Activists from the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) have been hoisting black flags across Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and surrounding areas since 5 August to protest the delay in implementing a Permanent Political Solution for the region. Today, black flags were displayed in Lodho Market as part of this ongoing demonstration. On Martyr’s Day, 27 July 2024, GNLF president Man Ghisingh announced an intellectual movement aimed at pressuring the Indian government for action.

A GNLF leader Kishore Loksam stated that the flag hoisting initiative began today in Rimbic Lodho to convey the community’s dissatisfaction with the government’s failure to provide justice to the Gorkhas. “Now the Government of India must deliver justice to the Gorkhas. Until we receive justice, we will continue this movement in a democratic manner,” Loksam declared. Notably, senior GNLF leader and BJP MLA Neeraj Tamang Zimba raised this issue in the state assembly on August 5. He emphasised that the Gorkha community has long been denied political and constitutional justice within the framework of the Indian Constitution.

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Mr Zimba recalled Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s remarks from 2017, which stated that resolving such issues falls under the jurisdiction of the Central Government and Parliament. Mr Zimba explained that the merger of Darjeeling Hills and surrounding areas with West Bengal in 1947 was formalised under the Absorbed Area (Laws) Act of 1954, a decision he described as neither constitutional nor just. “I understand that terms like ‘Separation,’ ‘Division,’ ‘Disintegration,’ and ‘Bifurcation’ carry negative implications,” Mr Zimba said, urging the assembly to see the Gorkha Homeland Movement as an opportunity to rectify this historical oversight.

He acknowledged that many colleagues, including those within his own party, do not support the division of West Bengal. However, he clarified that the debate is not simply about separation; it is about addressing a historical injustice. “Justice must not be denied. Justice must not be delayed. Our demand is for demerger from West Bengal to correct a historical wrong that has persisted for too long,” he asserted.