State of many demands

GORKHALAND is at the centre of a violent struggle in West Bengal’s Darjeeling hills. The movement peaked in 1986-87 under Subhash Ghising,who in 1988 settled for a semi-autonomous hills council. In 2007,a new crop of leaders revived the movement and forced Ghisingh into exile. Bimal Gurung,the new leader,in 2011 signed an agreement with the government for a territorial authority. But after Telangana was announced,he has quit as the territorial authority’s chief to launch a “final battle”,a movement that has crippled life in the hills.

BODOLAND is a demand raised by Bodo groups in Assam. A students’ movement for statehood in 1987,and one by the militant group BLT in the 1990s,saw two accords with the government,the last in 2002 leading to the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Council with four districts. Bodo groups now want a state extending over almost the entire north bank of the Brahmaputra. Whenever they call a bandh in Kokrajhar,it cuts the Northeast off the rest of the country.

KAMTAPUR is a proposed state whose boundaries would not only engulf Gorkhaland and Bodoland but also include many more districts of both Assam and northern Bengal. The name derives from the Kamatapur kingdom of the 11th to 13th centuries. Koch-Rajbangshi student activists in Assam and the militant group KLO in North Bengal have raised the statehood demand afresh.

The Northeast

KARBI ANGLONG & DIMARAJI are demands from contiguous regions in Assam. The two regions used to be a single district in undivided Assam. When Meghalaya was carved out in the 1970s,the district remained in Assam but broke into two,Karbi Anglong and NC Hills,now Dima Hasao. They have been agitating for statehood since the 1980s and won autonomous district councils in the 1990s. Now,various Karbi and Dimasa groups have been demanding statehood,some seeking separate states,some a combined one. Militant groups are currently in a “ceasefire” with the government.

GAROLAND is being demanded by the Garo community in Meghalaya who are the majority population in five districts. Leading the agitation is the political party GNC; there are also militant groups.

KUKILAND,demanded by the Kuki tribe since 1960,would comprise much of Manipur. The Kuki State Demand Committee has raised the demand afresh.

THE Uttar Pradesh OVERLAPS

BUNDELKHAND,one of four new states proposed out of UP,is a region that historically includes six districts of MP. The Telangana decision has had no resonance in MP,though there have been occasional movements there. In UP,former CM Mayawati has raised afresh the demand to split that state,for easier administration. The other three proposed states are PASCHIMANCHAL,AWADH PRADESH and POORVANCHAL.

BHOJPURI PRANT was a proposal that included four Bihar districts and two in UP (in the proposed Poorvanchal. First raised in Ara in 1960,the movement fizzled out by 1972.

MITHILANCHAL too is a demand from within Bihar,though without overlaps. Raised in undivided Bihar 1954,the statehood demand then included 32 districts. The movement’s current leaders look at seven districts.

WESTERN REGION

SAURASHTRA is being demanded by an umbrella of various organisations in the Saurashtra and Kutch regions in western Gujarat. Kutch royal Pragmulji,meanwhile,wants Kutch by itself declared a state.

BHILISTAN is being demanded in Gujarat’s east. Started by MLA Chhotu Vasava,now carried ahead by his son Mahesh who has formed the Bhilistan Vikash Morcha,the movement looks at 14 tribal districts.

VIDARBHA is a region that was made part of Maharashtra in 1960. It was taken out of the erstwhile Central Provinces and Berar Nagpur,which had Nagpur as capital. The statehood movement has been intermittent,and was strong in the 1970s. Many of the region’s elected leaders are pro-statehood and the Telangana decision has seen them raising the demand afresh.

THE SOUTH

KODAGU,or Coorg ,is a region in Karnataka and was a province during British rule. A statehood movement was active through the 1990s until the demand was scaled down by the Kodava National Council in 2001 to one for an autonomous region.

TULU NADU was the centre of another movement now dormant. The Tulu-speaking population live around Mangalore in the Western Ghats. The movement has its origins in the aftermath of the Quit India movement.

AN UNNAMED NEW STATE out of Tamil Nadu. PMK founder S Ramadoss has been raising this demand for 13 districts including Chennai. His party has yet not suggested a name for the proposed state,but it is essentially lobbying for the Vanniyar community,who form a large chunk of the population in these districts.

KONGU NADU,another state demanded out of Tamil Nadu. One of its districts,Salem,is also in the state Ramadoss is looking at. The demand was first raised by a party formed by the Gounder community from the industrial belt of western Tamil Nadu. The region includes Coimbatore (the proposed capital),Tirupur,Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri.

THE OTHERS

KOSHAL is a demand in Orissa by leaders of 10 districts. The name derives from an erstwhile princely state of the 11th century that comprised these districts and parts of Chhatisgarh. In March 2004,former Lok Sabha member Balgopal Mishra crisscrossed western Orissa on a Koshal Mukti Rath to generate public opinion.

LADAKH as a union territory has been a movement that has had several political parties supporting it under the banner of the LUTF. The BJP too has been demanding UT status for Ladakh,now part of Jammu and Kashmir.