Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09KOLKATA130
2009-05-19 11:35:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Kolkata
Cable title:  

GORKHAS SUPPORT BJP TO FURTHER GORKHALAND STATEHOOD

Tags:  PGOV ASEC IN 
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VZCZCXRO7837
RR RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPW
DE RUEHCI #0130/01 1391135
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191135Z MAY 09
FM AMCONSUL KOLKATA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2361
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 2898
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KOLKATA 000130 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/INSB

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ASEC IN
SUBJECT: GORKHAS SUPPORT BJP TO FURTHER GORKHALAND STATEHOOD
MOVEMENT

REF: 08 KOLKATA 66

KOLKATA 00000130 001.2 OF 002


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KOLKATA 000130

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/INSB

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ASEC IN
SUBJECT: GORKHAS SUPPORT BJP TO FURTHER GORKHALAND STATEHOOD
MOVEMENT

REF: 08 KOLKATA 66

KOLKATA 00000130 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) Summary: Voters in the West Bengal Darjeeling
constituency elected the state's only Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) successful candidate to parliament as part of their
ongoing movement for the creation of a new "Gorkhaland" state
within the Indian Union. The political organization Gorkha Jan
Mukti Morcha (GJMM) decided to support the BJP after the
national party had decided to "sympathetically consider" its
demand for statehood. The movement has remained non-violent as
the GJMM leadership pursues a political strategy for building
national level support for its cause, as contrasted with the
violent separatist movements in the Northeast. Before achieving
statehood the GJMM will have to address the tribal population's
concerns about the proposed state's boundaries and the West
Bengal voter's emotional attachment to Darjeeling and the
historical scars of the previous partition of Bengal. Neither
the ruling state party nor the opposition is likely to touch the
controversial issue of statehood as neither wants to alienate
any potential voter before the next state assembly elections
anticipated for 2011. Local sentiment revolves not around if,
but rather when and what form, a new state of Darjeeling will
assume. PolOFF traveled to Darjeeling and Dooars from May 4 - 8
to prepare this report. End Summary.

Darjeeling - Queen of the Hills


2. (SBU) Since 1907, Gorkhas, who are ethnically Nepali, have
sought a distinct political identity in Darjeeling, in the
northern portion of West Bengal bordering Nepal, Bhutan and
Bangladesh. The GJMM has demanded roughly 7,000 square
kilometers for a separate state with approximately 2.6 million
inhabitants spread across the Hills of Darjeeling, where they
represent an overwhelming majority, and the contiguous plains of
Dooars, where they co-exist with tribals and other ethnicities.
While the district seat is in Darjeeling, the largest city is
Siliguri - an important trade and transit town. The area is
strategically important as India's 22-kilometer wide
chicken-neck connecting the northeastern states with "mainland"
India. Darjeeling, best known for its premium tea and as a
tourism destination, is referred to as the "Queen of the Hills".

Bimal Gurung's GJMM Displaces Ghising's DGHC


3. (SBU) Bimal Gurung established the GJMM in 2007 to further
the cause of statehood (Reftel). He displaced the previous
Gorkha leader Subash Ghising, who had led the local
administrative body, the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC).
The Council is effectively defunct as its members have resigned
and a non-elected administrator is currently overseeing the
basic delivery of municipal and development services. Ghising
was widely unpopular due to alleged corruption and
administrative incompetency. In 1988, a tripartite agreement
involving the Government of India, the Government of West Bengal
and the Gorka National Liberation Front created the Darjeeling
Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) with a limited amount of
administrative autonomy to end the violent conflict that had
claimed more than 1,200 lives.

Non-Violent Political Statehood Movement


4. (SBU) GJMM central committee member Amar Lama re-affirmed the
movement's political and non-violent nature in a May 6 meeting
with PolOFF. According to Lama, GJMM had sought national party
support for the issue, rather than field its own parliamentary
candidate, as it believed it a more effective strategy of
raising national attention. It approached both the Congress and
the BJP for political support, but only the BJP was willing to
include consideration of their cause in its manifesto. (The BJP
has an insignificant presence in West Bengal, no BJP
parliamentarians from West Bengal in the last parliament, and
nothing to lose politically through its support of the
controversial measure.)


5. (SBU) The current iteration of the Gorkhaland statehood
movement is expressly non-violent and has largely remained so,
with the exception of the rare minor skirmishes at public
demonstrations. At no time have international or domestic
visitors to the popular tourist destination been targeted or
victims of crime. Tourists may be affected by vehicle strikes
or labor unrest, such as when GJMM leaders called for a
temporary strike in July 2008. Local police, reporting though
their traditional chain of command, are responsible for law and
order in the Hills and Plains and take appropriate measures to
ensure public gatherings remain orderly. Additional public
demonstrations, by either the Gorkhas or the tribals, may be
expected; however, they will maintain their peaceful nature.

KOLKATA 00000130 002.2 OF 002



Challenges to Statehood: Boundaries and Emotions


6. (SBU) Proponents of Gorkhaland will have to address the
tribal population's concerns about the proposed state's
boundaries and the West Bengal voter's emotional attachment to
Darjeeling. The GJMM has demanded both the ethnically
homogenous Gorkha Hills and the more heterogeneous Plains, where
the tribals are numerically superior. A leader of the tribal
organization Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parisad told PolOFF
that the tribals are not against the Gorkhaland demand for
statehood in the Hills, but that this demand should not extend
to the Plains. The more difficult question may be the further
partition of the state of West Bengal, which has already been
once attempted (1905) and once realized (1947). Bengalis are
fond of their state stretching from the Bay of Bengal to the
Hills of Darjeeling and are unlikely to willingly cede
Darjeeling to Gorkhaland. Some interlocutors have spoken about
the possibility of the administrative unit of a Union Territory
within India, as opposed to a state, as this can be created by
an Act of Parliament without the consent of the state assembly.
However, the GJMM is resolute in its demand for statehood and
furthermore believes that the consent of the state affected is
not required. Constitutional law is unclear on this point,
although precedent dictates that the affected states concur.

Comment


7. (SBU) Most interlocutors, Bengali or non-Bengali alike,
concede that a political resolution of the Gorkhaland question
will happen, the only question is when and in what form. The
GJMM leadership of the Gorkhaland statehood movement has moved
one step closer to its end goal through their support of the BJP
and its inclusion of the "sympathetic consideration" of the
Gorkhaland demand in its manifesto. With Congress and the
United Progressive Alliance returning to power at the national
level in the recent parliamentary polls, and the state parties
unlikely to touch the controversial issue before the state
assembly polls in 2011, Gorkhaland by 2010 may be less likely
today than before the elections had taken place. However, the
Gorkhas can expect the new BJP parliamentarian from the
Darjeeling constituency in the current state of West Bengal, the
influential and former Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, to
tacitly voice their demand for a separate state in the new
parliament.
TAYLOR