Land, language and identity — the core issues of hill politics reverberated across Darjeeling on Thursday.
Senior leaders of the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) and rival Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) were present at two separate events at Darjeeling on Thursday.
The BGPM-controlled Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) organised an event to mark the inclusion of Nepali language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution on August 20, 1992, after a struggle of four decades.
Dil Kumari Bhandari, former MP from Sikkim, who had moved a private member bill for language recognition and played a pivotal role in mustering support for the bill from other MPs was invited as the chief guest at the GTA event.
Anit Thapa, chief executive of the GTA, and also the BGPM president, broached the topic of "Gorkhas' dream".
"The language struggle was a success as the leaders of this movement did not think that they would be in power after the success of this struggle. The Gorkhas' dream must not be politicised," said Thapa.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi while campaigning for the 2014 Lok Sabha election in the region has famously said that the Gorkhas' dream was also his dream.
In its 2019 election manifesto, the BJP had promised a permanent political solution to the region and granting of tribal status to 11 Gorkha communities. However, the promises have not yet been fulfilled.
The hills have voted the BJP to the Lok Sabha for three consecutive terms since 2009.
Maan Ghisingh, the president of the GNLF, which is an ally of the BJP in the hills, also said on Thursday that the ball was in the BJP's court now.
"We have done all to win their (BJP's) heart, now the ball lies in the BJP's court," said Ghisingh at Chowrasta.
The GNLF leader, however, sounded confident of a breakthrough and added they were consistently raising hill issues with the BJP.
The fact that even the BJP allies in the hills are worried over the delay in fulfilling the twin promises has not been lost on people at large.
The GNLF on Thursday organised the annual Banbo festival (nature worshippers' festival). The event was started by then GNLF leader Subash Ghisingh to stress the tribal essence of the hill people.
Ghisingh was then advocating for the Sixth Schedule, a constitutional provision for certain tribal areas, although the tribal population in 2005 when a pact for the provision was signed was only 32 per cent.
Although many non-tribals and the Schedule Caste community objected to this provision, Ghisingh had, however, demanded tribal status to the entire Gorkha community. He stated that the British had classified Gorkhas as hill tribes in the 1931 Census.
The GNLF event on Thursday highlighted the demand to grant tribal status to 11 Gorkha communities promised by the BJP.
BJP allies in the hills are optimistic about the special five-day Parliament session that would be convened in September.
"We are pinning our hopes on this session as the five-year tenure (of this BJP-led government at the Centre) is almost ending and none of the hill promises has been fulfilled so far," said a hill leader.
