Madan Tamang's Assassination In Darjeeling – GJM’s Ugly Character Out In The Open

The real character of Bimal Gurung’s Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) – i.e. an ugly and nasty one – came out in the open with the dreadful murder of All India Gorkha League president Madan Tamang on 21st May 2010, in the picturesque hill town of Darjeeling in north Bengal.

GJM had already proved its ruffian character through the various acts of hooliganism that it was conducting in the name of Gorkhaland movement. It had already turned the “Queen of Hills” Darjeeling into a hell, turning this once darling of tourists into a nightmare for visitors.

But the terribly shocking assassination of Madan Tamang (who was hacked to death by suspected GJM supporters) is different from the other uncivilized activities of GJM. No, not in terms of the seriousness of the offence. The significance of Tamang’s assassination lies in the fact that Tamang’s All India Gorkha League actually belongs to the same “ilk” to which GJM belongs, i.e. both the parties are fighting for a separate Gorkhaland state. In that sense, Tamang’s party and GJM are actually supplementary to each other.

But still GJM supremo Bimal Gurung ordered his followers to kill Tamang. Why? Because he wants to keep only his GJM in the forefront of the so-called Gorkhaland movement, without letting any other party to come in the limelight. For Bimal Gurung what is more important is to establish himself as the one and only leader of the Gorkhaland movement, even if that results in the isolation of other similar groups, eventually resulting in the weakness of the Gorkhaland movement as a whole. This is because Bimal Gurung’s ultimate objective is not merely the establishment of a separate Gorkhaland state, but becoming the first Chief Minister of that state.

In fact, this is true about all the leaders of the so-called Gorkhaland movement. Whether it is Subhash Ghising (who actually started the movement in the mid 1980s) or Bimal Gurung, none of the Gorkhaland movement leaders has any headache for their Gorkha brothers and sisters. And they are certainly not trying to set up a separate state for addressing the so-called “discrimination” that the Gorkha community is facing in West Bengal. Actually all these leaders are fighting only for their own interests. Officially they are claiming that they want a separate state for the Gorkhas as only a state of their own can ensure the optimum growth and development of the Gorkha community of West Bengal. But in reality these leaders want a separate Gorkhaland so that they can have a fiefdom of their own, where they can lead the lives of demi-gods.

If at all the Gorkhaland movement becomes successful and a separate Gorkhaland state is set up, even then there will be no drastic development in the lives of the ordinary Gorkha people of Darjeeling. Did a separate Jharkhand bring any drastic change in the lives of the ordinary tribals, for whose development that state had originally been claimed?

And finally, a humble question for the educated and cultured members of the Nepali community of Darjeeling.

My dear brothers and sisters, will you people still continue to support a ruffian like Bimal Gurung? Do you people understand that voicing support for such a devilish person is actually disgraceful for yourselves? Can a hooligan like Bimal Gurung be really your leader? Just ask your own mind, and you will get the answer.