পাহাড়ের কথা

পাহাড়ে ও সমতলে বাঙালি, গোর্খা, নেপালি, আদিবাসী ও বিভিন্ন জনজাতির মধ্যে বিভেদ ও আগুন লাগানোর যে চেষ্টা চলছে তার বিরুদ্ধে সমস্ত জাতির মানুষেরা এক হয়ে আজ (৩০ জুন) শিলিগুড়ির বাঘাযতীন পার্ক থেকে বিকেলে এক বিশাল নাগরিক মিছিল বের করবেন। এই পরিপ্রেক্ষিতেই এই মিছিলের অন্যতম উদ্যোক্তা সৌমেন নাগ শিলিগুড়ি থেকে এই লেখাটি পাঠিয়েছেন (লেখাটি ইংরেজিতে যাতে সমস্ত ভাষাভাষীর মানুষেরা বুঝতে পারেন):

United We Stand!
Soumen Nag

Darjeeling is not smiling. Those who saw the smile only, they did not take any pain to peep into the minds of the people of the hill where poverty, sorrow and a feeling of alienation were encompassing the entire population over the years. To understand the mind and get a true picture of the people, one should have stepped down from the authoritarian chariot unto the ground and make up their mind to feel the heart beat of the marginalised people.

The demand for Gorkhaland and their agitation is not an issue of law and order and this cannot be solved sitting on the throne of power by bullets and lathi. It cannot be solved by throwing them into a state of starvation as some began to think in that way. It cannot be solved by shouting 'Bengalees would give their blood but not allow dividing Bengal'. Such thoughts aggravate the situation towards worse. It is neither an Armageddon between hill and plain nor an issue between Bengalee and Nepali. It is a question of ethnic problem which needs a wide and sensitive mind to understand if one is really interested to reach at permanent solution. In order to fetch political gain, a nefarious attempt is being made to convert it into a communal division between Bengalees and Nepali. By doing this, one may get political dividend considering the Bengali sentiment due to their overwhelming demographic majority in terms of ballot paper but it will be at the cost of unity and fraternity between the communities which have developed through social process throughout the centuries.

The issue of self-respect and self identity along with their ethnic identity is not the lone issue of Darjeeling but it is a global issue. The immediate task is to restore the understanding between the majority and the minority communities and let them feel that the Bengalees were not there to dominate them .They live with them in brotherly relationship with equal status and respect. It should be kept in mind that our Constitution provides the provision to reconstruct a state. So to raise a a call for a separate state within the boundary of India cannot be termed as a separatist movement; but whether it is viable or not that may be an important question to discuss across the table.