TALENT

Article 1

Opinion
Emancipation of the Darjeeling Gorkhas.
By Mrinalini Pariyar, Darjeeling


"We the people of Darjeeling solemnly resolve to attain Gorkhaland"

Hear the words Darjeeling and what do you think? Movie Barfi, toy train and of course Gorkhaland. Many times the streets of Darjeeling have been resounding with this very voice! For over a 100 years, there has been this long on going battle to for a separate Gorkhaland. With the recent developments in Andhra Pradesh and with the proclamation of the state of Telangana, new hope has been injected into the people of Darjeeling. This has brought them together and all are out in the streets unanimously.

In the agitation of 1988, numerous people had laid down their lives. People are now desperate; they want their own land based on their own linguistic and cultural identity. Those who step out of the district and into cities face the hard reality of identity crises. Even if one were to come to the nearest town of siliguri, which is at the base of the hill, one is confronted with the stark difference, not only in facial features, but also in language and culture. One of the most common misconceptions is that, the affinity others feel that we the people of Darjeeling have with Nepal based on the common language that is Nepali. But if one were to pay keen attention to the language spoken in Nepal and Darjeeling, there are stark differences.

There is often a debate on the existence of Darjeeling. Many believe that the local population that exists today has their roots back in Nepal and were brought by the British to work on the Tea plantations. But the truth of the matter is, the local inhabitants were always in Darjeeling and it was indeed a part of the Nepalese king's empire, but this area was captured by Britain after the Anglo-Gorkha war during the 1890's. It was only later that the British found the region to be prime for Tea plantation.

Those who have put forth the claim for Gorkhaland, do in a way lack to follow basic Fundamental Rights, where the right to education is being taken away from the children. What we see now is that a lot of the students are suffering because of this. Although it may seem that they are getting a lot of holidays in the process but in actuality they are lagging far behind. What we really need to understand is that the motive is not wrong, but the entire process of going about i.e. calling for bandhs over a long period of time affects everything. Darjeeling is highly dependent on tourism and many are tea workers, coolies, and hawkers etc. who live off by their earning made in a day. They suffer the most as they are robbed of their earnings without any prior notice. The situations of the indefinite strike, which progressively takes the demand for Gorkhaland to a different level, is overwhelming. Educational institutes, banks and offices are adversely hit, and the district loses lakhs of rupees every day that it remains shut.

About the author- A peace loving hippie trapped in the wrong period of time. Loves traveling and meeting new people. She has worked in human resource, content writing and social work. Currently making head way into the govt. service so that sh can get some awesome fun into the system