Mamata govt, Hill parties lock horns as bandh, statehood talk resonates again

The strong statement by the CM, who was speaking in Siliguri in North Bengal, next door to the Darjeeling Hills area, came hours after the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and Hamro Party called a 12-hour bandh against the motion passed in the state Assembly, demanding “a permanent political solution”.

The nine members of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Sabha belonging to the GJM and Hamro Party began a hunger strike from Tuesday morning.

The Hamro Party led by Ajoy Edwards, GJM supremo Bimal Gurung and GJM leader Binay Tamang are now on the same page over the demand for a Gorkhaland state, ever since Tamang left the ruling Trinamool Congress to return to his former party.

The TMC, which had made some inroads in the Hills, is staring at an erosion in its support base over the non-fulfilment of the Gorkhaland demand, with the BJP clawing back.

It is the first time since 2017, when the statehood agitation saw a 104-day shutdown, that a bandh call has been given.

Speaking at a government programme in Siliguri, Mamata said: “Bengal has been free of bandhs (strikes) for 11-12 years. We have stopped bandh politics. Today, Bengal is open for tourists, employment, industries, development, studies. Our government does not support strikes, of any kind. There are some Opposition parties which only want disturbance in the Hills… There are a few people in the Hills who wake up from hibernation from time to time and threaten to disturb peace.”

The CM reiterated that she would not allow a “division of the state”. “Not today, not tomorrow, never. We have said this time and again.”

She also raised the issue of the CAA-NRC, and said she would not allow the same in Bengal. “This is our stand, and we wish to make it clear to BJP leaders who keep talking about the CAA.” The Gorkhaland region has a high number of refugees, who fear the implications of the CAA-NRC for them.

The BJP has dubbed the Assembly motion against division of West Bengal “a political stunt”. Moving the motion, TMC MLA Satyajit Barman talked of “certain forces trying to divide the state and harm the culture and heritage of West Bengal”. BJP MLA from Kurseong (Darjeeling) Bishnu Prasad Sharma opposed it, seeking instead a referendum on whether the people of North Bengal want to remain a part of the state. Later, the BJP refrained from participating in a voice vote on the motion.

BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh said the TMC was pointing fingers at the BJP to try to wash its misdeeds. ”It was the TMC that joined hands with Bimal Gurung and his faction of the GJM ahead of the state Assembly polls in 2021. Now when that alliance has ended, they are pointing fingers at us. The TMC should look into the mirror and question its move.” Gurung, who had gone into hiding after the 2017 statehood agitation, had resurfaced in October 2020 to quit the NDA and extend support to the TMC.

Although the demand for separation of the Hills region from West Bengal is over a century old, the Gorkhaland statehood movement was ignited by GNLF (Gorkha National Liberation Front) leader Subash Ghising in 1986. The violent movement had claimed hundreds of lives and culminated in 1988 with the formation of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, which governed the region with a certain degree of autonomy till 2011, following which the GTA took over after a fresh stir led by Gurung.

Over the last few years, several BJP MLAs, including Alipurduar MP John Barla, have demanded that North Bengal be made a separate state or a Union territory. The BJP had joined traditional Hill parties like the GJM and GNLF in boycotting elections to the council last year.

Earlier this month, the TMC asked the BJP to clarify its stand on the separate statehood issue and asked it to “stop manipulating people of North Bengal for votes”.