Peace without democracy - The Souring Of Relations Between Trinamul And GJMM

Sumit Mukerji, SNS: Barely a few months ago, Bimal Gurung, the chief executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) had hailed Mamata Banerjee as a ‘mother’. Today the ‘mother’, in his estimation, is a conspirator engaged in the dirty politics of divide and rule in the hills. 

In Gurung’s reckoning, the CPI-M never played divisive politics in the hills. Furthermore, it is much better as a political party compared to the Trinamul Congress. Having disowned his “mother”, the GTA leader  has sought to replace her with a “father” and President  Pranab Mukherjee has qualified for that stature. It is on his request that the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha declared on 8 March that the proposed bandhs would be deferred. 

Why have relations between the GJMM and the Trinamul government plummeted to an all-time low? Apparently the flashpoint came on 29 January this year,  when the Chief Minister reacted furiously as GJMM supporters raised slogans in support of Gorkhaland during her public meeting in Darjeeling. She had asserted that Darjeeling was an inseparable part of Bengal and warned that she would not allow a government programme to be politicised with slogans demanding Gorkhaland.

There are mounting allegations that the government is dragging its feet on the implementation of the GTA agreement, particularly on such issues as the appointment of the drawing and disbursing officer, transfer of departments to the GTA, etc. On 20 November 2011, the GJMM had alleged that out of 59 departments, only 26 had been transferred. Col Ramesh Alley, Deputy Chief of the GTA, complained that police cases against GJMM activists had not been withdrawn. The GJMM also demanded that the GTA be empowered to appoint personnel for schools, colleges and government departments without seeking the approval of the state administration.

Intelligence reports revealed that the GTA had made illegal appointments to create a Gorkhaland Police (GLP) and people with police cases against them had been inducted. This flagrant violation of the GTA agreement, which does not envisage such an entity as GLP, must have angered the Chief Minister. The demand for Gorkhaland was renewed in the wake of  reports that statehood might be granted to Telangana. On 20 January, Roshan Giri thundered: “Didi  don’t try to deceive us with GTA.”

As relations between the state and the GTA soured, Gurung claimed that he had been kept in the dark regarding the distribution of land pattas. He has demanded the replacement of Mr Soumitra Mohan, District Magistrate of Darjeeling  and Principal Secretary of the GTA. On 8 February, Mr Mohan was prevented from entering his office.

Initially, Gurung’s equation with Mr Mohan was cordial. Trouble started when the latter objected to a proposal for the purchase of 45 luxury cars for GTA members. Ten cars were bought and rented cars were arranged for the rest. He also objected to the payment of huge subscriptions to clubs for festivals and the issue of work-order without tender. The DM  did not approve the proposal to appoint   300 security personnel without the consent of the finance department. Eventually, 28 temporary appointments were made on a contractual basis. Nor did Mr Mohan allow the proposed sum of Rs 50 lakh to be deposited in the GTA Relief Fund on the ground that funds could not be diverted from one head to another. He stirred a hornet’s nest by transferring the power of DDO to Patrick Sada of the GTA and withdrew it after a fortnight without referring the matter to Writers’ Buildings. Gurung alleged that this violated Section 40 of the GTA agreement.

The authorities at Writers’ took exception to the DM’s move. Roshan Giri admitted the payment of subscriptions for festivals, but added that the Trinamul government had set that example and there was thus no point in obstructing the GTA.

The state government did make overtures to the GJMM through Gautam Deb, minister for the development of North Bengal. He has tried to assure the GJMM that Trinamul was not seeking a political foothold in the hills. It did not, however, cut much ice as evident from the attack on his car by GJMM activists.  This was followed by two major provocations for the GJMM ~ the formation of the Lepcha Development Council on 6 February, the Chief Minister’s meeting with Bharati Tamang, widow of Madan Tamang, and the subsequent arrest of five GJMM activists for alleged complicity in the Tamang murder case. 

A furious Bimal Gurung declared bandhs on March 14, 15, 21 and 22. He has also demanded President’s rule in Darjeeling. He  threatened the Lepchas with dire consequences if they did not side with the GJMM. 

This, however, created misgivings within the ranks of the GJMM because the Lepchas could not be written off when it came to electoral support. Subsequently, Gurung had to clarify his stand, saying that he was against those who were trying to misguide the Lepchas and weaning them away from the  GJMM and its larger struggle for Gorkhaland.

The state government has adopted a hardline stance against the GJMM. On 2 February, the Home Secretary Basudeb Banerjee called for an enquiry into the formation of the Gorkhaland Police, particularly whether government rules had been followed while making the appointments. 

He also wanted the source of salaries to be specified. The state government threatened all employees with pay-cuts and break in service if they participated in the proposed bandhs as the salary of the GTA members was paid by the government. It also called for the deployment of the CRPF at strategic points. This was evidently a reaction to the announcement of the GJMM leader, Vinay Tamang, that dharnas would be organised in Kolkata.  

To add fuel to the fire, came Bimal Gurung’s declaration that there would be no tie-up between the Trinamul and the GJMM in the panchayat elections. On 7 March, three TMC leaders were attacked in Kalimpong after they had filed nominations for the GTA elections. One of them, Chang Bhutiya, who was due to appear as the prime witness in the Madan Tamang murder case, was attacked with rods.

Though the GJMM has denied involvement, its relations with Trinamul have soured irreparably. It is unlikely that the Congress and the BJP will support the demand for Gorkhaland. Yet the assurance from the Centre that a tripartite meeting will soon be held to sort out the problems clearly indicates that the Centre will ask the state government to rectify the lapses in the process of implementation of the GTA agreement.

There is little doubt that on several occasions, the GTA has been bypassed. There have been instances of interference in the case of transferred subjects. 

The Chief Minister was morally right in creating the Lepcha Development Council because the Lepchas were not represented in the GTA agreement. However, the creation of a parallel entity for a separate ethnic group ran counter to the GTA agreement. What is morally desirable is not always legally permissible. 

An all-party meeting ought to have been called before taking such a precipitous step. Why did the government take so long to arrest those charged with the murder of Madan Tamang? How did Bharati Tamang, who was not granted a single interview despite repeated requests, suddenly receive a courteous call from Writers’ Buildings? 

Was it because of the dissatisfaction expressed by the Supreme Court over the delay in filing affidavits?

In her obsession with peace, the Chief Minister has sacrificed democracy. Even political opponents, notably Surya Kanta Mishra, have reacted to the short shrift accorded to the Trinamul in Darjeeling. Peace did get a chance (albeit temporarily) in the hills, but democracy did not.

The writer is Professor and Head of the Department of Political Science, University of Kalyani