VZCZCXRO3153
RR RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPW
DE RUEHCI #0215/01 2151120
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031120Z AUG 09
FM AMCONSUL KOLKATA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2438
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/DIA FT BELVOIR
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 3008

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KOLKATA 000215 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/INSB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ASEC CASC IN
SUBJECT: GORKHAS PURSUE POLITICAL STRATEGY TO FURTHER STATEHOOD 
MOVEMENT 
 
REF: A. A) KOLKATA 130 
     ¶B. B) 08 KOLKATA 179 
     ¶C. C) 08 KOLKATA 177 
     ¶D. D) 08 KOLKATA 66 
 
KOLKATA 00000215  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  For the past two years, the new political 
party Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) has increased its efforts 
to carve out a new Indian state - Gorkhaland - from the existing 
state of West Bengal.  Like other political parties in West 
Bengal, GJMM uses force and intimidation but it is not an armed 
insurgency.  To further its cause, the GJMM has boycotted the 
now-defunct local governance body, organized strikes, and 
encouraged residents to withhold revenue and utility payments to 
the state government.  The GJMM decision to support Jaswant 
Singh, a senior politician from the national opposition party 
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), rather than field its own 
candidate in the recent 2009 parliamentary polls, has increased 
public awareness of the Gorkhaland cause, but is unlikely to 
result in any national legislative action.  Local sentiment in 
the affected area revolves not around if, but rather when and 
with what boundaries, a new state will arise.  However, the West 
Bengal state government and most political parties, with the 
exception of the BJP, remain steadfastly opposed.  While the 
GJMM has been able to get the central and state governments to 
agree to tripartite talks, the realization of its goal of a new 
Gorkhaland state by 2010 is difficult to imagine.  This cable 
replaces Reftel A. 
 
 
Darjeeling - Queen of the Hills and "Capital of Gorkhaland?" 
 
¶2. (SBU) Darjeeling is the name of an administrative district 
and a city in the northern portion of West Bengal bordering 
Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.  There is a large Indian army 
presence in this strategically important area, which connects 
the remote northeastern states with mainland India.  Darjeeling 
is best known for its premium tea and as a destination for local 
and foreign, including American tourists.  It is affectionately 
referred to as the Queen of the Hills, as the most beautiful and 
charming of all of the Indian hill stations.  The district can 
be roughly divided into two areas: the Darjeeling Hills and the 
Dooars Plains.  While the city of Darjeeling, also the 
district's administrative seat, lies in the Hills, the largest 
city in the district is the important trade and transit town of 
Siliguri in the Plains.  The GJMM has demanded roughly 7,000 
square kilometers for a separate state which it calls Gorkhaland 
with approximately 2.6 million inhabitants spread across the 
Hills, where they represent an overwhelming majority, and the 
contiguous Plains, where they are a minority among tribals and 
other ethnicities. 
 
 
 
The Birth of Bimal Gurung's GJMM 
 
¶3. (SBU) In 2007 Bimal Gurung established the GJMM to further 
the cause of statehood (Reftel D).  Gurung exiled his former 
boss, Subash Ghising, who had led the local administrative body, 
the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), after prevailing in a 
power struggle.  The DGHC had been formed as a result of the 
1988 tripartite agreement involving the Government of India, the 
Government of West Bengal and the Gorkha National Liberation 
Front, which had ended the violent 1986-1988 agitation that had 
claimed 1,200 lives.  The DGHC is now effectively defunct as its 
members have resigned and a non-elected administrator is 
currently overseeing the basic delivery of municipal and 
development services.  Ghising remains exiled from the 
Darjeeling Hills, and widely unpopular within the Gorkha 
community due to his alleged corruption and administrative 
incompetency. 
 
 
Tactics of a Political Movement: Withholding Payment and Striking 
 
¶4. (SBU) During a meeting with PolOFF on May 6, GJMM central 
committee member Amar Lama explained the current Gorkhaland 
movement's democratic, political nature.  He asserted that they 
are using non-cooperation and strikes as tactics to force the 
state government to agree to a Gorkhaland state.  For example, 
since April 2008 residents of the Hills have not paid municipal 
taxes or electrical or telephone bills (services which continue 
to be provided despite non-payment).  He acknowledged the 
disruptive and inconvenient nature of the strikes targeting 
commerce and transportation, but indicated that the GJMM found 
them a useful tactic to generate awareness for their cause and 
force the state government to sit and talk.  The most recent 
two-week strike in July was widely observed by shops and offices 
and there were no reported incidents of violence, in contrast 
 
KOLKATA 00000215  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
with last year's strike (See Reftels B, C).  The strike was 
successful in forcing the government to agree to a third round 
of tripartite talks scheduled to take place on August 11.  The 
GJMM has also formed a several thousand member strong community 
policing force known as Gorkhaland Personnel.  They generally 
wear uniforms and carry batons.  There have been no recent 
reports of the GJMM or its youth wing taking part in any lethal 
arms training or collaborating with any of the banned armed 
insurgent groups operating in West Bengal or the Northeast. 
 
 
Seeking Political Support for Gorkhaland 
 
¶5. (SBU) According to Lama, the GJMM supported BJP after the 
national party decided to "sympathetically consider" its demand 
for statehood.  Rather than field its own parliamentary 
candidate, the GJMM believed having a Member of Parliament from 
a national party would bring national attention to its quest for 
a Gorkhaland state.  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 idea of a 
separate Gorkhaland state, while popular among Gorkhas in 
Darjeeling, remains unpopular throughout the rest of the state. 
Since the BJP has an insignificant presence in West Bengal, it 
has little to lose politically by supporting Gorkhaland. 
 
 
Challenges to Statehood: Boundaries and Emotions 
 
¶6. (SBU) In order to gain additional political support, 
proponents of Gorkhaland will have to address Darjeeling's 
tribal population's concerns about the proposed state's 
boundaries and Bengali's emotional attachment to Darjeeling. 
The GJMM has demanded both the ethnically homogenous Gorkha 
Hills, where the majority of the population are Nepalese, and 
the more heterogeneous Plains, where the tribals dominate.  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 (1905-1911), and 
once realized (1947).  Bengalis are proud 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, including private, unofficial comments from 
Eastern Army Commander LTG Singh, have spoken about the 
hypothetical possibility of a portion of Darjeeling becoming 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 
full statehood and furthermore believes that the consent of West 
Bengal is not required.  While Indian Constitutional law is 
unclear on this point, precedent has been that the affected 
states concur. 
 
 
Comment 
 
¶7. (SBU) Given the popular support among the Gorkhas in 
Darjeeling, it is very likely that Gorkhas will eventually 
achieve some form of political separation from West Bengal, the 
only questions are when, in what form, and through which means. 
The GJMM appears to have matured in its strategic thinking, 
minimizing the use of violence and focusing on politically 
acceptable forms of protest such as disruptive strikes, 
withholding payment and addressing the issue in Parliament to 
pressure the state and central government to negotiate.  The 
lack of violence during the recent July strike is an encouraging 
sign as the current movement appears to be eschewing the violent 
tactics of the 1980s in favor of dialogue.  However, like other 
political parties in West Bengal, the GJMM still appears to use 
intimidation and the threat of force to gain political support 
and enforce strikes.  While Darjeeling's new parliamentary 
representative Jaswant Singh may be able to accomplish little 
legislatively given the weak position of the BJP, he has already 
been able to highlight the quest for Gorkhaland in Parliament 
and may be able to generate greater national awareness for 
Gorkhaland.  It is unlikely that any West Bengal politician, 
from either the ruling or opposition parties, will support a 
separate Gorkhaland state, given the emotional connection upper 
class Bengalis have with the Darjeeling Hills and the painful 
memories many Bengalis have of the 1947 partition of Bengal. 
While the GJMM has been able to get the central and state 
governments to agree to a new round of tripartite talks, the 
realization of its goal of a new Gorkhaland state by 2010 is 
difficult to imagine. 
PAYNE