Bonhomie in the Hills

SNS, Editorial | 20 June, 2015: Against the backdrop of the roller-coaster equation between the Trinamul government and the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha in West Bengal, what Bimal Gurung describes as his “best-ever meeting” with Mamata Banerjee cannot readily inspire optimism. Did she offer a firm assurance on any of the prickly issues? Markedly, the Chief Minister has not been swayed by emotional outpouring and has confined herself to specifics, and more about it in a moment.

The rank and file of the GJMM is acutely aware that it would be delusory to harbour overly optimistic thoughts. Having been charged with the killing of the All-India Gorkha League leader, Madan Tamag, the morcha leader appears to be a mite euphoric with the Calcutta High Court granting a stay on his arrest. The reprieve is personal as much as institutional not least because the CBI’s chargesheet has jolted the Gorkha Territorial Authority (GTA), a watershed experiment in a loose form of self-government... short of statehood. Substantial is the risk of the forward movement in the Hills being derailed if and when Gurung and 22 others of the GJMM are arrested.

There is little doubt that the CBI’s chargesheet has dented the image of the Hill leaders considerably. Somewhat fortuitously, Wednesday’s one-to-one at Richmond Hill was organised within 24 hours of the High Court breather, and it is open to question whether it was intended to shore up the public image of Gurung and the GJMM.

Chief among the Chief Minister’s plans was the decision to set up an education hub in Kurseong. But the larger issue of control over Darjeeling Government College and schools remains in limbo despite the fact that education has been an emotive issue for the GTA. The feet-dragging is manifest also in the delay in setting up the promised School Service Commission for Darjeeling. Will the government educational institutions remain under the control of the state or will they be transferred to the GTA?

The second would be the logical option in terms of self-government. Yet a firm assurance is unlikely anytime soon. The approval for 53,000 toilets in Darjeeling Hills is testament to the woeful lack of sanitation in the region. Not wholly unrelated was the discussion on solid waste management both in Darjeeling and Kalimpong. Indeed, Miss Banerjee’s rhetorical flourish - “We want peace. With peace, there will be development” - is essentially a reiteration of what the CPI-M had tried to achieve since 1986, but without success.

Closely intertwined with control over education is the most prickly issue - devolution of authority that will entail the transfer of departments. Gurung, palpably under a cloud, has stopped short of raising his pet grouse, that the state interferes with the functioning of the GTA. The public policy issues will fester long after the bonhomie at Richmond Hill.