The Centre’s abolition of Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories have not only plunged India’s northernmost region into uncertainty, its reverberations are felt elsewhere too. The tremors are being felt a thousand miles away in the Darjeeling hills of West Bengal, where a new demand for turning the area into a Union territory is raised by Gorkhaland agitators, including pro-Mamata groups among them.
Raju Bist, BJP MP for Darjeeling, has tweeted about a letter written to him by Union home minister Amit Shah, wherein Shah has mentioned the word ‘Gorkhaland’, thus reigniting the issue. Bist wrote to Shah in July, voicing concern over the security of Gorkhas in Delhi, as they were left out of the purview of the Delhi Police’s special cell to counter racism, especially against people from the Northeast. According to Bist, Shah replied that concerns over the people of Ladakh and ‘Gorkhaland’ were...
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