Skip to main content

Morcha warns govts and rivals - Two decades on, women switch roles

By himalayanreview


www.telegraphindia.com

Kalimpong, Feb. 27: Thousands of women have joined the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in its agitation for statehood. Two decades ago, the scene was different: women at best were passive participants in the movement for Gorkhaland led by the GNLF.

Conversations that The Telegraph had with a crosssection of women reveal that the sudden show of strength is not a result of the Morcha strategy alone, but a paroxysm of anger against the 21 years of GNLF rule.

Not that everybody is ready to admit it. One of them is Urmila Rumba, the convener of the Gorkha Janmukti Nari Morcha. While she agreed that resentment against the GNLF was the catalyst for the current uprising, she rejected the notion that the agitation was entirely spontaneous. “Women’s participation you see today in the agitation is a result of the groundwork done by our core committee,” Rumba said over phone from Darjeeling.

In Darjeeling and its surrounding areas alone, Rumba said, her organisation had formed more than 140 units. “We started from the tea gardens. We explained to women how Subash Ghisingh was fooling us all these years.”

She may have a point, but the pace with which the political tide has turned against Ghisingh suggests that women were waiting for an opportunity to express themselves. Or, it could be, as many analysts said, that the Morcha succeeded in bringing the disgruntled people under its umbrella.

A combination of factors, not least the Prashant Tamang phenomenon, created a situation in which people joined together to vent their anger on the authorities, said an analyst.

The political language of Bimal Gurung, too, seemed to have motivated the women. Non-violence and democratic means of protest had struck a chord with the women. “We found that the Morcha could provide leadership in a democratic movement and play an important role in realising the goal of Gorkhaland,” said Nanita Gautam, the Nari Morcha’s Kalimpong convener.

There were many instances in the past few weeks when women had reined in excited men at the slightest hint of trouble. “As mothers and sisters, we don’t want our sons and brothers to get caught in the circle of violence. Ghisingh did that to an entire generation in the eighties, but what was its outcome,” Gautam asked.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

History on Easter Sunday and Padari Ganga Prasad Pradhan

By himalayanreview
By Seira Tamang As noted by various scholars, Hinduism, the Nepali language, the monarchy and a rastriya itihas (a chronicle of progress in which the dark era of Rana rule is contrasted with the enlightened, progressive and modern period of Panchayat rule) formed the core of the Panchayat regime’s national culture. The formation and consolidation of this national culture have required the expunging of uncomfortable facts and stories that might raise ambiguities and questions. While the selection of what and who is and is not acknowledged to exist (or at least exist in historically important ways) in official Nepali history is complex, social scientists have begun to provide more comprehensive historical accounts of the past through oral histories and re-readings of historical documents. Such accounts reveal how ordinary people lived in the past, and offer ways to think through how ‘history’ is crafted, shaped and managed in order to reflect ‘the reality’ best suited to the status quo, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shapi of Sikkim: Our legacy -iii

By himalayanreview
A Sikkimese with a Shapi The two previous articles I wrote in my earlier edition on Shapi were wonderful to read for people around, and appreciation had been received from different corners of the state. I am thankful and find pleasure in people finding joy in my findings and research work. It was a bit surprising that very few had heard about Shapi, our rare legacy.  Nevertheless, I am happy to be part of history for re-introducing Shapi to those sections of my readers who had never heard about this old and sacred mountain mammal, a native of Sikkim. I dedicate my writing on Shapi to Ongden Daju (RO), who has been very supportive of me ever since I first published its first part a few months back. It was he who wanted me to continue with the third part of Shapi since more findings were evolving after my two writings. I shall always remain grateful to JR Subba, Jt Director from the Forest Department, for providing me with a valuable census report of Shapi done by the Department...
2 comments
Read more

Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal, with his mother Queen Mother Denzong Lhayumkusho and Prince Wangchuk of Sikkim

By himalayanreview
The late Jungkyang Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal, seated with his mother Queen Mother Denzong Lhayumkusho, daughter of Rakasha family of Tibet, and Prince Wangchuk whose late mother hails from the Samdrup Phodrang family of Tibet. Standing next to Denzong Queen Mother is the senior Rakasha Lhachamkusho, daughter of Raja Tsodrak Namgyal Taring of Sikkim, the eldest son of Chogyal Thutop Namgyal, who gave up the Sikkimese throne to his younger brother Sir Chogyal Tashi Namgyal in favour of staying in Tibet.  The Taring family of Tibet enabled into Tibetan high society by the great 13th Dalai Lama, is legitimately the unbroken elder line of the Royal Namgyal lineage of Sikkim, since Raja Tsodrak Namgyal was the Crown Prince of Sikkim, and his sons and grandsons today go by the Taring family name. Standing in the picture is also Princess Kukula, sister of the Chogyal married to the Phuenkhang family of Tibet.  Rakasha Tsetop, Rakasha Tseten, Yap Dr. Paljor, Soden Wangdi, Chimi ...
Post a Comment
Read more