Hate campaign in statehood’s name is not done
With a separate State of Telangana now on the anvil, similar long-standing demands for statehood have expectedly gained momentum across the country. Emotions are running high, there is shrill political sloganeering and the situation is ripe for a law and order crisis. In times such as these, it is imperative that mainstream leaders and those heading these sub-nationalist movements take all necessary steps to ensure that the matter does not spiral out of control. The situation is already tense in parts of West Bengal and Assam where demands for a separate Gorkhaland and Bodoland respectively have been revived with full force.
last week in Darjeeling, Mr Bimal Gurung resigned from his position as the chief executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration and effectively overturned much of the gains that the West Bengal Government had made vis-à-vis the Gorkhaland issue by establishing a regional council that gave local leaders some autonomy. Mr Gurung, who also heads the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, is now back at the helm of Gorkhaland State movement. His party upgraded the three-day bandh in Darjeeling district to an indefinite bandh, even as incidents of violence and arson poured in from across the Hills. A young GJM supporter was found dead outside Darjeeling, a constable was injured when the police post in Pokhriabong was burnt down while the luxurious forest bungalow in Darjeeling's Takdah cantonment was set ablaze. Other Government properties were also targeted, prompting State employees to flee the troubled areas.
The situation has been no better in Assam where activists demanding a separate Bodoland State, imposed a 12-hour rail blockade and called a 60-hour Assam bandh. Over the weekend in the backward Karbianglong district, an MP's house and rubber garden were set on fire, and Government offices including the All India Radio building came under attack even as reports of a 1000-hour long economic blockade did the rounds. The agitation for Gorkhaland and Bodoland has effectively shut down all of north Bengal, Sikkim and Assam, and the rest of the North-East will also be hit. If not handled effectively, there is a definite possibility that the situation will slide right back to the bandhs, blockades and bloodshed of the 80s and 90s.
The same holds true for Telangana where rhetoric, however well-meaning, can lead to disturbances and enmity. For instance, Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader K Chandrashekar Rao's statements on Friday that non-Telangana, State employees must return to their native region and serve the Government there, may have been said without rancour, but trouble-makers can exploit it. It’s good that Mr Rao has clarified that he didn't mean to drive people away from their homes and jobs. leaders from the rest of Andhra Pradesh too must temper their statements and promote harmony. By pitting one set of people against another, politicians will serve no lofty purpose.