Post-Shutdown, Darjeeling Faces An Uncertain Future

It has been nearly three weeks since the debilitating 104-day shutdown that crippled life in the Darjeeling Hills ended, but India's oldest hill station still faces an uncertain future. The shutdown – the longest in the country's history – yielded virtually nothing. But the economy of the Hills, which suffered a body blow, will take a long time to get back on the rails.

The economy of the Darjeeling Hills runs on tea and tourism. The long shutdown, which brought all activities in the tea gardens to a grinding halt, has caused huge losses to the tea companies. Tourists are yet to flock back to the hills, and hoteliers and tour operators say that the peak tourist season – it has already started and will continue till March – will be a total washout. The boarding schools of the Hills that attract students from Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and even Thailand and Malaysia, say that the shutdown has irreparably damaged their reputation and it would be difficult to get students back for the next academic session.

The political situation, and everything in Darjeeling Hills is closely linked to politics, is also fraught with grave uncertainties. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) may have suffered a split and many of its leaders and cadres may be deserting Morcha chief Bimal Gurung and joining the faction led by Binay Tamang, but Gurung still holds a lot of clout. Tamang, till recently a close associate of Gurung, was weaned away by Mamata Banerjee and rewarded with the loaves of office. He was made the chief of the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA); ironically, it was Tamang who was the first to publicly torch copies (in early June) of the agreement between the Morcha and the state and the Union governments setting up the GTA.

Gurung is on the run, but he still commands the loyalty of a large number of common people. That's because he dared to stand up to Banerjee and mount a challenge to her on the Gorkhaland issue. The people of the Hills have heaved a collective sigh of relief at the shutdown being lifted, but they are all – without exception – supporters of a separate state of Gorkhaland. Binay Tamang, too, will not dare oppose this demand for a separate state even though he has been rewarded by Banerjee who is strongly opposed to Gorkhaland.

The century-old Gorkhaland demand is a highly emotive one for all the people of the Hills cutting across religions and communities. Every single person feels separation from Bengal is the only way that the Hills can prosper and the hill people gain an identity of their own. Bimal Gurung, despite his many faults and the serious allegations of large-scale corruption against him and his senior colleagues in the Morcha, is still respected because he has been unwavering in his commitment to Gorkhaland. Tawang knows that, and is also aware that he is generally looked upon as a turncoat who ditched Gurung for power and pelf. Other Morcha leaders and activists who are joining him are also doing so for purely selfish reasons and will all become beneficiaries of the loaves thrown their way by Banerjee, but they will never oppose the demand for Gorkhaland.

"Till Gorkhaland becomes a reality, things will remain uncertain in the Hills. Tomorrow, if Mamata comes to Darjeeling and once again opposes the demand for Gorkhaland, Binay Tamang and those who support him will have no option other than opposing Mamata if they have to retain their credibility. If they don't speak in favour of Gorkhaland, they will face public wrath," said Dawa Tsering, a prominent businessman of Darjeeling.

The principal of one of the most prominent boarding schools in the Hills told Swarajya that though students are back after the shutdown was called off, they suffered terrible academic loss. "With the situation in the Hills still in a state of flux, parents would not want to send their children back. No parent would like their children to suffer such loss. Though they haven't said anything till now, I fear that most of them have made other plans for their children for the next academic year. If we don't get enough students, we have to even close down," said the principal who did not want to be named.

There is just a trickle of tourists coming in now. "Only a very few adventurous sorts and some foreigners have made it to Darjeeling over the past two weeks. Few fresh bookings are being received and though we are asserting that things are back to normal in the Hills, few are buying that. They still want to wait and watch. The hills will surely lose out on the winter rush of tourists," said Pawan Lama, a tour operator. Hoteliers, too, say that occupancy is barely 20 per cent. "By this time of the year, all our rooms get booked for the November to January season. But we have received just a few bookings for those months. Even for the Christmas-New Year week when our regular guests plead with us for accommodation, our rooms will go empty this year," lamented the general manager of a hotel chain that has a few properties in the Hills.

Sanjay Thapa, who runs a travel agency and owns a few taxis, says that encouraged by the rush of tourists till trouble broke out in early June, he took a bank loan and bought two more SUVs. "I defaulted on the last two EMIs. My vehicles are all sitting idle now. If things continue to be like this, I am afraid I will have to sell off the vehicles," he says. All businesses have suffered huge losses during the shutdown, and continue to do so.

This long shutdown, feel many, marked a critical turning point for Darjeeling Hills and its residents. "The impression has gained ground that the Darjeeling Hills are always unstable and trouble can break out any fine day. So it is best to avoid Darjeeling. If we can't change that impression, Darjeeling can never be the same again," said Amar Pradhan, a teacher of a prominent school in the town.

Pradhan may just be right: Darjeeling will perhaps never be the same again. The romance of Darjeeling may have been lost forever. For the oldest hill station in the country and one that proudly wore the 'Queen of Hills' crown for a long time, the fall is certainly an inglorious one.

All, however, may not be lost. People say political leaders of the Hills will need to firmly resolve never to call for shutdowns and let their supporters loose on the streets of Darjeeling. The movement for Gorkhaland can continue, more so since it has widespread support, but without the disruptions that have marked the movement till now. Darjeeling's civil society is of the opinion that while the lure of the Hills is eternal, stability is required for the economy of the hills to flourish. Only then can the movement for Gorkhaland become a sustainable one.