Darjeeling
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Darjeeling
Administrative status
Why the Bengalis have to let go of Darjeeling
Anand Soondas, TNN | Aug 4, 2013
NEW DELHI: Head straight north from Siliguri and you pass through Sukna, a quiet stretch with tea gardens on either side of the road and forests that sometimes see rampaging elephants, before a sharp turn to the left takes you to the hills of Darjeeling. Within half an hour of the drive, everything changes -- the weather, the food, the features of men and women who pass by, and the language they speak.
If Darjeeling has been demanding separation from West Bengal, you cannot fault its people. The two regions have nothing in common - neither history nor geography, neither language nor ethnicity.
First Gorkha settlers
When the first batch of Nepalese, or Gorkhas as they prefer to be called these days for political reasons, settled in what is now Darjeeling, there was nobody to record it for history. The British had brought down with guile the fierce warriors and annexed in 1814 the hill tracts. That was almost 200 years ago. The region was formally adopted by England in 1837. By 1866, Darjeeling district as we know today was complete.
First petitions for separate administrative unit status
The first petition that it be granted the status of a separate administrative unit came more than 100 years ago when in 1907 the Hillmen's Association of Darjeeling submitted a memorandum to the Minto-Morley Commission, making this perhaps one of India's oldest and longest struggles for statehood and identity.
In 1917, another dispatch to the British said: "Darjeeling's inclusion in Bengal was comparatively recent and only because the British were rulers common to both places. Historically, culturally, ethnically, socially, religiously, linguistically there was no affinity whatsoever between Bengal and Darjeeling." It was followed by a plea to the Simon Commission in 1929, to the Constituent Assembly in 1947, and to the visiting chairman of the State Reorganisation Commission in 1955.
Gorkhaland movement
The agitation for a homeland of their own gained serious and real momentum when Subhash Ghishing and his GNLF rallied all of the hills with the cry for Gorkhaland in the 1980s. A bloody battle followed in which the state machinery and the paramilitary forces, especially the CRPF, committed untold crimes - arbitrary killings, rapes, trumped up charges for indefinite jail terms, all round human rights violations - that largely went unreported in the mainstream media. More than 1200 people lost their lives.
Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council
Though tentative peace, amidst charges of Ghishing selling out his soul, was arrived at in 1988 with the establishment of the semi-autonomous Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, the mountains remained restive. That didn't go away even when Bimal Gurung, a maverick who broke away from the GNLF and launched a fresh stir and a new party, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in 2008, to attain in 2011 the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, inheriting an old body with a set of what looked like new clothes.
The fact that Gurung rode to power, quite amazingly, on the back of a support campaign for an Indian Idol contestant called Prashant Tamang - who eventually won and now plays lead roles in movies produced in Kathmandu - just went on to show local nationalism was still strong and potent.
Wildlife parks and sanctuaries: India
By Air - Darjeeling is accessible through Bagdogra airport
By Rail - Railheads from Siliguri and New Jalpaiguri leads to Darjeeling
TIME TO VISIT
The best season for trekking are April-May and October-November.
TREKKING
Many one-day treks around Darjeeling are available to Tiger Hill, 8,482 ft, 11 km. The Tenzing Norgay road starts from Chowrasta and passes through Toong-Soong and Aloo Bari villages. The route is fairly even. From Jorebungalow the road ascends 5 km to Tiger Hill. The Gandhi Road route runs almost parallel to Hill Cart Road, joining it at Ghoom railway station.
Darjeeling Manaybhanjang-Tonglu-Sandakphu-Phalut === For those who wish to undertake a longer trek, the 160 km trek offers an excellent view of the Kanchenjunga and the Everest group of mountain peaks in Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan. A motorable roads runs from Darjeeling to Manaybhanjang (26 km). The trek from Manaybhanjang to Tonglu is a fairly steep climb. The next day's route is 21 km to Sandakphu (12,000 ft). From here, there is a steep climb following which the road descends to Bikhebhanjang. Another steep climb leads to trekker to the Sandakphy Bungalow. On a clear day, Sandakphil offers a fantastic view of four of the world's five highest peaks Everest, Kanchenjunga, Makalu and Lhotse. The next day's trek of 21 km to Phalut (11,200 ft) is a fairly easy walk on a level stretch. Phalut is located at the tri-junction of Sikkim, Nepal and West Bengal.
Ramam-Rimbik-Jhepi
This is an add-on 149 km trek from Phalut to Ramam-Rimbik-Jhepi which return to Darjeeling via Bijanbari. Leaving Phalut, one descends rather steeply by a forest bridle path path to cross the Ramam river. On the march to Rimbik (7,500 ft) the foliage is lush and green. The next day's trek is downhill all the way to Jhepi from where one can motor back to Darjeeling via Bijanbari.
Palmajna-Batasi-Manaybhanjang
Yet another option on this trek is offered at Rimbik. From Rimbik to Darjeeling via Palmajna, Batasi and Manaybhanjang is a 180 km route. The trekker passes towards Batasi (7,000 ft), the road ascends steadily to Deoraly and then the descent starts till the Batasi Forest Bungalow. The next day's march upto Manaybhanjang finds the trekker at the turnaround point from where a jeep/bus can be taken to cover the 21 km distance to Darjeeling.
Darjeeling-Manaybhanjang-Tonglu-Sandakphu-Rimbik-Jhepi-Bijanbari This trek of 116 km follows the same route to Sandakphu. From Rimbik, the route once again follows the traditional trail upto Manaybhanjang via Palmajna and Batasia.
