Gorkhaland agitation turning into mass movement, hill parties not in control

The call for a separate Gorkhaland state, comprising the northern hills of West Bengal, is fast turning into a people's movement as thousands from all walks of life are joining the agitation spontaneously and demanding for a "final push".

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), which started the agitation and remains at the forefront, appears to be giving in to aspirations of the common people. And, nobody is quite sure how the movement will develop in the coming months.

Ajit Lama, a tea garden worker, whose daily life points to the hand-to-mouth existence that people in this region face, said hundreds of people are carrying their own water and food from home every day just to join the rallies.

"Common people from far-flung areas are spending their hard-earned wages to join rallies. After watching one movement after another fail over the past few decades they are now determined to give the final push," the 45-year-old resident of Nehore Balasan, about nine km from Sonada,



said.

"They have not been asked by any political party or leader to do so," added Lama.

 

GJM supporters take out a rally to demand a separate state of Gorkhaland during a protest in Darjeeling on Wednesday. (PTI)

Lama doesn't seem to be overreacting. People, irrespective of party affiliation, are hitting the streets in every nook and cranny of these hills.

Gorkhaland has always been an emotional issue for them and political parties such as the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) and later, the GJM, have projected their movement as a quest for the political identity of the Indian Gorkha.

The death of three GJM supporters on June 17 apparently gave the hill people an adequate reason to raise their voice against the Trinamool Congress government led by Mamata Banerjee.

Though GJM and other parties claim that people joining the movement are their supporters, those demanding for Gorkhaland in rallies or on the social media, disagree vehemently.