In a Influx

We are no longer ourselves. Our identity is limited to a piece of land, materialism, fashion icons, education and relationships. There is no ‘I’ in our identity. It would be an obnoxious absurdity to assume that we will get our identity once we achieve ‘Gorkhaland’. It is we who must shape this achievement which is yet to come. We must give identity to Gorkhaland rather than get identity from it. Ours is a culture which is as ‘different’ as any other culture in the world. But it is also at the same time a culture which has for too long been ignored by the government, colonized by the state and sold/corrupted by our leaders. We have been polluted by the bureaucrats of pure reason, effectively functioning in our minds. We in the hills have been victims of limited distribution and hierarchical ranking. In the hills unemployment is at the highest (one of the reason that we are here in the plains), there is no proper higher education, no growth, no attention. What has created such a situation? Is it the Bengal government, our leaders or we?
Our society is based on a discourse of sovereign judgement, of stable subjectivity legislated by a ‘good sense’, of rocklike identity, ‘universal truth’ and arbitrary justice. We have all been accustomed to the spiritual and moral training of the state, which is achieved by deriving everything from truth, by relating everything to justice and by unifying this principle into a single idea – State. End result, a fully legitimate subject of knowledge and society, where each mind a mini-state morally unified in the super mind of the state. In other words state decides justice and justice are based on truth. Thus when the Bengal government kills a Maoist, ex-servicemen gets lathi charged or when the Supreme Court gives a death penalty to a criminal, its justified. No one questions the state. But when a Maoist kills a person it’s not. Funny world we live in where power flows through the tunnels of our perception. “They are all schemers, schemers trying to protect their little world. I want to show the schemers how pathetic their plans to control things really are”.
What does it matter who we are? We speak of identity as a very grave thing that has been denied to us. We have already sold ourselves to the economics of exchange and the reason that is prevalent around us. For instance, we all know that the current ruling party in the hills is a bunch of corrupt hypocrites, and of course we are concerned about it but we are too busy pre occupied with our future and our security that we do not want to get into this mess. At a time such as this, we should step forward and sacrifice ourselves not for any one else but for our identity. Not by any mean or military way but by rooting ourselves to just who we are at the moment, by manipulating the modern mechanism and using it to suit our needs, by re-defining our reason, our sense of good and by re constructing the very meaning of politics. We got to break this myth of mini-state within us, construct our identity and give it to the state. We have to fight for our identity. The only way to do this is by driving our guilt and fear away. Fuck them if they want us to change, fuck them if they want us to behave. We got to be who we are not ashamed if they don’t accept us for who we are then fuck them too. What are we anyways? Nothing.
Back in the hills politics has been reduced to a mere ‘chair game’, collections of cars, and building of buildings. In theory, politics is the biggest platform for social work. In practice, there is nothing social in their work. Strikes (audible not even till Siliguri) are harassment only to the public, probation of alcohol another harassment to the public (while we don’t get a drop of ‘booze’  they walk between Johnny Walker’s and Blenders’ Pride). They have placed the issue of land far greater than the public. In the name of “public purpose” contracts are taken out only to make the contractors and the party leaders rich. What is more saddening is the absence of healthy criticism. The opposition is so busy criticising and egging on his opponent that they have almost entirely ignored the issue of Gorkhaland. If both these parties could channelize their energy towards the main issue then it would have benefited us all. All there is a mere chair game. It is as a time such as this that we should take state philosophy as a kind of ‘ass-fuck’, which is only there to handicap us by training us according to the system. It is we who have to de-construct the current mode of politics and come up with a identity of our own.

"Rherotic"

It has been three years since I have passed out from school, and heard these saying. “The world is moving in a Ferrari, and we are still in bullock cart.” These very words were once said by my Physics teacher Mr. Prabin Moktan. Presently we have reached such a scenario that these sayings, holds good. Every time I think, about the people and the state we are living in, it reminds me about these words.

Decades have passed, since the gorkhaland movement began. Started by supremo Shri Subash Ghishing and presently it has seen its zenith under our new leader Mr.Bimal Gurung.

Our century long demand has always reached to the deaf ears, at the centre. This continuing struggle of ours, has led to a lot of changes in the hills. Our constant pressure has yield to the grant of greater autonomous ,power has been exchanged in the political front, people have started to think ,debate, go for mass peaceful movements and voices has become united. But along with these changes are we ever going along a right direction??

As, with these changes we have come a long way listening to the various objectives ,plans , facts, forecast from our leaders. Leaders , who have been a source of “hope”, a hope for a change. But this, hope of ours has always rested on their shoulders, but power and supremacy in their minds. Do you think we were ever walking or still walking in the right path?? The path that is graved by our leaders, to the world of progress, opportunity and change. Where progress have always meant having a bee line of Scorpios in the garage ,opportunity, of not allowing any healthy opposition and mocking who ever opposes and change, setting up things from bad to worse . People have the meaning of these set of integral words changed for us forever? Shall our hope always remain one, as a myth, or may it turn into a reality? A reality which we have always dreamt of, with better standard of living, infrastructure, education. Cause people somewhere or the other we are fighting a lone battle, with our leaders on the other hand fighting their own battle for supremacy. Are we, our hope and the “Gorkhaland” issue just a scapegoat in their battle of supremacy? Or are they working into it with the same intent and vigour, with which they stand and deliver their promise, in front of thousand of hopes. Are the agenda they set before us, just as mere “rherotic” as ever before??

Reflect back!!!!! Cause we never had leaders like Nelson Mandela, Che Guevara .For now we need leaders like them, who asked “ what’s our cause and not what’s mine”. We need leaders with common agenda, with the founding principle of progressiveness. We need leaders who are united and closely knit with our cause and not pulling out into different direction with our cause,only in their agenda.

As now, we are in 2010 and as told, this is one of those years by when things needed to have been done. But no, we are nowhere near, to the forecast that has been made. At present the forecast of statehood in the hills can be shifted to another elegant rounded year like 2020 or perhaps even 2050.

People here I am not tying to be “pessimist” or “morbid”, though we are just in the beginning of the year and though we are putting pressure to the centre as never before. But people get “real”, at least now. We are in 2010 and still on a bullock cart. Are we ever going to step into a Ferrari or forever be content with the bullock cart???????

Kunjan.