Another agitation, but at what cost?

“The state administration is trying to provoke us into violence, but we won’t be provoked,” said Samuel Gurung, general secretary of the Kalimpong party unit. However, the threat of another bloodbath looms large, especially in view of the counter attacks in the foothills. Referring to the communal clashes in Siliguri on Thursday, in which some Nepalis were reportedly attacked, GJMM president Bimal Gurung warned that they may not remain quiet for too long. “Our women and children have been attacked, but we have told our cadres not to retaliate with even a slap. But how long can this continue,” he said, addressing the candlelight rally. This was greeted by loud cheers from the crowd.

The GJMM has fired the imagination of the hill people, most of whom are disillusioned with the “autonomous” Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) that Ghisingh settled for in 1988 instead of a separate state. Other than some cosmetic ill-planned changes, the DGHC could do little by way of development.

Some link Bimal Gurung’s rise to the strategic manner in which he mobilised mass support to help local youth Prashant Tamang win the Indian Idol contest. For a population struggling to carve a niche in the national mainstream, Tamang—and Gurung by default—became heroes.

But others say Ghisingh’s days were numbered anyway. People had had enough of his follies, they say. So today, he stays isolated, confined within the relative safety of his house, guarded by a posse of police personnel. Anti-Ghisingh rallies have become commonplace, with sloganeering protestors marching right up to his doorstep. This week they reportedly tore the last GNLF flag atop his house and replaced it with a GJMM one.

The man who was once revered—and feared—is now bearing the brunt of the people’s anger. For over two decades, he ruled with an iron hand, ensuring that his every diktat was obeyed, however foolish it may be—from asking people to worship stones (nature) to saying that Goddess Durga’s idol should have 12 hands not eight.

Perhaps realising this, the GJMM is promising more “democracy”. But can the Darjeeling hills afford another long agitation for Gorkhaland? The last one dealt a severe blow to the tourism-driven economy, which has only just started picking up.

However, the GJMM has undertaken to bring them all back. After all, other than a regional identity, the party’s other main promise is economic development. In tune with this line, tourists were bid farewell with an apology for the inconvenience. But for all its “friendly” face, the GJMM cannot hide its heavy fist. During bandhs, it is the party office, and not the local thana, which issues “road permits” that allows movement to selected vehicles.

And while there is no denying that the region is in dire need of development, the question is, at what cost. The last Gorkhaland agitation left many children fatherless, while old parents lost their sons. That was over 20 years back, too long ago for the present generation of GJMM cadres, most of them barely out of their teens.

But the others who are old enough to recall the troubled ‘80s are filled with doubt and fear. Memories of the days when it was unsafe to venture out after dusk still haunt them. When people were stabbed at the slightest provocation, in busy markets, in broad daylight. When nightfall brought with it the fear of the “midnight knock” as CRPF personnel rounded up youths. When people left their houses, to sleep in the cold, out in the open forests nearby.

Moreover, with the GJMM including the neighbouring plains of Siliguri and Dooars in their proposed map of Gorkhaland, the movement threatens to escalate into a hills-versus-plains struggle, which does not bode well for the communal peace of the region. Unlike the GNLF agitation, however, the GJMM claims to have the support of all the communities this time, including the Marwaris, Bhutias from the hills as well as the tribal Rajbhanshis and Totos from the plains.

But will that support stand the test of time?