DARJEELING hills have been engulfed in a violent agitation which has paralysed normal life. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) call for an indefinite strike has shut down all activities. Three GJM supporters have died as a result of police firing and one police officer was killed.

The GJM has revived its demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland. The agitation was sparked off by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s provocative statement that Bengali would be taught compulsorily in all schools in the state. This naturally evoked anger among the hill people, where Nepali is the medium of instruction. Though Mamata later clarified that the order would not apply to Darjeeling, the damage had been done.

Mamata Banerjee and the TMC had actually encouraged the GJM and allied with it during the 2011 assembly elections in order to fight the Left Front. Subsequently, the TMC government along with the Centre singed an agreement with the GJM to set up a Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) to replace the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council which was set up in 1988.

However, the TMC government rode roughshod over the GTA on various issues. The falling out of the GJM and TMC has come in the wake of the latter’s determined efforts to develop a political base in the hills at the cost of the GJM. During the recent municipal elections, the TMC had an understanding with the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), the erstwhile premier organisation, led by late Subhash Ghising. The TMC was able to win one of the four municipalities in the hills – Mirik. The GJM has been seeking an opportunity to strike back and that was provided by the language announcement.

The CPI(M) has consistently advocated regional autonomy with meaningful powers for the progress and betterment of the hill areas. That is why in 2005, the Left Front had signed an agreement with the GNLF for according the hill council autonomous status under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. This however was opposed by the GJM and could not be implemented.

The BJP has also contributed to the separatist politics in Darjeeling. Both in 2004 and 2014 the BJP allied with the GJM and got its MP elected from Darjeeling. It had in its election manifesto promised to consider the demand for Gorkhaland. Thus, the opportunist politics of both the TMC and the BJP have contributed to the sustenance of separatism in the Darjeeling hills.

The state government is seeking to suppress the agitation with a heavy hand. Central police forces and the army have also been deployed. But the problem cannot be resolved except through negotiations at the tripartite level between the central government, state government and the GJM. The state government should stop the use of police repression and call for talks. The Central government should immediately take the initiative to call tripartite talks and the GJM should call off the agitation and participate in these talks.