong recommendation that Himachal
Pradesh be merged with Punjab it still became a new state on 25 January
1971.
1949: The FOURTEENTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
The Deputy Foreign Minister while on a visit to Sikkim was met by a
delegation of the All India Gorkha League and a demand replacing the above
one was made where a state consisting of the district of Darjeeling,
Jalpaiguri, Sikkim and Cooch Behar was suggested.
Post our independence the creation of a separate homeland became virtually
impossible for amongst the policy makers was the tough man Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Deputy Prime Minister, who held very strong and
racial views against us and our likes. His letter to Pandit Nehru, dated 7th
July 1950 is quite unbelievable and racially slurred:
“All along the Himalayas in the north and northeast, we have on our side of
the frontier, a population ethnologically and culturally different from Tibetans
or Mongoloids. The undefined state of the frontier and existence on our side
of a population with its affinities to Tibetans or Chinese have all the elements
of potential trouble between China and ourselves…
Let us consider the political conditions on this potential troublesome frontier.
Our northern or northeastern approaches consists of Nepal, Sikkim,
Darjeeling and the Tribal areas of Assam. …The contact of these areas with
us, is by no means, close and intimate. The people inhabiting these portions
have no established loyalty or devotion to India. Even Darjeeling and
Kalimpong areas are not free from pro-Mongoloid prejudices.” (Emphasis
added)
Can any leader say the same today?
1949: The FIFTEENTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
With the misguided and prejudiced opinion of the second most powerful man
in the nation what hopes could be entertained for a separate homeland! It is
reasonable to presume a bit of that evil legacy still lingers on in Kolkata and
New Delhi. Anyway, unknown of the above letter and the distrust nursed in
the highest quarters of the country our ancestors kept on appealing and a
fresh petition was submitted to the one person who would have never agreed
to the demand, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
On 30th October 1949 various leaders of Darjeeling, Sikkim, Jalpaiguri and
Cooch Behar met in Darjeeling and formed a bloc known as Uttar Khand
Pradesh Sangh. This Sangh submitted a petition to Sardar Vallabhai Patel,
pleading for the creation of a new state comprising of Darjeeling district,
Sikkim, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Goalpara of Assam. With Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel firmly entrenched in Delhi what could be a better example
of barking up the wrong tree. As expected, Sardar Patel opposed this demand
tooth and nail and the movement lost its wind un the face of such a strong
opposition.
1949: The SIXTEENTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
Towards the end of the October of 1949 Dr. B.V. Keskar, the Deputy Foreign
Minister, was in Sikkim, and the All India Gorkha League suggested that in an
laternative to an earlier proposal to join Darjeeling to Assam a separate
Province could be created with the District of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Sikkim
and Cooch Behar.
1952: The SEVENTEENTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
Prime Minister Pandit Nehru came to Darjeeling in 1952 and when he was in
Kalimpong to visit the famous Dr. Graham’s Homes he was presented with an
appeal by the All India Gorkha League seeking the formation of a North East
Frontier Province.
Note: 1952 was the year when the FIRST demand for a statehood came up
for Uttaranchal, a late starter by 45 years, we were already on our sixteenth
demand for our own state. The first practical political party in the proposed
Uttarkhand (Uttaranchal) came up only in 1979 (Uttarkhand Kranti Dal), 36
years younger to AIGL, and yet it was awarded statehood in 2000. In less
than 50 years it became a state (the Congress and BJP gave support with the
latter asking a name change to Uttaranchal) and Gorkhaland with a history of
over a hundred years is yet to see the end of the tunnel. Sardar Patel was no
more around to scuttle the proposal, so where did we go wrong?
1955: The EIGHTEENTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
In 1953, 11 districts of Madras State were joined to form Andhra Pradesh.
Two years later in 1955 the hills were fortunate to have the Chairman of the
State Reorganization Committee on a visit to Darjeeling. The District Shramik
Sangh submitted to him a memorandum where the President of the Sangh,
Shri Daulatdas Bokhim stated that, “The Kochayas, Meches, Lepchas,
Bhutias, Nepalis and Rajbanshis are the original inhabitants of this district
whose customs,systems and traditions fundamentally differ from that of the
rest of West Bengal. …I put forward this profound demand of the creation of
a part ‘C’ State of North Bengal inclusive of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch
Behar districts…” The final outcome, a year later, was negative for the hills
but for Andhra Pradesh the SRC recommended the addition of 9 districts of
the former Nizam’s dominions and it was made a full-fledged state with
Hyderbad as the capital. Madhya Pradesh also came into existence in the
same year.
1955: The NINETEENTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
It might be added here that up till now petitions/demands were put up by
single organization or a single political party. In 1855 a more united forum
placed an appeal before the State Reorganization Committee on behalf of the
All Committee District Organization. The Secretary, Shri S.B. Ghosh, defined
the areas of the new state to include Darjeeling district, Sikkim, Jalpaiguri
and Cooch Behar.
1980: The TWENTIETH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
There is a period of relative inactivity as far as the demand for a state is
concerned. It was a period when the All India Gorkha League dominated hill
politics and the party was virtually an instrument of Deo Prakash Rai’s calls.
Furthermore, the agitation for the recognition of the Nepali language seems
to have sapped some of the energy and interest. There were also attention-
diverting offers or suggestions like Autonomous Area, Regional Autonomy,
Autonomous Administrative Set-Up etc.
But while all these were going on Nagaland became a state in 1961 and
Meghalaya in 1972. In the background there were regrouping of forces and
about the most active was the Prant Morcha (previously Prantiya Sanstha
and in future Prant Parishad). Having garnered good support amongst the
people it telegrammed the Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi: “Our long felt
demand for a separate State Gorkhaland be carved out as soon as possible.
Separate State only solution. We welcome our people from Assam to our own
State Gorkhaland but not to be deported in other States. Gorkhaland always
salutes to the national and your leadership.” Dated 23 April 1980.
1981: The TWENTY-FIRST DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
Now not to be outdone, the AIGL suddenly revived its old demand after a
hibernation of 29 long years. The All India Gorkha League stated to Shri Zail
Singh, Home Minister, during his visit to Darjeeling, that it “is very much
relevant in our demand to get a Separate Statehood outside West Bengal to
ensure administrative efficiency and convenience and coordination of
economic development and welfare activities for this region.” This
memorandum also included the causes leading to the increasing law and
order problems, deforestation, neglected development and the need to
include Nepali language in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.
1982: The TWENTY-SECOND DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
By the time the 1980s were ushered in Prant Parishad was losing its appeal
to the Gorkha National Liberation Front and eventually when the latter got
the upper hand the Prant Parishad leaders were slighted, abused and
threatened. Despite winds of popular support blowing in GNLF’s direction the
President of the Prant Parishad, Shri Indrabahadur Rai, wrote to the Home
Minister Shri Zail Singh, demanding a full fledged state: “We demand the
formation of the State of Darjeeling comprising of the Nepali speaking
regions North Bengal i.e., the Nepali speaking areas of the Darjeeling and
Jalpaiguri districts.
…The Darjeeling Prant Parishad is of the opinion that nothing short of full-
fledged statehood for Darjeeling and no other administrative scheme will
ultimately found to be workable.” Dated 4the January 1982. Thus the 21st
demand came to a close and soon Prant Parishad too was to become a
closed chapter in the history of a search for a separate homeland.
1986: The TWENTY-THIRD DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
A widespread allegation was circulating in West Bengal, and not without
truth, that the movement led by the GNLF had only hearts but no brains,
since Subhash Ghising refused to take assistance of intellectuals and
professionals. At this juncture, the more cerebral gentry of Darjeeling, calling
themselves “educated and the professional hill people” petitioned the Prime
Minister, Shri Rajiv Gandhi. These concerned people had come together as
“Study Forum” and had such eminent people like Advocate B.K. Pradhan,
Advocate Bal Dewan, Advocate Uttam Pradhan, Advocate D.K. Pradhan,
Publisher-Printer Uday Mani Pradhan, MBA, Dr. Pinto C. Lama, Prof. Amar Rai,
Prof. L.B. Rai, Prof. T.B. Chhetri, Sanitation expert Shri Gagan Gurung,
internationally acclaimed bakery owner Shri J.B. Edwards, including social
workers and luminaries like Shri Enos Das Pradhan, Shri Lee Pradhan, Shri
L.B. Rai, Shri Ratan Mothey, and Shri Deep Waiba. Their petition of 31st
August 1986 is a long document but just one paragraph will be quoted which
more or less sums up the whole: “The demand is an expression of the belief
in the best democratic tradition that the right to a state within the Indian
Union is an inalienable right. It is therefore not a matter of acceding to the
demand condescendingly but giving what is rightfully ours.”
This petition slightly blunted the allegations mentioned above but I have a
strong feeling that the intelligentsia was doing this more for the love of the
land than any respect or affection for the leader, Subhash Ghising. By now
the hills were gripped with violence. For 85 years the hillmen had tolerantly
accepted one rejection after another. The highlanders had endured police
firing at Rohini Tea Garden (1949), another firing at Magaret’s Hope Tea
Estate (1955), evictions at Rangli-Rangliot Tea Estate, and even the uncalled
for killing of 6 people at Kurseong on 25th May 1986. Patience and tolerance
was stretched taut and it just needed one more needless provocation and
matters would come to a head. On 27 July 1986 the whole district took part
in burning the Indo-Nepal Treaty of 1950. No one quite sees anything illegal
in a simple act as burning of a Treaty but the administration responded by
meeting the demonstrators with a hail of bullets in Kalimpong leaving behind
13 dead and about 50 injured. The hills erupted.
1986 The TWENTY-FOURTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
I would like to include the entire movement, but more specifically the record-
shattering 40 days continuous strike as well as the huge list of martyrs,
under the GNLF, as the TWENTY-FOURTH demand for a separate homeland.
The importance of the whole exercise is that it now became violence for
violence and most of the time it was difficult to point out who initiated the
carnage. It proved to West Bengal and to the Centre that the highlanders
were capable of extreme violence too. The hillmen claim 1200 of them were
martyred and what can be a stronger, a more emphatic demand than
hundreds of people sacrificing their lives for a separate homeland.
This demand and movement eventually fell victim to an agreement that
resulted in Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. Subhas Ghising agreed to ‘drop’
the demand for a homeland. The clarion call from Subhas Ghising had been
“Do or Die” and the final outcome was Ghising did not ‘do’ and many people
did ‘die’. All these years the Central Government and the State Government
had disappointed the hills and there was now someone within to disappoint
the highlanders. No wonder the West Bengal government always treated
Subhas Ghising with velvet gloves.
1986: The TWENTY-FIFTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
West Bengal Assembly elections had just been completed on 23rd March
1987 and the hills had unanimously registered support for Gorkhaland by
sending back empty ballot boxes: 129 empty boxes out of 154 in Darjeeling
constituency, 147 empty out of 156 in Kalimpong, 151 empty out of 170 in
Kurseong, 151 empty out of 170 in Mirik and even Dooars sent 10 empty
ballot boxes. On 13th March 1987 the GNLF wrote to the Home Minister, Shri
Buta Singh, that this was as good as a referendum in favour of a state
outside West Bengal and demanded “a separate State of Gorkhaland within
the framework of the Indian Constitution.” A copy of the demand was also
dispatched to the Prime Minister, Shri Rajiv Gandhi. What could have been a
more emphatic non-violent protest and demand than this! Nevertheless, the
state and the Centre remained unmoved.
The question on everyone’s mind was when will a full-scale and no-holds-
barred agitation commence since sporadic acts of violence were being
reported from different parts of the district.
The TWENTY-SIXTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
The ongoing demand for a separate homeland under the banner of Gorkha
Jana Mukti Morcha and the leadership of Shri Bimal Gurung has now become
the TWENTY-SIXTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland. So far it has ducked
off any major violent move, despite the occasional provocations, and if this
brings about the desired results all the better for us and for West Bengal.
The TWENTY-SEVENTH DEMAND for a Separate Homeland
We hope it will not come to this but…
[1] The Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909: The most important change in the Morley-Minto
Reforms was the provision that qualified Indians would have a greater voice in deciding
public questions. Thus one seat in the Governor-General’s Executive Council was reserved
for an Indian member (Satyendra Prasanna Sinha, later Lord Sinha of Raipur, was appointed
Law Member of the Governor-General’s Council, the first Indian to be so honoured.) The
number of members in the Central Legislature was raised from sixteen to sixty and in the
Provincial Legislative Councils the number of members was raised to fifty in the major
provinces. The non-nominated members were to be elected by groups of local bodies,
landholders, trade associations and universities. Darjeeling district and Dooars did not fit
into any of these categories.
[2] Before coming to India Edwin Montague had on 20th August 1917 announced in the
House of Commons that “…the policy of His Majesty’s Government… is that of the increasing
association of Indians in every branch of the administration and the gradual development of
self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible
government in India…” The Hillmen’s Association therefore wanted the “self-governing
institution”.
[3] Not to be confused with All India Gorkha League formed by Dambarsingh Gurung in
Darjeeling.
[4] It was felt that the Reforms of 1919 did not fulfill the aspiration of the Indian nationalists
and the demand for legislative began to grow stronger and so under the chairmanship of Sir
John Simon was to make a report. His Commission had seven members who were all British
and though Indians by and large boycotted the Commission it filed a report announcing “that
the natural issue of India’s Constitutional progress…is the attainment of Dominion Status.”
[5] The Report of the Simon Commission was published in May, 1930.
[6] This memorial was presented keeping in mind the Government was to present a White
Paper regarding modifications to the Indian Constitution. (The Joint Committee of both
Houses of Parliament approved the White Paper and presented its report in October 1934.)
[7] The Act of 1935 proposed Provincial Autonomy. It also created Sind, separating it from
Bombay and Orissa Presidencies, Burma was separated from British India and Aden also
ceased to be a part of India.