History of Demand for Gorkhaland

Gorkhaland consists of Nepali-speaking people of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and other hilly districts. The people belonging to these areas hardly have any connection with the Bengali community and are different in ethnicity, culture and language.

Following the agitation of 1986, a tripartite agreement was reached between Government of India, Government of West Bengal, and Gorkha National Liberation Front in July 1988. Under this, an autonomous Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) under a State Act was set up for “the social, economic, educational, and cultural advancement of the people residing in the Hill areas of Darjeeling District”. The Council covered the three hill sub-divisions of Darjeeling district and a few Mouzas within the Siliguri sub-division.

However, it did not fulfill the aspiration of Indian Gorkha identity. The Council was given limited executive powers but in the absence of legislative powers the aspirations of the people of the region could not be addressed. The non-inclusion of the Dooars region in the Council became a major reason of discontent.

Then Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) was created in 2012 through a tripartite agreement signed by GoI, Govt. of West Bengal and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM). It replaced the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. It is a semi-autonomous administrative body. It has administrative, executive and financial powers but no legislative powers. GTA presently has three hill subdivisions Darjeeling, Kurseong and Mirik and some areas of Siliguri subdivision of Darjeeling district and the whole of Kalimpong district under its authority.

However, lack of legislative powers means that the people of the region have no control over laws to govern themselves by. Dooars again has been left out and instead a verification team has been set to identify “Gorkha majority” areas in the Dooars.