Touch of compassion

Cloud kingdom is what Darjeeling is. Clouds are home to mountain people. Upendra Kishore Roychowdhury (the grandfather of Satyajit Ray and writer of children's literature, musician, and artist besides being the pioneer of the Bengali printing industry) stated that Darjeeling is the "kingdom of clouds." The lower terrain is where we reside, with no clusters of clouds nearby. The main romanticism of Darjeeling is mountains and clouds. 'Dorje' is the root of the word 'Darjeeling'. The shrine is called "Dorje," where lightning and thunder can be observed. Besides, the word 'Ling' also implies place. In other words, lightning occurs in Darjeeling. On a mountain this elevated, is there any question that it will be struck by lightning? Beyond these amenities, however, it ought to be kept in mind that Darjeeling has been plagued by political issues and crises since its inception. The British Empire was the third party in the conflict between Sikkim and Nepal for Darjeeling. They fought alongside the King of Sikkim against the Nepalese Gorkha Samar troops. When the Sikkimraj later realised that the East India Company had defrauded them, they went to fight the British. The British Empire retaliated!

Gorkha soldiers from Nepal took Darjeeling. The Gorkhas of Nepal were attacked by the British once more. There have occasionally been accords between Sugauli and Titalia in this turbulent political environment. At last, Lord Bennett restored the status quo in Darjeeling.

They dispatched two officers. They were so amazed that they addressed it as the healthiest place to live. The gentlemen had just returned from London and were struggling to stay cool. For them, Darjeeling turned into a desirable vacation spot.

After all these years, Subhash Ghising came to lead. Bimal Gurung revolted against Subhash Ghisingh. Once more, Binoy Tamang opposed Bimal Gurung. It was finally the time for a change. Now Anik Thapa has come to power. Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister, has brought these disturbances to a calm political conclusion today. Jyoti Basu, chief minister at the time, agreed to oppose Subhash Ghisinga's political claims to the Darjeeling region. Ghisingh and Rajiv Gandhi forged a tripartite pact. With the help of local Gorkha leaders, the BJP has since elected party MPs there on multiple occasions. However, Darjeeling's seclusion persisted.

The precise number of times Mamata Banerjee has travelled to Darjeeling since being in power is unknown. I once accompanied Rajiv Gandhi to Darjeeling during his tenure as prime minister. There was a gathering at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. Also present was Jyoti Basu, the Chief Minister at the time. The Prime Minister and the Chief Minister had lunch together. He saw that incident happen as well. However, I didn't see Jyoti Babu visiting Darjeeling very often. He left Darjeeling instead to work with party MPs like Anand Pathak. At the time, Pranab Mukherjee was president and Kesri Nath Tripathi was governor. Mamata participated in many events with these two. Pranab Babu and I once visited Darjeeling. She made her way up the steep stairs to the temple of Mahakal. Her public relations initiative was top-notch. Sitting in Raj Bhavan, Pranab Babu remarked, "I have never seen a Chief Minister who has thoroughly explored Darjeeling."

Never in my life have I witnessed Jyoti Babu visit Darjeeling so frequently. Furthermore, I did not witness Buddhadev Bhattacharya visiting Darjeeling. Siddharth Shankar Roy used to occasionally visit, I was told. However, visiting Darjeeling to relax and socialise with locals while trying to identify the cause of the region's issues is not the same thing. Along with Mamata Banerjee, I observed how she traversed the hilly roads, passing the homes of the hill people and occasionally going inside, preparing momos in their kitchen, lingering there to rest. For Mamata, the hill people began to yell. Since the outset, Mamata Banerjee has made several trips to Darjeeling in an attempt to put an end to the region's internal political turmoil. She has established roughly thirteen parishads in Siliguri as a result. Not just for Gorkhas, she established successive Bhutia Parishads, Tamang Parishads, and Lepcha Development Parishads, emphasising the politics of caste tribe autonomy and individual identity. Conflicts between castes and tribes were thereby lessened. In addition to Gorkhas, Darjeeling is home to Lepcharas. And several other tribes too! What is the number of other organisations? A few of these groups are now political allies of the BJP. For a long period, Anit Thapar was a partner of the Trinamool and founded the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. Even in this by-election, Madarihat on behalf of Trinamool went on a campaign. However, his political significance has diminished; the bottom of Bimal Gurung's existence has been reached. On the one hand, a building named for the Gorkha poet Bhanu was constructed by Mamata Banerjee. Along with other local hill sages, he also positioned the image of Rabindranath.

A few days later, Mamata is back in the mountains! She has separated Darjeeling from the call for the creation of a separate state, but she still wants to uphold Darjeeling as a vital part of West Bengal. In addition, during the GTA conference, she firmly opposed corruption. Regarding the opposition to the development issue. She gave the audit order. All funds will be paid in cash. The duty has been assigned to the Chief Secretary. Individuals who have failed to provide accurate accounts to numerous councils will face severe consequences. The operation of these development councils will be examined as required. Mamata Banerjee cautioned during the GTA conference that new entities will be created following a review if needed. She eventually arrived in Darjeeling. In addition to showing love for the people of the hills, she handled the hill leaders' separatist campaign with firmness. The BJP is accused of inciting the mountainous people to rebel against the lowlands. Most importantly, however, she intended to make a strong point about the employment and development of the Darjeeling people at the meeting. She wants to see a probe into corruption.

In the open rally during this trip to Darjeeling, Mamata Banerjee declared that she would return to Darjeeling on January 23, the day of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's birth, to commemorate the occasion by reminiscing about Netaji's patriotism. Mamata is leaving no stone unturned to create an amalgamation of Bengali chauvinism and nationalism through this generation. Nejati also always had some significant ties to the Ghorkhas. The main reason behind Netaji's expanding ties to the Ghorkha community was the sizable representation of Ghorkha participants in INA.

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister, visited Darjeeling to celebrate the Saras Mela, which was followed by a rally at the Darjeeling Mall. The Mela served as a pivot of people from many states, and for the first time, disabled localities were present to honour the significance of the hills and their inhabitants.

To make this birth anniversary of Netaji even more noteworthy, a new Nejtaji effigy will be inculcated at the Chowrasta point of Darjeeling, including a few graffitis of the Ghorkha community.

The goal of merging Indian nationalism with Ghorkha nationalism and their feelings is demonstrated by this entire exercise. The CM is determined to eliminate differences between the plains and the hills, which wouldn't be a piece of cake. There are a few undercurrents that need to be confronted.

Mamata Banerjee wants to restore that romanticism in the harsh realities of politics by examining the history of Darjeeling, the cloud kingdom of Upendra Kishore Roychowdhury.

Views expressed are personal