Dance of Democracy

Paul Rai, KalimNews, Kalimpong, 11 November 2013: Citizens in a democracy are like shareholders of a Limited company. The actual owners or the rulers of the system. In both the cases the stake of their shares will solely lie in the system they select or elect with regard to its future. The holistic development (improvement) is very essential in order to sustain the system and success of the same lies in its work. So overall actions on development speaks louder than the speech in a democratic set up, so we don’t have to lit the lamp while the sun is still on the sky.

Consequently, when you choose a system or cast vote of your share without the proper understanding of the mechanism which runs the system would prove fatal or it can be a blessing in disguise if the same runs with awesome result. Unless everyone is educated enough to understand the pros & cons of an entity or the role of the system would lead all to the perpetual confusion. And during this eclipse any sound that goes against the passing darkness would sound appropriate and fits with the self assumed outcomes till we see the sun.

There are a lot of questions in people’s mind, what is GTA? May be the Union Territory? Why do we need a state, we only need development? Where GTA will lead us? So on and so forth. We tend to think when we have time and recollect the sayings of different outfits and try to do the math to get a clear understanding of what’s going on in Darjeeling. When the person is speaking in confusion (not sure what he is talking) he only attempts to make the audience more confused. Till the time one tries to come out of it another event will sweep him to the core of puzzlement. At this moment we really need a break to break the confusion.

I was invited at a Diwali gathering of 40 to 50 people, there was a talk about Darjeeling and most of them had a common question, what is GTA, what is its purpose? This way I learnt that this may be the question of many and not only of these folks. 

Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) is a semi-autonomous administrative body, this terminology is given in order to set the administrative boundaries of ‘Gorkhaland’. Obviously the actual boundaries pertaining to the proposed state map may not be the same as the present territory where GTA is functioning. So this needs to be understood as a ‘territorial set up’. It is a first of its kind set up with the name ‘Gorkhaland’, thought its only semi-autonomy. It looks like a (temporary) democratic arrangement for the self determination of the people for the demand of Gorkhaland in order to cope up with the greater provisions in the future which is likely the Union Territory or State.  Moreover, GTA is a mechanism which would sum up the actual area of Gorkhaland in the future. Based on the area of GTA, proposed state would be carved out without any territorial disputes, as it would be already functioning in the said territories, and certainly this will be followed by some negotiations for additional area inclusions.

Meanwhile to run GTA is the only option and moreover GJMM should make use of this opportunity to go ahead with holistic developmental-work in order to cover the damages of previous days. It will be strategic in winning the confidence of the people at large. The people of the hills and the plains want development as well, gone are the days when people used to participate just to have fun or kill time – for the sake of following any political schedule. It’s show time now. Let there be more employment, infrastructure development, promoting tourism to higher level, outsourcing new ideas to revive the tea industry and overall development works. It would be good if Mr. Bimal Gurung himself remains the CEO of GTA as to oversee the entire development works. He needs to act as the chief engineer for the whole programme.

While everything is focused on development there shouldn’t be any less effort to go ahead with the utmost aspiration of the people of the hills and the plains i.e. the demand of separate statehood. From the past experiences we have learnt that the development and the demand of separate statehood should go hand in hand, while the latter requires more priority. We have had enough turmoil now we should reap the benefit of overall development. We must strike the right balance in order to retain the strength and stamina to strive for the demand of separate statehood. It looks like GTA, what is going to be now would be little different than the earlier one, with some extra inclusion/exclusion by way of new amendments in the Act. However, the amended GTA would be more powerful than the former in terms of functioning and control of the system. When the state will be created from Darjeeling and Dooars it will be purely based on the areas comprised of GTA including rest of the areas which we have proposed in the Gorkhaland map, hence, it plays a crucial role in determining the map of the new state. The current proposed Gorkhaland map what we have today may face certain negotiations to come to a conclusion. Therefore, what comes in and goes out is a matter of future negotiations but what matters now is: GTA and its smooth administration.

GTA is the only legal solution as an administrative remedy at present, no matter whosoever runs the show. So people should believe that “Gorkhaland” will be created in near future, however, what matters is the time. Some are saying - as if they are going to bring Gorkhaland any moment provided people give them 100% support. My question is, if given the full support, what are they going to do? Do they have some magic wand and with one swing can they fulfill the dreams of millions? They also have to go through the same phase. It’s a programme. One must understand this – like the famous quote of Russell Peter: ‘just take and go’.

As per the Constitutional programme Darjeeling needs to fulfill the criteria of Schedule Area which hopefully will be met as and when the new Schedule Tribe list is recognized in the parliament. By the time we have more percentage of Tribal population automatically we will become a Schedule area, which is the symbol of hope in the Partially Excluded Areas under the Fifth Schedule of Indian Constitution to become a state. This topic has been recently discussed in brief twice in one of the National News Channels and is likely to be a hottest topic in various forums. As the prediction made more than a couple of years back for Telangana of becoming the 29^th state of India which proved to be 100% accurate, than it will not be inaccurate to predict that Gorkhaland will be the 30^th State of India. Here I must say: ‘Just take and go’.

Currently, the development work cannot be put to halt rather GTA should have wartime preparation for developing the infrastructure, tourism and all departments concerned. Of course at some point in time sacrifices are required so as to strengthen the movement, however, people can’t withstand the constant burden of bundhs and monotonous schedule which eventually compels them to think of development only and they run after it. In this case whosoever sings the song of development that becomes their party, religion and whatsoever because they are fade-up with the schedule.  It’s time to draw a new design and rejuvenate the sense of participation in the development works.

Next, what is UT? It stands for Union Territory. Somebody does not know what is UT, from where this UT came into picture? We didn’t demand UT – he confuses. So did we demand GTA? This is my counter question to him. No. Then why we need to go through all these hassles and not hit the bull’s eye, ‘the state’. Or why not everyone go to Delhi and stage for indefinite dharna unless the Government kneels down in submission to our demand or have a mass demonstration to shake the whole country like Anna Hazere movement? Sounds like a plan, nice idea. But what the Constitution of India says about invoking our aspiration in a democratic and legal way – the only course for the formation of a state. Almost three years back PC Chitambaram the then Home Minister of India said regarding Telengana that “the Constitutional process for the formation of Telangana has begun”. A small statement but in the background it was so huge that it shook the entire Andhra Pradesh and became a dream turned reality which was just a matter of mere talk five-six years ago.

The ruling party and the people concerned should talk to Centre about the status of the new Schedule Tribe list which is supposed to be recognized soon, apparently, this was one of the key points of the party’s memorandum for GTA. The moral of the story is we are yet to become a Schedule Area. That is why these steps are automatically coming to our way and we need to surpass these by running GTA (for Constitutional reasons), Union Territory (governed by the Union government) and finally full-fledged democratic self governance by and for the people that is the State. So concurrent to the State is Union Territory which is directly governed by the Centre, in this case we will be out of the administrative purview of any state and belong to the Union, that’s why it is called Union Territory. This will be the regional identity of the people of Darjeeling and Dooars, and people from these areas wherever they are can say I am from the Union Territory of Gorkhaland, just as professed by the people of Pondicherry. After this when the UT of Gorkhaland is declared as the State of Gorkhaland then we will have another house system of administration. Overall, these are the levels of administrative systems – till we become a State. We should not get confuse anywhere. Since Darjeeling is already in the Fifth Schedule, the administrative system implemented would be a Constitutional one within the provision of the Indian constitution. 

For constructive reasons there is usually an opposition, so that the show owner can speak on what’s going on at the background. People keep hopping around from Mr. Black to Mr. White and vice versa, these are the constant happenings in a democracy throughout the world. At the national level people are supporting side ‘B’ to do away with the corruption and by doing so – some or the other way they are supporting the same, which takes another five years to realize – just to switch the sides again. If we scratch GTA and go for a fresh agitation whereupon, GTA will be taken care by the State Government to function it and under such circumstances voicing for a separate state would be like going back to the square, once again. 

Have you ever realized or questioned yourself that what will be the fate of Darjeeling and Dooars in the Union of India? Where do I get the answer for these questions? The book of Constitution is speaking to you and your answer lies there. You don’t have to yell north, south or the east. As per the Fifth Schedule our qualification to become a state is very much intact as Partially Excluded Area (like Telangana). It seems the process to sort out the regional identity crisis of the people of Darjeeling and Dooars is going on a right track. Gorkhaland is no more a political issue rather it is a Constitutional one. Otherwise, if Gorkhaland becomes only a political propaganda then it will be like an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) for the politicians of all hues, whenever they feel like filling their pockets they will shout “we want Gorkhaland” and in no time some package is in front of them.

Now, I guess the time is right we should not be off from the main stream of our demand as Mr. Bimal Gurung has already said that he would be going ahead with the sole demand of Statehood while GTA functions for the overall development, it’s a good sign. We believe that the things at the uppermost level is going good, we should not be distracted by the undercurrents of day to day politics in Darjeeling. If everything goes well at level concerned then the same GTA will become UT/State, at that point Center’s decision may not necessarily be tuned with the state, as in the case of Telangana – Centre simply gave the decision and did not heed to the voice of the State (Andhra Pradesh).

We reap the harvest by developing our areas, so why not expedite the development? Perhaps the people who were lured to the tunes of development earlier would see a change in their behaviors. However, the most important thing is, we should not limit ourselves to the development only, our goal is Gorkhaland. It would be like an old-dated programme to pursuit for Statehood only by calling strikes and limiting the development. The strategy should be “Saap vi  mar  jha-ye aur  lathi  vi  na  tute”.