Anything for a 'dream state' called Gorkhaland

GJM protest: It's been a week now on Wednesday and normal life continued to be crippled in Darjeeling.

New Delhi: It's been a week now on Wednesday and normal life continued to be crippled in Darjeeling with Internet services remained suspended as a result of the GJM-sponsored indefinite shutdown. Cops and security forces patrolled the streets of this hill city with police pickets placed at the entry and exit routes of Darjeeling. What Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) demanding is a separate Gorkhaland. Security personnel fire teargas shells during a protest by GJM activists in Darjeeling on Saturday.(PTI Photo/File) What exactly Gorkhaland is: Gorkhaland is a proposed state demanded by the people of the Darjeeling Hills. The people of Nepali-Indian Gorkhas ethnic origin on the Northern part of West Bengal are demanding Gorkhaland on the basis of linguistic and cultural difference with regard to Bengali culture. In the form of several strikes, rallies, the demand is still smoldering so is the Darjeeling city. Movement for Gorkhaland has gained force in the line of an ethno-linguistic-cultural sentiment of the Nepali language speaking Indian people who aspire to identify themselves as Indian Gorkhas. Two mass movements for Gorkhaland till date: Till date, two mass movements for Gorkhaland have taken place--one under the Gorkha National Liberation Front (1986–1988) and the second under Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) (2007–present). Stir under GJM: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ahead of the 2009 general elections, again announced its policy of having smaller states. They said to create two more states- Telangana and Gorkhaland-if they won the general election. GJM backed the candidature of Jaswant Singh of BJP and hence he won the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat (with 51.5% votes in his favour). With the assassination of Madan Tamang, leader of Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League, the demand for Gorkhaland took a new turn. On 21 May 2010, in Darjeeling, he was stabbed to death allegedly by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters. Three GJM activists, on 8 February 2011, were shot dead (one of whom succumbed to her injuries later) by the cops. They tried to enter Jalpaiguri district on a padyatra led by Bimal Gurung from Gorubathan to Jaigaon. The incident led to violence in the Darjeeling hills. An indefinite strike was called by GJM. It lasted 9 days. Held on 18 April 2011, in the West Bengal state assembly election, GJM candidates won three Darjeeling hill assembly seats. This showed that the demand for Gorkhaland was still strong in Darjeeling. Present situation: As of now, there is an ongoing unrest in Darjeeling and it started as a protest against perceived imposition of Bengali language in the hills of West Bengal where Nepali is the official language. The GJM which is spearheading the agitation for a separate Gorkhaland has reportedly decided to withdraw from the tripartite accord on the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). On 18 July 2011, the memorandum of agreement for the formation of a Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), a semi-autonomous administrative body for the Darjeeling hills, was signed. With agitation entering the seventh day, only time will tell how long it will take before this entire unrest will come to an end and whether this time a "separate" Gorkhaland will be formed or not.