BJP May not be ready for Gorkhaland, Gorkhas are – Upendra argues we are capable enough to run our own state even if local BJP leaders may have doubts about their own abilities

A few days after winning elections, BJP Darjeeling District President Sanjeev Lama made a proclamation, “Gorkhas are not ready for Gorkhaland”. He defended the statement by saying that our youths need to be involved in politics and we need to remove the old-guards who have used “Gorkhaland sentiment” only as a tool for earning their livelihood. As if the political-suicide wasn’t over, Sanjeev Lama doubled down in a press meet and further said, “look around you won’t find a single, honest, capable Gorkha leader who is ready to be the Chief Minister”. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, so I watched that twice just to make sure what I heard was right.

Perhaps what he didn’t anticipate was the immediate question asked by the journalist present there, “Do you mean to say even Sanjeev Lama is not honest or capable of being a Chief Minister?”

In proclaiming that, there is not a single honest Gorkha capable of becoming a Chief Minister, perhaps Sanjeev forgot that he too is a Gorkha, and that he too could become the Chief Minister, if Gorkhaland state was formed.

But, what he said had me extremely worried.

He is a Gorkhaland premi, as much as you and I. He too had to go underground following the 2017 Andolan. He parted ways with Bimal Gurung when Bimal supported Mamata Banerjee in 2021. So Sanjeev is who has remained true to the Gorkha cause. But imagine, what kind of political realization must have he come to, to be so convinced, that there’s not a single honest Gorkha, capable of leading Gorkhaland statehood.

This brings me to a greater worry.

If BJP District President is convinced that Gorkhas are not ready for Gorkhaland, who else is convinced similarly? Does this chain of thought extend to MP Raju Bista, Home Minister Amit Shaha and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well, or is this line of thought confined to Kolkata-BJP alone?

Way before any of us were born, our ancestors understood the need for a separate administrative set-up for the Gorkhas, which is why the demand for autonomy for our region extends back to 1907. When gentle reminders didn’t work, it led to the 1986-88 andoland for Gorkhaland statehood. Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council was established in 1988, which failed to meet the aspirations of the people. This resulted in Gorkhaland statehood demands from 2007-2011, in 2013 after Telangana was formed, and in 2017 after West Bengal government under TMC tried to make impose Bengali language on the Gorkhas.

Over the decades I have been on this planet, I have seen Gorkha people mature politically, economically, educationally and in every other way possible.

Today Gorkhas are everywhere, from being Scientists in ISRO to teaching in IITs and IIMs, from flying fighter-jets to conducting path-breaking research top universities in India and internationally. Gorkhas are some of the top ranked Army Officers and academics, actors, singers, administrators and what not.

What they lack is a political space.

Be honest to yourself, can a Gorkha ever aspire to be the Chief Minister of West Bengal? Since Independence, name one Gorkha Minister in the Central Government?

Despite being capable in every other way, we – the Gorkhas have been sidelined politically. Which is why, this need and demand for Political autonomy exists.

BJP may think that Gorkhas are not ready for Gorkhaland, but Gorkhas know, we are. However, in articulating this, perhaps the BJP District President is hinting at the fact that BJP may renege on their pre-poll promise, which they have been making since 2009.

As the American writer Robert G. Ingersoll once said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but to test the character, give him power…”

Perhaps, after coming to Power, BJP is starting to show their true character. Beware Gorkhas.

The post BJP May Not be Ready for Gorkhaland, Gorkhas Are! appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

Siliguri District and The Hollowing Out of Darjeeling, author Anjani Sharma Bhujel explains how a proposed new district of Siliguri would formalise forty years of quiet extraction from the hills

The recent proposal to form a separate district of Siliguri, and cut it away from Darjeeling is not a sudden change. It marks the end of a forty-year shift, where resources meant for the hills have quietly moved to the plains. Making Siliguri a new district would lock in this imbalance and break the territorial basis of the Gorkha claim, which is older than Indian Independence. This could happen without any debate in the legislative assembly, or the Parliament.

Leaders from Darjeeling, Kurseong, Mirik, Kalimpong, Siliguri, and Dooars owe the people a clear public stance. Staying silent is also a choice. Every elected representative from Darjeeling, Kurseong, Mirik, Kalimpong, Siliguri and Dooars owe the people of the hills a clear, public position. Their silence is itself a position.

The proposal on the table

The new district idea has been set in motion with a letter sent by the Matigara-Naxalbari BJP MLA Anandamay Barman to the chief minister. The letter suggests that the entire Siliguri sub-division, Matigara, Naxalbari, Phansidewa and Khoribari blocks, be separated from Darjeeling and joined with the Dabgram-Fulbari areas of Jalpaiguri district, to form a new district called Siliguri.

There is a new government in the state, of which MLA Anandmay Barman is a second time elected leader, and Siliguri MLA Shankar Ghosh and Phansidewa MLA Druga Murmu on the treasury benches, who could push forward with this.

Since, this is just at a proposal state, we still have time to make a strong case against the separation of our historic territorial areas. But for that to happen, the arguments and resistance against any such move must begin now.

The Siliguri district proposal does not arrive in isolation. In the same fortnight in May 2026, the new state government has cleared the transfer of seven national highway stretches from the state PWD to central agencies, with NHAI taking over NH-31, NH-33 and NH-312, and NHIDCL taking over the Sevoke-Coronation Bridge stretch, Siliguri-Darjeeling stretch, the Hasimara-Jaigaon route and the Changrabandha corridor. Five of the seven stretches pass through the Siliguri Corridor itself. NH-10 to Sikkim and NH-110 to Darjeeling, the two highways most directly serving the hills are among those, now under central control.

In parallel, the state has transferred one hundred and twenty acres of land in the Chicken’s Neck to the Border Security Force for India-Bangladesh border fencing. Three substantial restructurings of North Bengal’s administrative geography in three weeks, all under a national-security framing, all moving at a pace that previous state governments had been unable or unwilling to match.

I strongly believe, among all these, the Siliguri district proposal is the most consequential of the three because it changes the civil-administrative authority over land, people, revenue and policing. It is not just the engineering control of road surfaces or the fencing of a border line, yet it is not separate from the other. They constitute a pattern, and the pattern itself merits attention.

The slow shift of power that nobody noticed

It is not impulsive idea to separate Siliguri off from Darjeeling. It’s the official recognition of the process, which has been ongoing, administratively and developmentally, for much of the last forty years. The power in our region has been gradually shifted from the hills to the plains. Institutions and infrastructure have been allocated for the entire district of Darjeeling, was cunningly spent and shifted to a single sub-division, which is now proposed to be a new district.

The institutional drift must be taken into account first. The Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad was set up in 1989 as a sub-divisional council which has district level powers, the only one of its kind in entire India.

In 1994 the Siliguri Municipal Corporation was formed with forty seven wards in two districts, and the Siliguri-Jalpaiguri Development Authority was formed to garner urban-planning powers which were previously held by the Darjeeling district administration.

Siliguri Police Commissionerate was established in 2012, with the jurisdiction of over 640 sq kilometers of Siliguri city and the adjoining sub-urban areas in the plains.

Every single step, seen in isolation seemed in each case to be a legitimate urban-administrative reform. But when seen holistically, it clearly emerges that they were all a part of the major plan, without anyone being aware of it as a part of the one larger project – to separate Siliguri from Darjeeling. The hills weren’t complaining. In most cases the hills did not even know what happened, they were occupied in changing flags and establishing new kings.  

Let’s now look at the developmental drift, which is the more significant half of the story. It was established in 1962 with the aim of catering the needs of the entire region, the University of North Bengal was located in Matigara, in the plains, not in the hills, at Raja Rammohanpur.

In 1968, the Medical College of North Bengal was established to cater to the population of the same region and was located once again in the plains at Sushrutnagar in Matigara. In 1990, North Bengal Dental College was built and now it is housed at Matigara.

Bagdogra airport, in Darjeeling district by virtue of sitting in Naxalbari block, was built and progressively upgraded through grants attributed to district aviation infrastructure, with every new runway extension and terminal expansion booked to the district’s account.

The Industrial Estate of North Bengal was established at Matigara. NH 4 to Sikkim was four laned in Siliguri sub-division. No parts of the Asian Highway corridor, which connects Bhutan/India and Bangladesh is outside the proposed carve-out area as it goes through Bagdogra and Phulbari.

The recently announced underground railway to pass through the Siliguri corridor, which is of national-security importance in the field of defence logistics and is worth several thousand crore rupees, ends at Siliguri sub-division.

On paper, every one of these is “Darjeeling district infrastructure,” paid for out of central and state allocations attributed to a district whose three hill sub-divisions never saw the spending.

This is the main problem with the Siliguri district proposal, and it should be said plainly. For the last forty years, Siliguri’s progress has been counted as “Darjeeling district’s” success. The airport appears in the tourism brochures. University appear in the education ministry reports. The medical college appears in the health budget speeches. The highway appears in the NHAI map books. The hills have been the brand; the plains have been the beneficiary.

The plan-document accounting that allowed central and state allocations to flow into Siliguri infrastructure under the heading of “Darjeeling district development” has been the financial mechanism through which the hills have funded their own marginalization. Money meant for Darjeeling’s development was mostly spent in Siliguri, so the hills ended up paying for their own neglect. 

Technically and legally every rupee spent in Matigara, Naxalbari, Bagdogra was the rupee of the district, it was also the hills’ rupee since the hills were part of the district. None of it returned to the hills. None of the institutions built with it serve the hills directly. None of the highway alignments reach the hills.

When Siliguri is carved out as a separate district, every one of those assets physically leaves with it. They were never retained by the hills in any meaningful administrative sense. They merely appeared in Darjeeling district statistics, in its audited accounts, in its representation to Delhi and Kolkata. After the carve-out, even that fiction ends. That is the total inheritance of forty years of being “Darjeeling district” while Siliguri’s growth was being recorded as the district’s growth.

The hills produce, Siliguri trades

The institutional drift described above has hardened into a single contemporary reality. Darjeeling district today is a producer-region whose produce is monetised, traded, valued and taxed almost entirely in Siliguri.

The best-known example is, of course, the tea of Darjeeling. The premium GI Marked leaf grown in the eighty-seven recognised gardens above 1,000 metres in the areas of Darjeeling-Pulbazar, Kurseong, Mirik, Jorebunglow-Sukhia and Rangli-Rangliot is auctioned in the Siliguri Tea Auction Centre. The centre started in 1976 and is one of the major tea auctions in India, and where a hill kilogram of tea turns into a national or international price. Auctioneer commissions, brokerage fees, warehousing rents and the GST on the sale all accrue to the place of auction.

The growers retain the cost of production and a fraction of the realised price. The value is captured in Siliguri.

The same pattern repeats across every category of hill produce. The Siliguri Regulated Market, or mandi of Siliguri is one of the biggest wholesale markets for agriculture products from the hills and Terai to the plains, to the rest of India and the trans-shipment routes to Bhutan, Bangladesh and the North East.

In Bidhan Market, wholesale fruit and vegetables, oranges from Sittong, Mirik, cardamom from higher slopes and ginger from Kurseong-Pulbazar are sold. Siliguri is the entry point for every single source of income from a hill harvest that is recorded as a national number, ranging from mandi cess to market-yard fees, weighbridge charges, the margin of the commission agents, cold-chain rents and export-pipeline tariffs via the Phulbari Land Customs Station.

Add to this the Tea Board of India’s Siliguri Regional Office at the Sahid Bhagat Singh Commercial Complex on Sevoke Road, the head offices of every major tea broker and exporter, the agricultural marketing committee, the GST registration desks for tea and horticulture traders, the cold-chain certification authorities, the spice and cardamom grading laboratories.

All of them sit in Siliguri. All of them administer the conversion of hill output into recorded national value.

That last fact deserves a pause. The Tea Board of India is the statutory regulator for the most famous mountain tea in the world. It could have placed its regional office at Darjeeling town, the global brand name stamped on every premium tin shipped to London, Tokyo and Berlin. It chose Sevoke Road, Siliguri.

The world’s most famous hill tea is regulated from the plains, and the arrangement is so old that no one any longer finds it strange. The hills grow and produce. Siliguri trades and earns. The transfer is administered today under the legal fiction that both belong to the same district. After the carve-out, that legal fiction disappears.

The hills become a producer-region for a trading hub that is no longer even nominally their own. The economic asymmetry that has existed for decades becomes formal, administrative and structural, written into the district map.

A grower in Mirik will continue to bring oranges to the Regulated Market at Siliguri, but the market fee, the licence, the storage rent and the export tariff will enter the books of a different district. A tea garden in Jorebunglow will continue to send its first-flush kilograms to the Siliguri auction centre, but the auction commission, the brokerage and the GST on the sale will all be recorded as Siliguri district revenue, not Darjeeling’s. The arrangement as it exists today is extractive in economic terms but at least notionally unified administratively.

The proposed arrangement is extractive in economic terms and formally separated administratively. There is a name for that pattern. It is the relationship a colonial power maintains with a producing hinterland whose trade it controls, but whose autonomy it does not concede.

What physically walks out of Darjeeling district

A district is not a sentiment. It is a balance sheet. Remove the Siliguri sub-division out of Darjeeling and the following physically leaves: Bagdogra International Airport, the only commercial airport serving Sikkim, Bhutan and the eastern Himalayas; the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital at Sushrutnagar in Matigara, the only tertiary referral hospital for hill residents, tea-garden workers and the working poor across three districts; the University of North Bengal at Raja Rammohunpur, the only state university for the region; the North Bengal Dental College; the entire industrial belt that runs from Matigara through Bagdogra to Naxalbari; the Mechi land border crossing at Panitanki, which is the only commercial road border with eastern Nepal in this part of India; and every single kilometre of district’s international border with Bangladesh, which runs through Phansidewa and Kharibari blocks.

Let me remind you again these are not just places or landmarks they are sources of income, trade and revenue of the Darjeeling district.

What Darjeeling district retains after the carve-out is five hill blocks: Darjeeling-Pulbazar, Jorebunglow-Sukhiapokhri, Rangli-Rangliot, Kurseong and Mirik. It retains the district headquarters at Darjeeling town, the three hill municipalities, the UNESCO World Heritage Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the premium GI-marked Darjeeling tea gardens, and a stretch of hill border with Nepal and the interstate border with Sikkim, none of which carry commercial crossings of any consequence.

The district would have no airport. No university. No medical college. No international border with Bangladesh. No revenue base of any substance beyond cyclical tea and seasonal tourism. The district’s population, currently around eighteen lakh after the 2017 Kalimpong bifurcation, would fall to roughly seven or eight lakh, making it the least populous district in West Bengal, smaller than every other district in North Bengal, and administered from a district headquarters whose own town has a population of just over a lakh.

It would not be a district in any meaningful administrative sense. It would be a museum with a DM’s office.

The people who pay the price first

The arithmetic of district reorganisation hides behind the language of administrative efficiency, but its weight falls on people who do not write newspaper columns.

A tea worker from a Mirik garden referred for emergency cardiac care travels today to NBMCH at Matigara. After the carve-out, that hospital sits in a different district. The administrative machinery of inter-district referrals, ambulance transport tie-ups, welfare-payment routing and labour-board adjudication, running poorly enough when one DM signs both ends of a file, degrades further when two DMs are involved. The patient does not experience this as paperwork. The patient experiences it as a delay.

A student from Kurseong or Kalimpong attending the University of North Bengal sits for examinations governed by a new Siliguri DM and a Siliguri Police Commissionerate that have no political stake in the hills.

Hostel disputes, identity verification, scholarship disbursements all route through an administration whose constituency lies elsewhere.

None of this is theoretical. The 2017 Gorkhaland bandh demonstrated, with brutal clarity, what happens when the plains and the hills fall out of administrative or political sync. There was an estimated daily loss of Rs 2 crore for Siliguri businesses, hill establishments unable to receive supplies, tea consignments stranded at NJP. The Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of North Bengal estimated then that some 75 per cent of Siliguri’s commerce depended on the Sikkim-Darjeeling axis. The plains-hills relationship is functional infrastructure. The proposal treats it as a wall.

The Gorkhaland question, and why this is the heart of the matter

Here is the part that has not been said loudly enough, and which transforms this from an administrative debate into a constitutional one.

The Gorkhaland demand, as articulated continuously since the Hillmen’s Association petition of 1907, through the All India Gorkha League’s formation in 1943, through Subash Ghisingh’s GNLF in 1980 and Bimal Gurung’s GJM thereafter, has never been a demand for the three hill subdivisions alone. It has been, from the very first petition, a demand for the contiguous Nepali-speaking territory of North Bengal, comprising the hills, the Terai and the Nepali-majority pockets of the Dooars.

Every map of proposed Gorkhaland, in every iteration of the movement, has included substantial parts of Siliguri sub-division and large tracts of what is today Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts.

This is not an academic point. The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Act of 2011, which the present West Bengal chief minister herself signed into law, explicitly placed eighteen mouzas of Siliguri sub-division within GTA jurisdiction. Those mouzas lie in Naxalbari and Matigara, the very blocks Barman’s letter now proposes to detach.

The Centre’s Permanent Political Solution process for the Gorkhaland question, on which former BSF Director-General Pankaj Kumar Singh was appointed interlocutor in 2024, is premised on assessing exactly which Terai and Dooars areas should be folded into any future autonomy or statehood arrangement.

A separate Siliguri district pre-empts that process.

Once Naxalbari, Matigara, Phansidewa, Kharibari and the Dabgram-Fulbari belt are constituted as a single administrative unit headquartered in Siliguri city, with its own DM, its own SP, its own bureaucratic identity, its own assembly representation that focuses around plains demographics, its own development authority and its own revenue lines, bringing any of these areas back into a future Gorkhaland becomes politically and administratively far harder.

A district once created in India is almost never uncreated. The carve-out is, in plain language, a quiet pre-settlement of the territorial component of the Gorkhaland question, done without consultation with hill parties, without Parliament, without a referendum, and without the political-solution framework the Government of India has nominally committed to.

The people advocating the proposal know this. The MLAs proposing it represent Matigara-Naxalbari and Siliguri, the very constituencies whose Gorkha and Adivasi voters would, in any honest accounting, have a stake in whether their mouzas join a future Gorkhaland or stay in a Bengal-administered Siliguri district. The proposal asks them to make that decision now, in 2026, without admitting it is being made.

The Terai is not a foreign appendage attached to the hills; it is part of the same human geography. Phansidewa and Bagdogra have substantial Nepali-speaking populations whose families have lived there for  generations, and the tea-garden workforce of the Terai is overwhelmingly Adivasi and Gorkha. Their political voice in district affairs has always run through hill institutions, hill parties and hill networks. Cutting off these blocks administratively is not a neutral change. It is a demographic rearrangement of political power.

Table 2: Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste populations in the affected blocks (Census 2011).

Limb by limb: the geography of a vanishing homeland

The Gorkhaland demand at its origin was for a contiguous territory of roughly thirteen thousand square kilometres covering the hills, the Terai and the Nepali-majority Dooars. Look at a map of that territory today and trace what has been taken from it, one administrative decision at a time.

The Dooars came off first. The Nepali-majority blocks of Banarhat, Birpara, Madarihat, Kalchini and Kumargram, with their tea-garden populations of Gorkha and Adivasi workers, were quietly removed from administrative consideration when Subash Ghisingh accepted the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in 1988.

The DGHC covered only the hills. The Dooars demand was deferred, with assurances that it would be addressed in a fuller settlement. It never was. Forty years later, those blocks remain in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts, administered by DMs who have no political stake in the Gorkha question.

An entire wing of the original homeland was traded for a hill council, and the hill leadership of the day accepted that trade.

The next reduction came with the 2011 GTA Act, when Bimal Gurung signed an agreement that covered the hills plus eighteen mouzas of Siliguri sub-division. Eighteen mouzas out of an originally claimed territory containing many more.

The rest of the Terai was again deferred. The political logic was familiar. A bigger council than the DGHC, more powers, more positions, more patronage. In exchange, a smaller territory than originally claimed. The Gorkha leadership of the day accepted that trade too.

Now the proposed Siliguri district takes those eighteen mouzas off the table altogether. After the carve-out, the Terai is no longer even nominally within reach of any future Gorkhaland settlement. What began as a claim to roughly thirteen thousand square kilometres of hills, Terai and Dooars is being reduced, by successive administrative decisions made over forty years, to roughly two thousand square kilometres of hills alone.

Each reduction was accepted by the hill leadership of the time on the same logic: the offer of a kingdom, however small, in exchange for the surrender of a claim, however historic.

It is worth saying this plainly, because no one in the hill leadership has been willing to. The geographical fragmentation of the Gorkha homeland has not happened only because successive state governments wanted it. It has happened because successive generations of hill leaders preferred the certainty of a position over the uncertainty of a principle.

Ghisingh chose the DGHC chairmanship over continuing the Gorkhaland agitation in its full territorial form. Gurung chose the GTA chief executive’s office over insisting on the full territorial scope of the original demand. Anit Thapa today runs a GTA whose boundaries were drawn by an agreement his predecessor signed and whose territorial claim he has not publicly insisted upon since taking office. Each generation of leadership has accepted a smaller body with greater personal authority in place of a larger claim with greater collective meaning. The Gorkhaland map has shrunk in exact proportion to the careers built on its diminution.

The Siliguri district proposal asks the current generation of hill leadership to make the same trade one more time. To accept the carve-out, quietly, in exchange for the continued running of a hill council whose territory shrinks every decade. If they accept it, the next reduction is not difficult to imagine. A future state government, looking at a Darjeeling district reduced to five hill blocks and seven lakh people, will note that the hills could be reorganised more efficiently still. There will be proposals to merge sub-divisions. To rationalise municipal boundaries. To absorb the GTA into a more compact administrative unit. Each of these will be presented as a small adjustment. Each will be accepted, if past is prologue, in exchange for some new sinecure.

The hill leadership must understand that there is no point at which this process stops by itself. It stops when the leadership refuses to trade territory for position. The Siliguri carve-out is the place to refuse. After it, there is not much left to refuse over.

Figure 3: The Gorkhaland territorial claim, compressed  across four decades.

The habit of protesting too late

There is a second pattern, related to the first, that the hills must break if any of the above arguments are to matter. It is the habit of reacting to decisions only after they have been finalised.

The history of the Gorkhaland movement, viewed honestly, is a history of bandhs called too late. The agitation of 1986 to 1988 came after decades of administrative decisions had already settled the status quo. The bandh of 2007 came after the DGHC’s territorial limits had been accepted for nineteen years. The bandh of 2013 came after the GTA Act of 2011 had already codified the eighteen-mouza compromise. The hundred-and-four-day bandh of 2017 came after the GTA was already a functioning institution running on the very terms the bandh purported to reject.

Each agitation was a protest against a decision the hill leadership had failed to oppose at the moment it was being made. Each ended in an exhausted negotiation that delivered less than the bandh had demanded.

This is not a coincidence of personalities. It is a structural failing of how hill politics has organised itself. The Gorkha public discourse mobilises around symbols and grievances after the administrative substance has been settled, rather than engaging with the administrative substance before it hardens. Decisions are taken in cabinet rooms in Kolkata and Delhi while hill leaders are touring constituencies.

By the time the gazette notification arrives, the political space for opposition has already collapsed into the narrow choice between a destructive bandh and a humiliating acceptance.

The proposed Siliguri district is, at this moment, still a proposal. It is a 2025 letter from a BJP MLA to a chief minister, picked up by a 2026 state government that may yet be persuaded to slow down. It has not been gazetted. It has not been notified. The asset-transfer arithmetic has not been published. The consultation with the GTA has not happened. The political risk assessment for the Gorkhaland and Kamtapur questions has not been written, let alone debated. This is the window in which proactive opposition can actually shape the outcome. After gazette notification, the only response left will be a bandh, by which time the carve-out will be administratively irreversible and a thousand crores of business will have been lost in the hills and the plains for a result that was decided months earlier.

The hills must learn, before another decade of reactive politics passes, that statehood is built in the years before the decision and not in the weeks after it. Memorandums must be filed now, while the proposal is still a letter. Legal opinions must be sought now, while the cabinet has not yet considered it. Cross-party hill meetings must be convened now, while the issue is still amenable to compromise.

The tea industry, the chambers of commerce, the university faculty, the GTA, the church and monastery networks must be persuaded to take public positions now, while their positions can still influence the drafting of the proposal. Memoranda submitted after gazette notification end up in archive folders. Memoranda submitted before it end up in cabinet briefing notes.

This requires a different kind of politics than the hill leadership has practised for forty years. It requires patience. It requires research. It requires the willingness to engage with state-government file numbers and central-government interlocutor schedules rather than with the more emotionally satisfying language of grievance.

It is, in short, the politics of foresight rather than the politics of reaction. The Gorkhaland movement, if it is to mean anything at this stage of its history, must learn to fight for its territory at the moment the territory is being redrawn, not in the months after the new map has been printed.

Table 3: Major Gorkhaland bandhs and the decisions they were reacting to.

Why every hill politician must speak, and what their silence so far reveals

This is what makes the silence of the hill leadership the single most disturbing feature of the present moment.

Anit Thapa’s Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha, which controls the GTA, has issued no public position on the Siliguri district proposal. Yet the GTA’s territorial coherence depends precisely on those eighteen Siliguri sub-division mouzas remaining within reach of any future settlement. BGPM lost the Darjeeling assembly seat to BJP’s Noman Rai in 2026. It cannot afford a second strategic loss by default.

Bimal Gurung’s Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, the original architect of the post-Ghisingh phase of the Gorkhaland movement, has been quiet. Mann Ghisingh’s Gorkha National Liberation Front, the formal custodian of the founding demand, has been quiet. Ajoy Edwards’ Hamro Party and the Indian Gorkha Janshakti Front, which built their political identity on a critique of the older parties’ inertia, have been quiet.

The two BJP MLAs who proposed this, Anandamay Barman and Shankar Ghosh, owe their constituents an explanation of how a separate Siliguri district is compatible with the Permanent Political Solution that their own party’s MP from Darjeeling, Raju Bista, has been demanding since 2019.

Bista himself has so far avoided the question. He cannot keep doing so. The Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency covers every assembly seat at stake. If its MP cannot articulate a position on whether these blocks belong administratively to the hills or to the plains, the seat itself has stopped speaking for its people.

The tea industry has stayed out of the conversation. So have the chambers of commerce, the hoteliers, the transport associations, the university faculty, the church and monastery networks. Each of them stands to be directly affected. Each of them has, until now, treated this as a debate for politicians. It is not. It is a debate about which DM signs which licence, which sub-divisional officer routes which welfare scheme, which Commissionerate registers which company.

Silence will not protect them from the consequences. It will only make them irrelevant to a decision being taken about them.

The right way to do this, if it must be done

We are not blind to the problems of Siliguri. None of this is an argument that Siliguri’s current governance arrangements are adequate. They are not. Siliguri’s urban agglomeration of more than twelve lakh people, expanding to roughly eighteen lakh across the wider area proposed for the new district, cannot reasonably be administered from a hill district headquarters more than seventy kilometres away.

The Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad model has run out of administrative road, and there is a legitimate case for stronger local governance for the Siliguri urban area, but the legitimate response to that problem is not a unilateral district carve-out.

It is, at minimum, three things. First, a public feasibility study covering revenue impact on Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri, the asset-transfer arithmetic, and a formal political risk assessment for the Gorkhaland and Kamtapur questions, published in full, not whispered between cabinet secretaries.

Second, a formal consultation with the GTA, with hill parties of every persuasion, with Adivasi and Rajbanshi community organisations whose ancestral territories are also at stake, and with the Centre’s Permanent Political Solution interlocutor.

Third, an explicit written commitment, gazetted, not merely promised, that the creation of any Siliguri district does not foreclose the territorial scope of the Gorkhaland settlement currently under negotiation and Siliguri if a district made will be a part of the state created.

If those three things cannot be done, the proposal should not proceed. If they can be done, the hills will have a fair say. Either way, the present trajectory of a 2025 MLA’s letter, a sympathetic 2026 government, no public study, no consultation and no commitment, is unacceptable.

First restore, then separate

If, despite all of the arguments above, the new state government is determined to proceed with a separate Siliguri district, there is one further principle that must be conceded before any line is drawn. It is a principle that gives the carve-out, at minimum, the moral cover of fairness rather than the appearance of theft.

It is this. For forty years, institutions and infrastructure built in the name of Darjeeling district have been physically placed in Siliguri, paid for out of allocations attributed to a district whose hill sub-divisions saw none of the actual investment. The University of North Bengal, the North Bengal Medical College, the North Bengal Dental College, the Tea Board’s Siliguri Regional Office, the Siliguri Tea Auction Centre, the Regulated Market for hill produce, the airport runway upgrades, the AH-grade highway alignments, the upgraded NH 10 to Sikkim. Every one of them was funded as Darjeeling district development. Every one of them serves the hills nominally. Very few of them serve the hills in practice. The hills have been the financial guarantor and the brand-name of a development pattern that has benefited the plains.

If Siliguri is now to be carved out as a separate district, those accumulated investments cannot simply walk out unaccompanied. The principle that must be established, in writing, in cabinet resolution, gazetted before any district notification, is that separation requires restitution.

What was built in the hills’ name must, before the line is drawn, either be relocated to serve the hills, or be financially settled in their favour, or be placed under joint administrative arrangements that guarantee hill access and a hill revenue-share.

In concrete terms, that means at least four things. First, a one-time capital settlement transferred from the new Siliguri district to the residual Darjeeling district, calculated on the audited share of central and state allocations attributed to Darjeeling district that were physically spent in Siliguri sub-division over the last twenty years.

Second, a commitment to build hill-located satellites of the major institutions. These would include a North Bengal University campus in Kurseong or Darjeeling, a tertiary referral hospital in the hills with referral parity to NBMCH, a tea auction sub-centre with priority handling for GI-marked Darjeeling tea, and a fully operational airstrip in the hills with state subsidy on essential connectivity routes.

Third, ongoing revenue-share arrangements on the trade of Darjeeling-branded produce, since the “Darjeeling” name remains owned by the hills regardless of which district handles the auction.

Fourth, joint administrative arrangements over the Siliguri Tea Auction Centre, the Tea Board Siliguri Regional Office and the Siliguri Regulated Market, with formal hill representation on their governing bodies.

These are not radical demands. They are the minimum that any honest district reorganisation in India should provide, and they have in fact been provided elsewhere.

When Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, the financial settlement between the two states ran into thousands of crores and inter-state asset-sharing arrangements continue to this day. When Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000, large parts of the legacy administrative apparatus were either physically relocated to Dehradun or settled in the new state’s favour. The Kalimpong carve-out of 2017, by contrast, transferred few accumulated assets because Kalimpong had few. The Alipurduar carve-out of 2014 was geographically clean.

Siliguri’s case is qualitatively different from both. It would take with it the single largest concentration of accumulated public investment in any West Bengal district bifurcation since the state was constituted. That makes the restitution principle non-negotiable.

The proposal currently on the table makes no such provision. It assumes, silently, that the hills will accept the carve-out and the asset transfer as a fait accompli. It assumes they have already conceded their claim to forty years of investment recorded in their name. The hills must insist on the opposite principle. Nothing leaves without an honest accounting. First restore, then separate. If the new state government refuses, the answer is straightforward. The carve-out cannot proceed.

A decision being made in your name

The people of Darjeeling district, in both the hills and the plains, are about to have a decision made about them without being asked. They will lose their airport, their medical college, their university, their international borders and the better part of their economic base. They will, in addition, lose the territorial integrity of a Gorkha claim that pre-dates Indian Independence itself, not by argument, not by referendum, not by parliamentary debate, but by an administrative notification quietly tabled at a state cabinet meeting and signed into effect.

This is the moment for the hill leadership to speak. The list of those who must speak includes BGPM, GJM, GNLF, Hamro Party, the BJP MP, the BJP MLAs who proposed it, the tea industry, the hoteliers, the academics, the church and monastery networks, and the civil society of Darjeeling town, Kurseong, Kalimpong and Mirik. Not in private channels. Not after the fact. In public, in print, in the Assembly, in the Lok Sabha, in the streets if necessary.

The case against this proposal can be made on revenue grounds, on connectivity grounds, on people’s welfare grounds, on Gorkhaland-question grounds. Any one of those would be sufficient. Taken together, they are overwhelming.

The hills have been told for forty years that their demands are too inconvenient, too divisive, too premature, too late. They have been asked to wait. While they have waited, the plains beneath them have been administered, developed, contested and, now, prepared to be detached.

The proposal to carve Siliguri out of Darjeeling is not a routine administrative reform. It is the most consequential territorial decision affecting the Gorkha people since the GTA Act of 2011, and it is being taken at a faster pace, with less consultation and with fewer legal safeguards.

If the hill leadership cannot find its voice now, when an airport, a university, a medical college, an international border and the territorial heart of its political identity are walking out of the district in a single move, it will not find that voice later. The carve-out, once gazetted, is unlikely to be reversed. The political claim, once fragmented, will be far harder to reassemble.

Speak now. Or accept that what comes next was decided in your silence.

Writes: Anjani Sharma Bhujel

The post Siliguri District and The Hollowing Out of Darjeeling – Beware appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

The West Bengal election results have been good for the people of Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars region. Maybe for the first time in the Assembly of West Bengal, we will have as many as five representatives. Everyone who desired for the regime change in West Bengal is rejoicing. The reasons for celebrating the results were many and legitimate, from a particular lens but if the larger picture is analysed then probably this result may not lead to the political change that the people have expected. 

The argument I am making is my own, the result of my volition and judgment of the situation. Not everyone may agree with it, but I sincerely hope that the rational and level-headed among us will give it a thought. Irrespective of how many representatives we have, and irrespective of the party in power, the West Bengal Assembly will not favour the creation of Gorkhaland state. 

The demand for the creation of Gorkhaland is based on the ethnic, cultural and linguistic differences we have with the rest of West Bengal. For many in Kolkata Darjeeling is a very important region in their imagination. They consider Darjeeling as an integral part of their legacy and history, which is based on a false understanding of history. It was a part of Nepal and Sikkim, in different periods in history and was ‘gifted’ by the Raja of Sikkim to the erstwhile British rulers. They seem to obliterate this from the history they refer to and create, when discussing the political situation in Darjeeling. I do not blame them for this. They are doing a duty towards their community and politics. The point is, we should also do our duty.

What is our duty then? Our duty is to unite and become one and brainstorm and redesign our demand and put it across the power corridors of Delhi and Kolkata. Can we do this? I do not think so. We cannot do this because there are too many factions and divisions among us. We have become pawns in the hands of the powerful. Darjeeling was so strong, politically, at one point in time because we were united and no leader from Kolkata would dare challenge us. It was also evident from the fact that every political parties trying to contest from Darjeeling would agree to our terms and conditions as alliance partners.

Till now, politiians in Darjeeling have been running around to make material gains, instead of striving for our collective aspirations. But the time for change has come. Now is the time to bury all our hatchets and join our hands in solidarity to fight for the creation of Gorkhaland. If the leaders still think only of themselves and not the cause, then we as Gorkhas will lose our existence and the cause of Gorkhaland will be lost forever.

The change in the politics of West Bengal has created a greater challenge for us. There will be a lot of materialistic development in our region, but there will be no concrete solution to our demand, except that we will become homo economicus-an entrepreneur of ourselves and eminently governable. Therefore, it is time we go back to the slogan that used to vibrate in the hills “Party Bhanda Jati Thulo, Jati Bhanda Mato”.

The public has to show the way, use their agency and force all the leaders to come together once again and move together towards our goal. We as a collective have committed many mistakes, knowingly and unknowingly but it is time that we act by forgetting the past mistakes but learning from it, understanding the present and preparing for the future. It is time that we push the shove together and with conviction for the shake of Gorkhaland.

Jai Gorkhaland!

The post Gorkhas Time to Unite for Gorkhaland is Now appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

Gorkha Politicians, if you guys really want to ensure Gorkha welfare – come together and work together. Your unity will strengthen the Gorkha cause – writes Upendra

BJP has won a historic mandate in West Bengal, and they are now in control of the state and the center. Soon they will control all the municipalities and panchayats as well. Having closely observed BJP and how they function, it is more than likely, they will introduce a fiscally liberal, but socially and politically conservative regime.

They will attract and encourage private investments in all sectors, the will build roads, highways, and provide basic infrastructure, even in remotest of places. They will be good for generating employment and entrepreneurial opportunities, and for providing a government that actually works for the people. For a state like West Bengal, which has been governed in a mafia like style with violence, threat intimidation, BJP will provide a welcome alternative.

However, I am worried, that this massive mandate will enable BJP to run the state in a vice-like grip. This may not bode well for ethnic minorities like the Gorkhas. While BJP has said they will ensure Constitutional Solution, but such arrangements may once again fail to meet our expectation. What happens then?

We have a window of six months maximum, in which we can still leverage our collective issues. But divided voices will drown out our demands. Hence, it will be prudent for Gorkhas to come together and unite.

I am writing this as a warning to all Gorkha politicians. You will not be able to save regionalism, or a space for Gorkhas, if you hand-over your autonomy to a national party, just because you cannot keep your ego aside against your own brother and blood. Your divisions has already benefited Bengal. If you continue to divide, we will continue to be governed from Kolkata and Delhi, not Darjeeling.

The only way we can protect our autonomy, and all of your political future as well, is by uniting. Bimal Gurung, Anit Thapa, Ajoy Edwards and Mann Ghising, if you guys really want to ensure Gorkha welfare – come together and work together. Your unity will strengthen the Gorkha cause. Keep your ego aside. Keep old hurts aside. Merge and form a strong united front. Don’t allow yourselves to be used against each other by Kolkata or Delhi anymore.

The post GORKHA POLITICIANS – If you want to save regionalism, merge appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

My son passed his 10th boards.

Not with the kind of marks that make society erupt into performative applause, but with enough to preserve something infinitely more valuable — his confidence, his dignity, and his belief in himself.

And I keep thinking: What if he hadn’t?

Would a few failed papers have suddenly transformed him into a lesser human being? Less intelligent? Less worthy of love, respect, or a future? What a brutal system — one that convinces children their value can be quantified before they have even discovered who they are.

For months, children are stripped of sleep, joy, and peace in the name of “success.” Homes become factories of anxiety. Parents call it discipline; often, it is fear masquerading as ambition.

An exam can measure memory and performance under pressure. It cannot measure character, resilience, compassion, creativity, emotional depth, or the ability to build a meaningful life.

The world is filled with highly accomplished people who are emotionally bankrupt, and equally filled with ordinary students who became extraordinary human beings. So no, I refuse to believe a marksheet determines destiny. Because long after the percentages are forgotten, a child remembers one thing: whether they were loved as a human being or evaluated as a project. And no academic achievement is worth the slow destruction of a child’s spirit.

My best friend wrote this on her social media page after the ICSE Class X results were declared on Thursday, and it stayed with me long after I finished reading. It wasn’t just moving. It was unsettling in the way truth often is. The kind that lingers quietly, refusing to be brushed aside.

As a mother of a child preparing for her Boards next year, I find myself standing at that familiar crossroads of hope and fear. There is the quiet hope that your child will do well, of course, but alongside it runs a steady current of anxiety, tension, and that ever-present “mummy worry” that never quite switches off. It sits with you at your workplace, your home, follows you into thoughts and conversations, and lingers even in moments that are meant to feel light.

Because Board exams in our country are not just academic milestones anymore. They slowly turn into emotional battlegrounds. Not only for children, but for entire families who begin to measure time, mood, and even self-worth around a set of dates on a calendar.

It often feels like walking a tightrope without a safety net. On one side is encouragement, on the other is pressure – and we are constantly trying to strike a balance without even knowing if we are getting it right. And all around us is noise. A relentless, almost celebratory obsession with “top scorers” flooding social media, newspapers, and television screens. Percentages flash like badges of honour. Toppers are interviewed, analysed, glorified. Success is loudly defined, repeatedly reinforced, and narrowly measured.

But in all this noise, there is a silence that feels almost deliberate.

What about those who didn’t top the charts? Those who fell short of expectations—others’ or their own? What about the average student, the one who tried quietly, consistently, but couldn’t translate effort into numbers? When did effort stop being enough?

And beyond them—what about their parents and guardians, who are navigating their own quiet storms of worry, disappointment, guilt, and helplessness? The ones who replay conversations in their heads, wondering if they pushed too hard—or not enough. The ones who must choose their words carefully, because even a casual remark can either steady a child or shatter what little confidence remains.

What about the friends who don’t know whether to celebrate or console? The classrooms that will reopen with invisible lines drawn between “successful” and “not quite there”? The homes where conversations will either grow softer or heavier?

And most importantly, what about these children themselves…standing at a fragile intersection of self-worth and societal validation, trying to make sense of where they stand in a world that seems to reduce them to a number?

Perhaps the real question we need to ask ourselves is this: when did marks become a measure of a child’s worth, rather than just a reflection of a moment in time?

Because long after the percentages fade and the headlines move on, what remains is far more lasting—the confidence we build, or the doubt we quietly plant.

These are the voices we rarely hear.
And maybe, these are the ones we need to listen to the most.

(Sarikah Atreya is a senior journalist and media personality from Sikkim)

The post Numbers, Noise, and the Quiet Truth appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

Chana Ghotala, also widely known as “chana dal ghotala” is causing the flutter in the Darjeeling region. There are allegations that nearly 14000 Metric Tonne of Chana/Dal allocated to the GTA has gone missing

We have with us a set of official documents, shared with us by IGJF leaders. We have compiled these documents into a timeline, along with supporting letters and email correspondence.

Together, these indicate a sequence of rapid and potentially irregular administrative actions by the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), Darjeeling, in relation to the requisitioning, processing, allocation and distribution of Chana (Bengal Gram) under the Government of India’s Bharat Dal scheme.

The Bharat Dal initiative aims to supply pulses at subsidized rates through cooperatives like the National Consumer Cooperative Federation of India Ltd. (NCCF) and NAFED to stabilize retail prices and meet dietary needs. However, the GTA’s implementation appears to have involved the swift appointment of an advisor, an immediate large-scale requisition, appointment of a private Kanpur-based firm as “Nodal Agency” without visible tender process, a substantial advance payment by that firm, and subsequent justifications amid apparent objections from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. The advisor, one Sanju Chettri later resigned in April 2025.

Chronological Timeline of Key Events

4 March 2024 – Appointment of Advisor

• GTA Notification (Order No. 1/EM/GTA/2024) appoints Sanju Chhetri as Advisor for Land & Land Reform, Agriculture, and Sericulture departments.
• The order is formally issued and signed by the Executive Member, in-charge of Agriculture, Land and Land Reforms and Sericulture, GTA and is widely circulated within GTA, taking immediate effect.

5 March 2024 – Requisition for 47,500 MT Chana (Ref AGRI/Bharat Dal/2023-24/01)

• A letter to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs requests 47,500 MT of Chana under the Bharat Dal scheme. Signed by Sanju Chhetri (on behalf of the Executive Member), the request follows just one day after his appointment.

8 April 2024 – Letter from Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution PS-03001/1/2023-PMC Pt-3 (E-32596)

• Ministry advises the National Consumer Cooperative Federation of India Ltd. (NCCF) may coordinate with GTA for supply of 14,000 MT Chana/Dal under Bharat Dal mechanism.
• Note the proposed allocation has been reduced to 14,000 MT which is significantly lower than requested 47500 MT.

9 July 2024 – Appointment of Private Firm (with no ref number)

• A letter signed by the Advisor Sanju Chettri appoints M/s Jeevshakti Products Pvt Ltd Ltd (CIN U74999UP2018PTC101881) as “Nodal Agency” for lifting, processing, packaging, and distribution.

Notable concerns:

• There’s no evidence of a tender or competitive selection process involved in the apppointment of this firm
• The letter has been issued on limited-circulation letterhead
• There seems to have been a minimal internal dissemination within GTA, but the Executive Member Agri, L&LRs Seri is kept in the loop

4 October 2024 – GTA Justification to Ministry Ref: DoAFW/GTA/07

• In the letter written by Sanju Chettri on GTA letter-head, he defends the arrangement of appointing a private firm, describing the firm as a “Nodal and Implementing Agency” rather than a private vendor.
• It cites lack of infrastructure in GTA, and requests phased release of stock.
• The response appears to follow queries or objections from central authorities.
• Letter claims, “JeevShakti Products Private Limited has made an upfront payment of Rs 2.26 crores on the 17th of September 2024, under UTR: ICICR52024091700423187, to NAFED’s A/c No: 110144034290 in Canara Bank.”

11 April 2025 – Resignation of Advisor

• Sanju Chhetri resigns via email, effective immediately.

Key Issues

1. Appointment and Role of the Advisor

• The documents confirm formal appointment but provide no information on qualifications, selection process, or scope of authority.
• Within one day, the advisor was involved in a major procurement request, raising questions about preparedness and mandate.

2. Unusually Rapid Requisition

• The requisition for 47,500 MT immediately the day after appointment, suggests either prior informal planning or an expedited decision-making process without documented internal consultation.

3. Appointment of Nodal Agency Without Visible Tender

• No records indicate a competitive bidding or tender process for selecting the private firm.
• The limited circulation of the appointment order further raises transparency concerns.

4. Unclear Contractual Terms

• No contract, agreement, or financial terms are included in the available documents.
• Critical details, such as commission, liability, risk-sharing, remain undocumented in the public record.

5. Advance Payment Structure

• The private firm deposited ₹2.25 crore directly with NAFED.
• The rationale, authorization, and proision for this arrangement are not clearly explained.

6. Lack of Outcome Transparency

There is no documentary evidence confirming:

• whether the allocated Chana was actually lifted,
• processed into dal,
• distributed to beneficiaries, or
• deposit to NAFED refunded if unused.

As of April 2026, the final status of the allocation remains unclear.

Outstanding Questions

• The documents establish a consistent sequence of events but also highlight significant gaps in transparency, documentation, and procedural clarity.

The “Daal Ghotala” allegations center on whether public resources and central scheme benefits were handled with due process or channeled through opaque, ad-hoc arrangements.

• possible bypassing of procurement norms,
• concentration of decision-making authority in a single appointed advisor,
• limited institutional oversight, and
• absence of verifiable outcomes for a public welfare scheme

To fully resolve these issues, formal clarification would be required from:

• GTA leadership, including the Chief Executive, Principal Secretary, and Executive Member in-charge of Agriculture, Land and Sericulture
• Sanju Chhetri, the advisor
• M/s Jeevshakti Products Pvt Ltd,
• Relevant central agencies (Ministry of Consumer Affairs, NAFED, NCCF)

Until such disclosures are made, the matter remains one of documented procedural concern rather than conclusively established wrongdoing.

We have reached out to all concerned, we are awaiting their response, and will post the same, as and when they respond.

LIST OF DOCUMENTS WE HAVE TILL NOW

The post “Chana Ghotala”? Irregularities in Gorkhaland Territorial Administration’s Handling of Bharat Dal Scheme (Chana Allocation) appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

Founded in 1976 by the legendary PTI journalist Late. Ram Patro sir, just a year after Sikkim’s merger with India, Sikkim Express(SE) has remained steadfast in their duty towards the people of Sikkim and in fostering democracy in the region. Today, as they complete five decades of service, SE has evolved from a small publication, to a vital pillar of democracy in Sikkim and the neighbouring Darjeeling-Kalimpong region as well.

In 2003, the new Editor-in-Chief Amit Patro, who was only 24-yrs old at that time transformed Sikkim Express into a daily newspaper, and changed the media landscape in the entire Sikkim-Darjeeling region. In a way, the growth of Sikkim Express has by and large mirrored Sikkim’s maturing from a small and isolated Himalayan kingdom, to one of the fastest developing states in India today.

My tryst with Sikkim Express began around 2013-14 when I sent them a few articles. In 2017, when Gorkhaland andolan broke out, and the West Bengal police made it impossible for me to report from Darjeeling, I had shifted my base to Sikkim temporarily. That is when I first met Amit Patro and his dedicated team of journalists.

When Darjeeling was silenced, it was Sikkim who spoke for us, and Sikkim Express had the loudest voice against the atrocities that were being meted out on the Gorkahs. It was Sikkim Express that connected numerous national newspapers and news outlets to the on-ground activists in Darjeeling and Kalimpong region. They did not let threat and intimidation from the powers that be, silence their voices, nor ours.

As Sikkim Express completes 50-years today, I cannot help but thank them for upholding objectivity, for upholding the values of journalism, for being the platform through which our region has learned to express ourselves. Your perseverance, dedicated and hard-working staff, and fearlessness in Sikkim, enable us to be courageous here in Darjeeling.

To the entire Sikkim Express team, past and present – we owe you a debt of gratitude. One which we will never be able to pay back, but which we honour every single day by upholding the values of journalism you represent.

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बंगालमा यसपालिको राजनीतिक चलखेल, हावा पहिलाभन्दा अलिक फरक र रोचक देखिन्छ। मुख्यतः सत्ताविरोधी लहर, परिवर्तनको लहरको तातो हावा चलीरहेको अनुभव गर्न सक्छौं। वर्तमान टीएमसी सरकारसित असन्तुष्ट जनता यसपालि सरकार फेरिएको हेर्न चाहान्छन्। त्यसरी नै पहाडमा गोर्खाल्याण्ड क्षेत्रिय प्रशासन जो विकलांग ब्यवस्था भनेर मानिने ब्यवस्थासित दिक्क मानी मानिसले नयाँ दिर्घकालिन ब्यवस्था तथा स्थायी राजनीतिक समाधान खोजीरहेको देखिन्छ।

२०१७ को जन आन्दोलन अनि शहिदहरू

पहाडमा चुनाव भन्नसाथ मानिस भावुक हुने र तृणमूल सरकारको बर्बरता र क्रुरतापुर्वक दमनले शहीदहरूका रगतपच्छे लाशहरूको सम्झाना दिलाउने कुरा बताउँछन् यहाँका सोझासाझा जनता। पहाडका जनतामा खरानीभित्र भएको झरिलो भुप्रो झैं आक्रोश छ। तर लुकाएर राख्न बाध्य छन् तानाशाही बंगाल सरकारको डरले। भन्छन्, “अलिकति बोल्यो कि मुद्दा हाल्दिने डर।”

“ती ११ जना शहीदरूको बलिदान पनि खेरो गयो जब दलाल, मिरजाफरहरूले १०४ दिनको बन्द र जनआन्दोलन लक्ष्यमा पुग्न नपाई बंगाल सरकारसंग सम्झौता गरे।” जनमानस दाँत किट्दै भन्छन्।

समग्रमा पहाडका मानिसको परिप्रेक्ष्यहरू बटुल्दा यो निर्वाचनलाई भावनात्मक दृष्टिकोणले हेरेको पाईन्छ। र जन आकांक्षामा आधारित जनताले अझै पनि तृणमूल सरकार र गोर्खाल्याण्ड क्षेत्रिय प्रशासनबाट उन्मुक्त भई पहाड तराई र डुवर्सलाई एउटा नयाँ पूर्ण व्यवस्थापकीय अधिकार प्राप्त स्वयत्त प्रशासनिक सेटअपको चाहाना राखेको बुझिन्छ।

विधायिकी शक्तिविहिन (Devoid of Legislative Power) र शक्तिहिन गोर्खाल्याण्ड क्षेत्रिय प्रशासन (GTA)

औपचारिक रूपमा १४ मार्च २०१२ मा स्थापित भएको गोर्खाल्याण्ड क्षेत्रीय प्रशासन (GTA) ले गोर्खाहरूको भाग्य र भविष्य निर्धारण गर्न असक्षम भएको कारणले नै पहाडका अधिकतम जनताले यसलाई नकार्दै आएका छन्। तर तिनताक र वर्तमान समयमा केही सत्तामा आसिन मानिसहरू ब्यवस्थालाई बंगालको डाडु पनिउँबाट पस्केको भाग जो ब्यक्ति बिशेष र धुपौरेहरूले आफ्ना स्वर्थपूर्तिको लागि पर्याप्त सम्झन्छन् तर गोर्खाहरूको हितमा र दार्जिलिङ, कालेबुङ, तराई र डुवर्सका सर्वाङ्गिन बिकाशको निम्ति वान-वान चोक्टा तिरिक् तिरिक् झोल मात्र हुन् भन्ने कुरो पहाडका वंचित भुक्तभोगीहरूलाई थाहा छ। शिक्षित जमातलाई थाहा छ तर मौन् छन्। कारण डर र त्रास।

यो GTA व्यवस्थालाई बाँदरको पुच्छर, लौरो न हतियार भन्दा कुनै अत्युक्ति हुँदैन कारण यो शक्तिहिन छ। यो व्यवस्थामा विधायिकी शक्ति छैन। गोर्खाहरूको हितमा विधि विधान, ऐन कानुन बनाउने क्षमता छैन। जो बनाउँछन् बंगाल सरकारले बनाउँछ । यसपालिको चुनाव घोषणा पत्रमा गोर्खाहरूको हितमा “ग” अक्षर सम्म लेख्न अनुचित ठाने तृणमूल सरकारले भनेपछि अनुमान लगाउँन सकिन्छ ममता सरकारलाई गोर्खाहरूको कति सरोकार छ भनेर। तर GTA (TMC Team A) का व्यक्तिवर्ग लाटाको देशमा गाँडा तन्नेरी भने झैं पहिचानको मुद्दालाई केही नामधारी न्यूनतम विकाशको बजेटमा बेचेर छाती फुलाएर हिँडछन्। अशिक्षित लाटा सोझा जनतालाई “बिकाश नै पहिचान हो” भनेर रट्नु लगाएको मानिसको भनाई छ।

पहाडका राजनितीक पार्टीहरूको DNA

पहाडको राजनीतिक पार्टीहरूमा बिमल गुरुङको गोजमुमो (GJMM), मन घिसिङको गोरामुमो (GNLF) अनि सीपीआरएमले (CPRM) बीजेपीसंग गठबन्धन गरेर बीजेपीलाई सघाउँदैछन्। अनि पहाडमा मन मिल्ने मानिसमाझको प्रचलित नारा -“चुपचाप् कमल छाप।” जनमानसको मुखमा झुन्डिएको छ भन्छन् रैथानेहरू।गोजमुमो र गोरामुमोले बीजेपीसंग गठबंधन गरी उमेद्वार दिएर असल काम गरेका छन्। अब यो दुई पार्टीले गर्न पनि के गरोस् त पहाडमा लगभग लोपोन्मुख अवस्थामा छन्।

अनितको भारतीय गोर्खा प्रजातान्त्रिक पार्टी (BGPM) नामको मात्र क्षेत्रिय पार्टी हो। ममता दिदीको पहाडको टीएमसी हो । उनारूले भन्छन्, पहाडमा विकाश गरेका छौं। खै कुन विकाशको कुरा गरेको बुझ्नै सकिन्न। अँ अलि अलि बाटो घाटो त बनायो, गाउँ घरमा समाज घरहरू बनायो। तर हाम्रो जातिले माँगेको विकाश त्यति मात्रै हो र?

ब्रिटिसकालिन संरचनाहरू, धरोहरू बाहेक अरू नयाँ संरचनाहरू कसैले बनाउने चेष्टा गर्यो? शैक्षिक संस्था, विधापिठ, महाविध्यालय, अत्याधुनिक अस्पताल , स्वस्थ्य केन्द्रहरू कहिले बनाउने पहाडमा? भएकै संरचनाहरू सडेर गईसके। भएकै प्रशिक्षण केन्द्रहरूमा तलकोहरू मात्र छन्। पहाडको पिउने पानीको गंभीर संकट, खस्कन्दो पर्यटन व्यवसायको जल्दोबल्दो मुद्दाहरू कसले हल गर्ने? शिक्षा जसले स्वस्थ्य समाज निर्माण गर्छ। शिक्षण संस्थामा पनि घोटाला गरी अवैध र अनैतिक ढंगमा अयोग्य शिक्षकहरूलाई नियुक्ति दिने जीटीए जस्तो प्रशासनलाई रद्ध तुल्याउनु हो भने यो बीजीपीएम पार्टीलाई सत्ताच्युत गराउनु नै पर्छ।

अजय एडवर्डको आईजीजेएफ (IGJF) पार्टीको लोकप्रियताको पारा निकै माथि चडदैछ। आफ्नै बलबुतामा उम्मेद्वारहरू खडा गरेको छ । केही गर्छ जस्तो छ यसपाली,भन्ने कुराको जिज्ञासामा मानिस भन्छन्, “केही गर्छ हैन भोट चै बिगार्छ। अलग राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको वकालत गर्ने पार्टी जन्मेको दुई साल त भयो तर राजनीतिको हावा कताबाट चल्दैछ भेउ नै नपाको हो कि भित्रभित्रै खेल खेलेको हो। मानिसहरूले शंका गरी रहेका छन्। कतिले तृणमूलकै टीम पनि भन्दैछन्। राज्यमा सत्ताविरोधी लहर चलीरहेको छ तर खै राज्य सरकार र जीटीएको घोर बिरोध चै गर्छ तर साधारण हिसाब बुझ्दा पनि पहाडको सत्ताधारी तृणमूल (बीजीपीएम) लाई सत्तच्यूत गराउनु हो र पश्चिम बंगालमा सत्ता परिवर्तन चाहाने हो भने त बीजेपीलाई सघाएर बीजेपीको भोट कनसोलीडेट गर्नुपर्ने होइन र? अजय र अभिसेकको जोडीले बीजेपीलाई निकै धक्का पुर्याउँछ जस्तो छ!”

गोर्खा बिरोधी टीएमसी, बीजेपीको घोषणा पत्र अनि राजनीतिक इच्छाशक्ति

टीएमसी गोर्खा बिरोधी पार्टी हो भन्दा दुईमत नहोला कारण २०१७ को जनआन्दोलन यही पार्टीको भाषिक अतिक्रमणले गर्दा भएको थियो। गोर्खाहरूको शान्तिमय जनआन्दोलनमाथि क्रुरतापूर्वक दमनले कतिले ज्यान गुमाए। बंगला भाषा थोप्ने तृणमूल सरकारको षडयन्त्र र अभिप्रायले गोर्खाहरूको जातित्व र पहिचानको नामोनिशान मिटाउने प्रयासलाई स्वाभिमानी गोर्खाहरूले बिफल तुल्याएका थिए। त्यही स्वाभिमानी गोर्खाहरू आजको दिनमा पनि ममताको तृणमूललाई सत्ताच्युत गराउन कम्मर कसेको जनमानसको खरानीभित्रको भरिलो भुप्रो सरह आक्रोशमा अनुभव गर्न सकिन्छ।

साल २००९ मा जब बीजेपीको बंगालमा कुनै अस्तित्व नहुँदादेखि यस पार्टीलाई दार्जिलिङ, कालेबुङ, तराई र डुवर्सका गोर्खाहरूले आधारशिला प्रदान गरेका थिए। यही भूमिमा पाईला टेकेर बीजेपीले बंगालमा दह्रिलो गढ बनाउने यात्रा शुरू गरेका थिए। तिनताक र वर्तमान समयसम्म गोर्खाहरूले लोकसभा अनि विधानसभा चुनावहरूमा भारी मतले बीजेपीलाई बिजय गराउदै आएता पनि बीजेपीले पहाड तराई डुवर्सका जनआकांक्षा पूरा नगरेको जनमानसको गुणासो छ। केवल झुठो आश्वासन मात्र गरेको आरोप लाग्दै आएको बिजेपीले २०१९ को लोकसभा चुनावको घोषणापत्रमा गोर्खाहरूका निम्ति” स्थायी राजनीतिक समाधान” को कुरा उल्लेख गरेका थिए र यस विधानसभा चुनावको घोषणापत्रमा पनि गोर्खाहरूको महत्वपुर्ण मुद्धाहरूको समाधान गर्ने संकल्प गरेका छन्।

यसमध्ये विशेष “पहाडी क्षेत्रलाई संवैधानिक प्रावधान अनुरूप स्थायी राजनीतिक समाधान” प्रदान गर्ने संकल्प दोहोराएका छन् जसलाई बीजेपीको राष्ट्रिय स्तरमा गरिने कार्यशैली हेर्दा र देशको प्रमुख मुद्दाहरूको समाधान गरेका कामहरूलाई हेर्दा तथा बीजेपीको राजनीतिक इच्छाशक्तिलाई हेर्दा बंगालमा सत्ता हासिल गर्नसाथ गोर्खाहरूको मुद्दालाई पनि सम्बोधन गर्ने प्रबल सम्भावनाको अपेक्षा गर्न सकिन्छ भनेर विश्वास गरेका छन् पहाडका मानिसले।

भारतीय जनता पार्टी (बीजेपी) जसलाई देशमा एउटा बलियो राजनीतिक इच्छाशक्ति भएको पार्टीको रूपमा मानिन्छ जसले राष्ट्रको हितमा विभिन्न मुद्धाहरूलाई सम्बोधन गरी समाधान गरेका छन्। धृढ संकल्प र साहसपुर्वक मुद्धाहरू समाधान गर्ने मोदी सरकारले फत्ते गरेका राष्ट्रको मुख्य मुद्धाहरू हुन् ;

सत्ता परिवर्तन र गोर्खाहरूको भविष्य

बंगालमा सत्ताबिरोधी लहर चलीरहेको छ। जनता तृणमूल सरकारलाई सत्ताबाट उखालेर फ्याक्न चाहान्छन्। यस समय फलाम तातिएको छ। गोर्खाहरूले २०१७ को तृणमूल सरकारको बर्बरता र अत्याचारको साटो फेर्ने मौका फेरि कहिले नपाउला। तृणमूल सरकारको बिरूद्धमा एक एक भोट ती शहीदहरूलाई सांचो श्रद्धाञ्जली हुनेछ। ममताको तृणमूल सरकार र गोर्खाल्याण्ड क्षेत्रिय प्रशासनले कहिले पनि गोर्खाहरूको हितमा काम गरेनन् र गर्ने पनि छैनन्। यो GTA विकलाङ व्यवस्थाले गोर्खाहरूको भाग्य र भविष्य निर्धारण गरेन र गर्न सक्ने पनि छैन। पहाड प्रतिभा पलायनले ग्रस्त छ। हाम्रा हजारौं शिक्षित बेरोजगार युवाहरू विदेश पलायन हुन बाध्य छन् कारण बंगालले रोजगार दिनु सकेको छैन । जीटीएले आफ्नो खल्तीमा लुकाको भ्रष्टचारको पैसाले रोजगार दिनु सक्दैन।

बंगालमा ममता सरकार ढल्ने संकेत ममताले नै भविष्यवाणी गरी सकेकी कुरा उनको ,”बंगालमा बीजेपीले सरकार बनाउनसाथ बंगाललाई तीन भागमा विभाजन गर्नेछ।” भन्ने वयानले जनाइसकेको छ। तीन भागमा विभाजनको कुरा चै जनतालाई भ्रममा पार्ने अतिशयोक्ति (बढाइचढाइ) मात्र हो । तर त्यसमा उत्तर बंगाललाई (North Bengal) विकाशित गर्नलाई अलग्गै छुटाउने कुरा लगभग तयार भईसकेको बीजेपीको संकेत चुनावी घोषणापत्र मार्फत पनि छर्लङ्ग बुझिन्छ।

गोर्खाहरूको हितमा संकल्प गरिएका बुंदाहरू मध्ये “गोर्खाहरूको आकांक्षालाई सम्मान गर्दै संवैधानिक प्रावधान अनुरूप स्थायी राजनीतिक समाधान गरिने कुराले ठूलो आश्वासन पाएको र “बीजेपीले यो संकल्प पूरा गर्छ” भन्दै पहाडमा जनमानसले विश्वास व्यक्त गरेको बुझिन्छ। र शिक्षितवर्ग र बुढापाकाले यसपालिको भोटलाई ती शहीदहरू र टीएमसीको गोर्खाहरूको जातित्व, सांस्कृतिक पहिचानमाथि बारम्बार गरिने आक्रमणलाई सम्झी र बीजेपीले दिएको गोर्खाहरूको मुद्धालाई समाधान गर्ने संकल्पलाई सम्झी दुवै भावनात्मक र ब्यवहारिक दृष्टिकोणले टीएमसीलाई सत्ताच्युत गर्ने अभिप्रायले “चुपचाप कमल छाप” नारालाई भोटको दिन सार्थक तुल्याउने साधारण जनतादेखि लिएर समाजका “मौन योद्धा” (Silent Warriors) ले धृढ संकल्प गरेको कुरा जनमानसविच तीव्र गतिमा फैलिएको बुझिन्छ।

एक एक भोट टीएमसीको बिरूद्धले नै अनि बंगालमा बीजेपीको उदयले मात्र गोर्खाहरूको भाग्य र भविष्य निर्धारण गर्नेछ भन्ने कुरामा विश्वास्त पहाड तराई अनि डुवर्सका गोर्खाहरूले २३ अप्रेल २०२६ को दिनलाई पर्खीरहेका बताएका छन् ।

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Interlocutor ToR includes “Addressing Gorkha Aspirations within the constitutional framework.”

Answering to a question raised by the Trinamool Congress MP from Maturapur, Bapi Halder, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityananda Rai has informed the Lok Sabha that the Government of India had “appointed an Interlocutor to hold constructive dialogue with various stakeholders”, as “there was no representation of the Government of West Bengal in two tripartite meetings, and no substantial representation in one meeting”, held on issues related to the Gorkha community.

The Minister said the “Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) was formed following a tripartite agreement in 2011 between the Government of India, the Government of Bengal and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. In July 2017, all elected members of the GTA resigned. In view of the absence of elected members in the GTA and repeated requests for dialogue by Gorkha leaders, the Home Ministry convened three tripartite meetings on October 7, 2020, October 12, 2021, and April 3, 2025.

Subsequently, the Government of India appointed an Interlocutor fromer Dy NSA and IPS Officer Pankaj Kumar Singh to engage with various stakeholders, including representatives of Gorkha organizations, on issues concerning Gorkhas.

The interlocutor’s term is one year. The interlocutor will engage in constructive dialogue with various stakeholders and suggest measures to resolve these issues.

The Terms of Reference (ToR) for the interlocutor are as follows:

(i) To undertake constructive dialogue with various stakeholders including representatives of Gorkha organizations on the issues relating to Gorkhas in Darjeeling Hills, Tarai and Dooars region of West Bengal and suggest measures to resolve issues and roadmap in this regard.

(ii) To hold discussions with other stakeholders in Darjeeling Hills, Tarai and Dooars region of West Bengal in this regard.

(iii) Recommend measures for socio-economic upliftment, cultural recognition, and preservation of cultural heritage of Gorkhas in the region, and addressing their aspirations within the Constitutional framework.

It should be noted that interlocutor former Dy NSA Pankaj Kuma Singh (IPS) has been visiting the Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars region, and has held talks with various representatives here.

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Curious we asked who the baker was, and we were pointed to a dynamic young man, Sanjok Gurung originally from Marybong T.E.

We sat down for a short interview with him….

TheDC: How and when did you decide to take up baking as a profession. What inspired you?

Sanjok: The decision to take up baking wasn’t premeditated or planned I was always drawn to the F&B industry and wanted to build something of my own. After BBA and MBA, with internships and industry exposure, I explored different roles, including event management and later HR at Hindustan Coca-Cola.

I moved into banking due to family priorities but felt unfulfilled. I wanted ownership of my work and time. Since my baking turned out well, I began experimenting, learning from scratch, and investing in professional training at IBPA, Delhi.

With family support and growing orders, I took a leap of faith and started Cake Crush in Salbari in 2018 with no Plan B.

TheDC: How difficult was the shift from Banking to Baking?

Sanjok: The transition wasn’t very tough but wasn’t easy either; my better half however was convinced that I would make a much better baker than a banker.

I left behind a stable salary for entrepreneurship, where I handle everything – production, marketing, accounts, and delivery.

But, I am thankful for all the Orders that came in, it made the transition easy. If I hadn’t received so many orders initially when I started it would have been very demotivating and I would have questioned and considered getting back to Banking. I’m grateful for the Clients who have been kind and supportive.

TheDC: Did your family support your decision?

Sanjok: Absolutely. Family support, both emotional and financial is crucial in this field.  Family support decides if any business thrives or dies.

Initially and even now, I consider them my team. The long hours and pressure are intense, but my discipline and consistency helped earn their trust. Today, they’re my biggest support system.

TheDC: When did Cake Crush start? What challenges did you face?

Sanjok: I started Cake Crush in 2018. Early challenges included lack of skilled help, limited suppliers, minimal access to information, and managing inventory and wastage.

I learned through experience, attended fairs, and kept upgrading my knowledge and skills.

TheDC: So what is the most satisfying part of being a baker?

Sanjok: The most satisfying part of Being a baker, is that I have a close, warm bonding with my customers. I’ve been part of their journeys—from engagements to weddings to birthdays. My cakes are part of their milestones.

I also love contributing to the community, training young people and creating products like healthy, local-ingredient-based cookies at Gorkhey Haat.

Baking gives me both happiness and challenges, but I wouldn’t go back to banking.

TheDC: Where do you see yourself in the next five years?

Sanjok: My Dream is to get Commissioned for cakes that are celebratory, luxurious, colossal, detailed and demand engineering precision, structural planning, artistic sculpting and culinary ability and are challenging. I also want to make quality cakes accessible at every budget.

I hope to open another outlet, take on more creative projects, and continue building meaningful work in the industry.

TheDC: What advice would you give someone, who wants to follow on your footsteps?

Sanjok: My advice would be, if time, finance permits then, be trained professionally, and work in a professional set up before opening your own venture. The experience is Priceless. Start small, find your niche, and focus on fundamentals.

Keep learning, price your work wisely. More importantly, develop your own style, don’t just copy trends, this is what truly makes us Artists.

Even though every baker’s journey is unique, I am always ready to help you out, if you seek my help.

You can reach out to Sanjok Gurung at: Cake Crush, Panchnai Enclave, Salbari/Shop no.103, or Upper Basement, Citycentre, Siliguri 734009

The post Sanjok Gurung – Baking happiness, one cake at a time appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.