People’s aspiration vs Political degeneracy

Akash Thapa, KalimNews, Kalimpong, 28 October 2013: It is shocking to know that the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) spokesman H.B.Chetri, MLA Kalimpong seems to be speaking more like a Trinamul Congress member than the representative of the people of the hills demanding a separate state outside West Bengal. 

Having read the contents of the Statesman News Service captioned “Post Telengana turmoil, Chettri pitches for caution on demand for Gorkhaland” and other news items published in different dailies no one can keep quiet. 

Who is he to compare Telangana with the demand of Gorkhaland (GL)? Why he is comparing at this moment?? As a debater he would definitely say “because Telengana is in the process of formation and our activities does have a direct effect to their state formation, so to let the Telengana (TG) formation in peace, we should not make hue & cry which may have an adverse reaction for Telengana and Gorkhaland as well, so we have go little slow” and after saying this he would be glad saying to himself “how cleverly I’m playing my card, I’m clever”. Stressing on marginalising the statehood demand by MLA Kalimpong, it is very clear that he is becoming too ambitious for his future political career and it looks like he is playing somebody’s card rather than promoting the aspirations of the people of Darjeeling and Dooars. He should not utter words like Gorkhaland demand deserves less attention because the reactive stress encountered in Andhra Pradesh. For his information, Telangana is a closed chapter and any political stances against the TG state is already been endorsed by the Union Cabinet by establishing a Group Of Ministers (GOM) to conduct the creation of the new state. Again his current statement on refraining from any bandh in the future with regard to Gorkhaland is the indication of putting a semicolon followed by a fullstop to our statehood demand. 

Kalimpong MLA Chettri should be voicing more on the demand for Gorkhaland as a direct sequence of the creation of Telangana state. But unfortunately he is cautioning his own party to go slow on the statehood demand. Is he delivering statement from his own pocket or it’s the GJM’s stand? Bimal Gurung and the whole GJM party must justify this. If this is not from the party’s prospective than this more or less confirms that the whispering campaigns are going on against the GJM – may be within the party a section is working hand in glove with the state politicians for some financial gain or for obtaining future deals of political aspirations, if they succeed to derail the statehood issue at present. It seems that Chettri and the other associates have a problem of short-sightedness, he is just a casual speaker who have some ability to debate on issues just for the sake of manipulation. If one does research and listen to all the speeches he has delivered till date in any forum or news media, it looks like he’s contradicting his own statements every time. This time he says the umbrella is black the very next day he say blue, white whatsoever comes in his mouth. There is no one to question him. He has a big mouth and talks without evaluating what he is speaking , as he knows very well that if it backfires than he would can easily manipulate them anyways. 

However, this time it seems like he made it deliberately, one can easily detect the black cloud of State ruling government in his statement. Looks like GJM leaders do not do their homework properly. 

Initially, there was quite a few official visit by GJM delegates in Delhi, then Mr. Harka Bahadur Chettri (the official spokesperson) used to say in his speech that the GJM delegates would be speaking with the Delhi counterparts assertively - shoulder to shoulder in order to show the seriousness of their meeting. Later when they had the meeting in Delhi – it is learnt that - he use to be the one who is more interested to do Chamchagiri to the Delhi leaders. He likes to sit with the national leaders of any sorts, desires to have high tea with them, taking photographs wherein he poses like their apprentice, collecting their autographs are some of his interests rather than being assertive in presenting the statehood demand. He is doing contrary to what he is saying. 

He comes from Delhi, in Darjeeling, he gives big talks about what happened after the meeting: he says, “the actual talk is after the meeting - when they call us for high tea, there they disclose what they could not in the meeting”. One can understand what he is trying to say. If the official meet could not through any light or come to a conclusion or could clarify something understandable than how come unofficial tea gathering will help to understand the matter beyond comprehension. To Darjeeling people it looked like they had gone for a crucial talk, while the news was for high teas. However, he was right “the selfish politics begins after the meeting because the wrong things cannot be served in the official meet or at the right forum and the manipulation happens only during the high teas”. And his recent statements of marginalising the statehood demand may be the outcome of one of these high teas. 

So my suggestion to MLA Kalimpong is to withdraw his statements of ‘marginalising the demand for Gorkhaland state’ and revert to the starting point. We are happy and would like to congratulate every aspirants of Telangana region for their achievement but we cannot marginalise our ongoing demand of Gorkhaland by way of slowing down and to provide ample opportunities for the state sponsored thugs to revive anti Gorkhaland sentiments in the hills. Rather at this point in time positively speaking, Telangana formation gives more fuel to our demand to go on aggressively. There was no problem when three states were created within a year in 2000, viz. Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal, and Jharkhand out of MP, UP and Bihar. When three states were in the process of making in India somewhere in 1999-2000, they were at their climax of formations, at that point we never heard some sort of statements that by demanding the statehood together there would cause an awful delay in state formation. The only difference between their and ours is, the difference of perception and commitment towards the cause. 

Their leaders never said slow-down,as the first one (Telangana) is at the verge of formation and our activities might make a difference by creating havoc in TL formation. But why Chettri is sounding too strange by relating our ongoing demand as a stumbling block for the formation of Telangana, in other words he is saying that we should keep quite till Telangana is declared as a state; WHY? What is the advantage?? My question to Mr. Chettri is, who is prompting his statements? Is GJM at its entirety is making such kind of statements through its spokesperson? He has to correct his statements and he also has to re-correct his sight and see things through Gorkhaland spectacles instead of Trinamul Congress brand before he get exposed of his going behind the scene. His status having been raised from a village school teacher to a leader is not on account of his intellect or faithfulness but on account of his total adherence to Bimal Gurung, without him probably he would be a nobody. People are well aware of his capability of leadership when he lost simple municipality commissionership election. 

The people of Darjeeling know how he was inducted back to GJM at the instance of Bimal Gurung. The clarity of his statements shows that he has become too ambitious, however, ambition without structuring of the character will eventually blow him out and only few succeed. He cannot play with the aspirations of millions of people just for a simple reason of becoming too ambitious or greedy for higher power. No one should betray us. He may define his statements as political tactics but these are the foolish statements anyone ever made since 2007. In previous agitation many people died, even in this agitation several have given their sacrifices. How he is going to justify the sacrifices of these precious souls and the statehood aspirants? 

He cannot play his selfish card at our expense. I am a resident of Darjeeling District, now I am in New Delhi. I am a true supporter of Gorkhaland and fully convinced and believe that state is near at hand. We have formed a fellowship in expressing the cause for Gorkhaland state, at the same time we also like to see that all goes well. So there are watchdogs all over and this writing is directed to see that Gorkhaland is not derailed by the very persons who are supposed to deliver it. Mr. Chettri needs to do some research, read books on Law, constitution, history for heaven’s sake, so that he can educate the masses and talk on things that supports the demand for Gorkhaland. 

He should know how Telegana is formed, and should talk on this, moreover, he should seek help from the experts to understand how Darjeeling can become a state. You are just trying to put the old wine in a new wine skin, probably you may need a seasoned wine skin to be able to retain the contains for which the people have supported you and GJM. Or else ‘the history may repeat itself’ given the similar circumstances, by leaving the home and residing with the friends in the plains, ‘again’. Therefore, ‘Hark Ye’ & listen to the voice, the aspirations and the commitments of the people. Long live Gorkhaland and the people of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Siliguri and Dooars.

(Akash Thapa is a free lance writer from Darjeeling now stationed at New Delhi)