Sukant Majumdar, West Bengal and Mamata Banerjee.
During the British era, in the year 1905, Lord Curzon announced the partition of Bengal. After Lord Curzon’s announcement, anger erupted across Bengal and there were violent protests across Bengal, and eventually Lord Curzon had to withdraw the partition proposal. But in the year 1947, the country got independence, but Bengal was divided into East Bengal (present Bangladesh) and West Bengal. The people of Bengal have not yet forgotten the pain of that partition. People still have ties to Opar Bangla and Upper Bangla (Bangladesh on the other side and West Bengal on the other side) and even during the 1971 Bangladesh war, many people were forced to migrate to West Bengal and other border areas of the country.
Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee’s efforts during the partition of the country saved many districts of West Bengal from being merged into East Bengal and West Bengal survived. But from time to time there have been demands for division of West Bengal. On Wednesday, BJP Bengal unit president and Union Minister of State Sukanth Majumdar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and proposed to merge the eight states of North Bengal with the North-Eastern states.
However, the BJP says that the party is against the division of Bengal. Sukant Majumdar has proposed to include North Bengal in the North Eastern Council, so that North Bengal can also benefit from allocations for the development of North Eastern states like Sikkim.
Demand for 3 separate states in North Bengal only
It is not that West Bengal has raised the demand for a separate state for North Bengal. Even before this, there has been a demand for a separate state in North Bengal. Only in North Bengal have there been demands for a separate Gorkhaland in Darjeeling, a demand for Greater Cooch Behar in Cooch Behar, a demand for a separate state of Kamtapuri and a separate state of Rar Bengal in South Bengal.
Before Sukant Majumdar, in the year 2021, some BJP leaders, including former Union Minister of State and former Alipurduar MP John Barla, proposed a union territory comprising eight districts of North Bengal, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur. It was suggested to build Jalpaiguri, Malda, Alipurdwar and Kalimpong. When the ruckus started over John Barla’s demand, state BJP president Sukant Majumdar distanced himself from the demand.
BJP’s dominance in North Bengal politics
Sukant Majumdar.
These districts of North Bengal are dominated by Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. People here have voted in support of BJP in 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The state of North Bengal has eight districts, eight Lok Sabha constituencies and 54 assembly constituencies. BJP controls six of these. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s number of seats in Bengal reduced from 18 to 12. North Bengal has only one Lok Sabha seat short. BJP holds six of the eight Lok Sabha seats in North Bengal.
These eight districts of North Bengal share borders with Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh and are also very important from a strategic point of view. These districts have Koche, Rajvanshi, Gorkha and tribal tribes. Earlier, Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad (ABAVP), Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), Kamatapur People’s Party and others demanded a separate state of North Bengal.
The demand for a separate North Bengal has already been raised
It is not the first time that the demand for a separate state is being raised in North Bengal. Nine organizations namely Kamatapur Progressive Party, Joy Birsa Munda Ulgulan, SC/ST Andolan Samiti, Progressive People’s Party, GJM (Bimal Gurung), Kamatapur People’s Party (United), Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association, Akhil Bharatiya Rajwanshi Samaj and Bhumiputra Unnayan Samiti. A separate state of North Bengal was also demanded before this. There have been many agitations for the demand of a separate state of North Bengal.
Demand for a separate Gorkhaland in Darjeeling
Bimal Gurung.
Violent agitations have taken place in Darjeeling and the hilly areas of North Bengal over the demand for the creation of a separate Gorkhaland state. Subhash Ghisingh, founder of the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), led the movement in the 1980s to demand a separate state of Gorkhaland. There was peace in Darjeeling after the tripartite accord due to the efforts of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, but then Subhash Ghisingh’s associate Bimal Gurung broke away from the GNLF to form his own party Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and staged violent demonstrations demanding secession. Gorkhaland. In view of this, there was a 104-day bandh in Darjeeling in 2017, but later action was taken against Gurung and other leaders. GTA has been created. Currently there is peace, but the demand for a separate Gorkhaland is still raised.
Agitation over the demand for a separate state of Kamtapuri
KLO.
A Scheduled Caste community of people from Cooch Behar district, known as Koch Rajvanshi, agitated for the separate state of Kamtapuri. These people demanded that seven of the eight districts of North Bengal and four districts of Assam – Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Dhubri and Goalpara, Kishanganj district of Bihar and Jhapa district of Nepal should be merged to form a separate state of Kamtapuri. Kamatapur Liberation Organization (KLO) raised this demand in the year 1995. This is a terrorist organization. Later, the movement was quelled in the early 2000s, due to the arrest of several activists of the KLO and All Kamatapur Students’ Union, but KLO chief Jeevan Singh’s statements calling for a separate Kamatapuri state continue to surface. seems to be demanding.
There was an uproar over the demand for a Greater Cooch Behar state.
Anant Maharaj.
Bangshi Badan Burman, General Secretary of the Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association (GCPA), demanded a Greater Cooch Behar state in North Bengal. The movement has been going on since 1998. The GCPA demanded a separate state consisting of seven districts of North Bengal and Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Dhubri districts of Assam. In recent days former Union Minister of State John Barla and BJP MP and dynastic community leader Anant Rai ‘Maharaj’ have also demanded a separate state for ‘Greater Cooch Behar’.
Anant Maharaj, head of a faction of the Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association (GCPA), led a violent agitation in North Bengal 15 years ago demanding a separate state for Cooch and Kamtapuri. He is currently a BJP Rajya Sabha MP. Former Minister of State for Home Affairs and former BJP MP Nisith Pramanik was also demanding a separate state for North Bengal. He was defeated in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but now Sukant Majumdar, elected from North Bengal’s Balurghat, has revived the demand for a separate state of North Bengal by demanding the inclusion of North Bengal in the North East Council.
