Gorkhaland Issue: Everything You Need to Know

The Gorkhaland (West Bengal) conflict has been building for decades, and it comes from a language divide between Nepali and Bengali speakers. With an area of about 7,500 square kilometres, Gorkhaland would be greater than the Indian states of Goa and Sikkim. It has a population of four million people, about equivalent to the combined populations of Manipur and Tripura. However, the proposed state does not have a Gorkha majority. 

Gorkhas make up almost a third of the proposed state’s population. (Nepali is spoken by 40% of the Darjeeling district’s population and 51% of the Kalimpong district’s population.) In the Dooars and Terai regions, Nepali is spoken by roughly 15-20% of the population. The rest of the population would be made up of Rajbongshis (25 percent), Adivasis (20 percent), Bengalis (15 percent), and others (5 percent) (Totos, Mechs and Biharis).In 1986, the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), led by Subhash Ghisingh, launched a fresh violent drive for an independent state of Gorkhaland. The movement eventually resulted in the foundation of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) in 1988 to oversee specific sections of Darjeeling district.

How Darjeeling came into existence?

Prior to the 1780s, the territory was ruled by Sikkim’s Chogyal. The Gorkhas conquered Sikkim and most of the North East, including Darjeeling, in 1780.The Anglo-Gorkha war began in 1814 and ended in 1815 with the Treaty of Segowlee (ratified in March 1816).

According to the pact, the British East India Company took all of the land that Gorkha conquered from Sikkim’s Chogyal.The Treaty of Titalia, signed in 1817, restored Chogyal rule in Sikkim and returned all territory acquired by Gorkhas to Chogyals. 

They did, however, take possession of the Darjeeling hills from Sikkim in 1835 by a Deed of Grant.In 1864, the Treaty of Sinchula annexed the Bengal Duars and Kalimpong to the Darling Hills.Darjeeling as we know it now was established in 1866.With the assassination of Madan Tamang, the head of the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League, the demand for Gorkhaland took a new turn. 

On May 21, 2010, in Darjeeling, he was allegedly stabbed to death by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters, prompting a spontaneous shutdown in the three Darjeeling hill sub-divisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and Kurseong.

“Chronology of ‘demands for autonomy’ “

The Hillmen’s Association of Darjeeling expressed the demand for a separate administrative unit in Darjeeling for the first time in 1907. It demanded that Darjeeling be removed from Bengal and become a chief commissioner province in 1941.

In 1947, the united Communist Party of India filed a memorandum to the Constituent Assembly requesting the formation of Gorkhasthan, which would include Darjeeling and Sikkim. The Akhil BharatiyaGorkha League (ABGL) meets with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1952 to demand independence from Bengal. 1977-1981: The West Bengal government approves a unanimous resolution in favour of the formation of an autonomous district council for Darjeeling and the surrounding areas. 

Subhash Ghising founds the Gorkha National Liberation Front in 1980. (GNLF). In 1986, the Gorkhaland National Liberation Front (GNLF) conducts the most violent agitation in the movement’s history.The GNLF, the state of Bengal, and the Centre sign the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council accord in 1988. 

In 2005, the same parties signed an under–principle memorandum of understanding to put Darjeeling in the Indian Constitution’s Sixth Schedule, which governs tribal administration.Bimal Gurung founded Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) in 2007 after calling the “Sixth Schedule solution” a betrayal of Gorkhaland.

“Major Post-Independence Movements related to Gorkhaland”

The India Gorkha League (AIGL) became the first political party in the Darjeeling hills in 1943. Following India’s independence, the ‘Assam Chalo’ movement asked that Darjeeling be added to Assam. It, like the moderates, worked on petitions and submitted memorandums to the President and Prime Minister of India. 

With a few instances, it was never violent. In 1986, the GNLF, led by Subhash Ghising, organised the largest and most violent agitation. Darjeeling experienced the most violent period in India’s post-independence history between 1986 and 1988.  It ended with the DGHC agreement (discussed above).The fourth DGHC elections did not take place in 2004.Darjeeling was added to the sixth schedule in 2005, and a tribal council with Ghising as its leader was established. It prompts Bimal Gurung, who founded GJM in 2007, to revolt. 

As a result, the second-largest agitation in the Gorkhaland movement occurred. As the course of events demonstrated, it was a politically motivated rather than an identity-driven attack. The Gorkhaland agitation took a new turn in 2010-2011 after local leaders feuded after one of the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League’s (ABGL) leaders was allegedly stabbed to death by GJM supporters. 

Conclusion

Gorkhas make up almost a third of the proposed state’s population.(Nepali is spoken by 40% of the Darjeeling district’s population and 51% of the Kalimpong district’s population). Gorkhas make up almost a third of the proposed state’s population.(Nepali is spoken by 40% of the Darjeeling district’s population and 51% of the Kalimpong district’s population). The movement eventually resulted in the foundation of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in 1988 to oversee specific sections of Darjeeling district. The Gorkhas conquered Sikkim and most of the North East, including Darjeeling, in 1780. The Anglo-Gorkha war began in 1814 and ended in 1815 with the Treaty of Segowlee. In 1864, the Treaty of Sinchula annexed the Bengal Duars and Kalimpong to the Darling Hills. With the assassination of Madan Tamang, the head of the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League, the demand for Gorkhaland took a new turn. On May 21, 2010, in Darjeeling, he was allegedly stabbed to death by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters, prompting a spontaneous shutdown in the three Darjeeling hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and Kurseong.