Litofacies de arenisca con cementación silícea – Silcrete - Sil

Introduction

Towards the end of my interview with I.B. Rai,111 one of the most eminent Nepali writers, I asked if he felt there were any differences between Nepalis of Sikkim and Nepalis of Darjeeling. In that question I was asking him to verbalize the subtle distinction that Nepalis in Sikkim and Darjeeling have always felt but have been unable to articulate clearly. In response to my question he said, ‘since the time of the Chogyals, the Nepalis of Sikkim have remained isolated. They were not allowed to mingle with Nepalis from other parts of India. Maybe because of this, the Nepalis of Sikkim will never look out for Nepalis living in other parts of India. If something happens to Nepalis living in Assam, the Nepalis of Darjeeling will feel hurt and angry but Nepalis from Sikkim remain immune to it. They might give donations sometimes but that is about it.’ Thus, according to him it was this feeling of afnopan (affinity) that distinguished the Nepalis of Sikkim from those in Darjeeling.

While empathy and moral solidarity within the Indian-Nepalis should have remained a private, subjective matter, a closer inspection of the Nepalis living in Sikkim and Darjeeling highlights the political nature of this relationship. Why do the Nepalis of Sikkim not share this afnopan (affinity)? Why do they not identify themselves as Gorkhas? Despite a shared history of migration why has this identity not found expression in the political vocabulary of the Nepalis in Sikkim? These are the questions that are at the heart of this chapter. While a common culture and language binds Nepalis in Sikkim and Darjeeling, the political articulation of ethnicity as well as ethnic politics is different in the two areas. The aim of this chapter is thus to resolve these questions. This can only be done by understanding the social and political construction, implication and the territorial nature of the Gorkha identity which at once joins Darjeeling to millions of Nepalis living in India but at the same establishes distance from Sikkim.

‘Gorkha’ is one of the multiple identities that are available to the Nepalis living in Darjeeling district in northern West Bengal. They can choose to either simply identify themselves as Nepalis or choose the specific ethnic group/jat (Limbu, Rai, Magar etc) that they

111 _{Indra Bahadur Rai is one of the leading writers and critics of modern Nepali language and literature. His literary}

creations depict different aspects of the life and existential experiences of Indian-Nepalis. Interviewed by the author on 21st _{January, 2011, Siliguri, West Bengal.}

belong to as their primary identity in social and political interactions. However, it is the Gorkha identity which has been used for political mobilisation and contestation against the West Bengal government for a separate state called Gorkhaland. The demand for Gorkhaland bears close resemblance to demands for ethnic homelands in Nepal as a remedy to the social and economic discrimination meted out by the state. However the idea of Gorkhaland is in contrast to that of Limbuwan because Gorkha as an ethnic category has emerged more out of the common social, political and economic exigencies rather than simply homogenous cultural features, kinship systems or other primordial understandings of ethnic groups (like the Limbus). The Gorkha is an ethnic group as far as it satisfies a sense of common belonging; a sense of shared history and most importantly acts as a base for political action. In this context, following David Brown (1994:1) ethnicity is interpreted as an ideology which individuals employ to resolve the insecurities arising from the power structures within which they are located. The Gorkha identity, despite its colonial and military connotations was an identity borne out of political necessity for legitimacy as bonafide Indian citizens. This demand for political recognition has been sustained through long standing grievance about economic discrimination and neglect by the state which is controlled and dominated by the ethnic ‘Other’- the Bengalis. The Gorkha is not only socially constructed but is also a representation of the demands for greater control and access to resources, economic and political, which have been restricted (or at least perceived to be restricted) by the state on account of ethnic differences. Despite appealing to emotive issues of citizenship and belonging to the Indian nation-state, the demands for Gorkhaland, a smaller state, have a distinct instrumental aspect to it. Once again, as seen in Nepal, the inherent potential for political mobilization of ethnicity has been well harnassed in the Darjeeling hills. However, state structures and other institutional mechanisms lead to a difference in how and which aspect of the Nepali identity is articulated politically thereby leading to a variation in ethnic politics in the eastern Himalayas.

The aim of this chapter is less to analyze the origins of the Gorkha identity or the Gorkhaland movement and more to resolve the primary research question-why do groups and individuals choose one form of ethnic identity over another- this chapter looks at the socio- economic processes that have sustained the political and moral viability of this identity. This chapter thus engages with the role played by British colonization and experiences with neo- colonization as a part of India in the creation and support of the Gorkha identity.

This chapter once again discusses a similar set of questions that had been raised in the previous chapter. The case study of the Gorkha identity engages in the analysis of the social,

political and economic costs of being a Nepali in the Darjeeling hills and at the same time looks at the macro habitus that has promoted this identity. This macro-habitus is inadvertently linked to position that the Nepalis of Darjeeling occupy in the wider socio-economic hierarchy, their insecurity as a cultural minority in West Bengal and their ambiguous socio-political position as Indian citizens.

The chapter is divided into two sections. Section 1 discusses the historical origins of the colonization of Darjeeling, the migration that colonial industries attracted, societal relations and the ‘habitus’ that colonization fostered but most importantly the impact it had on the worldview of the residents. It then discusses the role of trade unions and political mobilization in the tea estates which are crucial sites of identity construction and political activity before focusing on the persistent economic impoverishment of Darjeeling which was at the heart of the colonial enterprise in the eastern hills and now the vortex of the Gorkhaland movement.