Life in the hills of Darjeeling, the popular tourist destination in India has come to a standstill owing to road blockades set up by supporters of the Gurkha Liberation Forum (GLM) denying entry to the chairman of the Darjeeling Hill Council, Mr. Subhas Ghising to Darjeeling. From Wednesday, GLM has called for an indefinite strike in the Darjeeling hills until their demands are met – the autonomy plan for Darjeeling under Schedule 6 of the Indian Constitution is dropped and Mr. Ghising resigns from his post as the chairman of the Darjeeling Hill Council. After nearly two decades of peace interspersed with sporadic violent incidents Darjeeling once again is set to return to the violent days of the eighties when the hills were held under siege by the Gurkhaland Movement led by Subhas Ghising.

The pertinent question that arises is why Mr. Ghising, the once undisputed leader of the Gurkhas is now facing such virulent opposition from his former confidante Bimal Gurung. The present outcome was inevitable given Mr. Ghising’s corrupt autocratic rule that did nothing to improve the standard of living of the Gurkhas while Ghising himself amassed huge personal wealth. As a result, Mr. Ghising was fast losing his popularity among the people of Darjeeling and factionalism rose in his own political party, GNLF that saw the birth of a new group GLM that claimed to be the real representative of the Gurkhas. Mr. Ghising trying to consolidate his hold on the hill district was able to make the Indian government and the government of West Bengal to accede to his demand for an autonomy package. GLM and its supporters saw nothing that the new autonomy package can offer the Gurkhas other than further strengthening Mr. Ghising’s influence. So, they revived the eighties demand for a separate Gurkha state that was the only way of solving the problems of the people of Darjeeling. Poverty, lack of development and corrupt political leadership are responsible for fueling regionalism in India.

Source: BBC
Image: Nathmul Tea