INTERVIEW: Gorkhaland: ‘Challenge to statecraft’

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

In an exclusive chat with The Telegraph’s Meghdeep Bhattacharyya in Darjeeling, Jaswant Singh spoke on Gorkhaland and the political crisis in Bengal. Excerpts follow:

Q: What’s on your agenda, with regard to Gorkhaland, on this trip?

A: This visit is essentially about the ex-servicemen’s gathering. Ex-servicemen from all over the country up to the rank of generals are here to attend the seminar. Naturally, the legitimate aspirations (with regard to Gorkhaland) of the people of Darjeeling will be in focus in the seminar. The organisers are seeking the support of the entire community of servicemen which has fought side by side in the battlefield with the valiant Gorkhas. I, Jaswant Singh, an ex-serviceman, am no exception.

Q: How do you propose to take forward the issue of Gorkhaland, now that you are no longer with the BJP?

A: I believe in the cause, in the aspirations of the people of Darjeeling. I appeal to everybody, don’t treat the issue as a problem, treat it as a challenge to statecraft — how best to meet the hopes and aspirations of India’s valiant citizens who have, for centuries, given their lives to the protection of their motherland.

Q: Rephrasing the previous question — how, after the BJP has been relegated to much lesser significance in Parliament and after your expulsion from the party, do you expect to make progress on the issue as the sole crusader for your cause in Parliament?

A: (Laughs) I really like the term “sole crusader”. Sometimes, my dear friend, it takes a sole crusader to make a difference. The strength of the demand for Gorkhaland is in the relevance and legitimacy of the ideas. With or without the BJP, I will continue to voice the demand, even as the sole crusader.

Q: Do you support the forms of agitation adopted by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, from barring administrative work, not paying electricity bills, land revenue and motor vehicles taxes to the banning of licensed liquor sale in the hills?

A: No! I do not support this. I certainly don’t. But understand that such steps sometimes become necessary when the government stops hearing the voice of legitimate demands and aspirations of a people. Bengal, over the last three-and-a-half decade, has turned illegal forms of agitation into a political art form. The Left Front government cannot preach restraint now, something which it has hardly shown during its tenure in power. Kehtey hain na – saw chuhey khaakey billi Haj ko chali! (As the saying goes — after devouring a hundred mice the cat embarks on a pilgrimage!)

Q: What’s your opinion on the way the Morcha leadership, self-declared Gandhians, silences all opposition, even from within the hills, be it Madan Tamang or Subhas Ghising?

A: You’re referring to a local disputation of an individual nature. I cannot comment on this.

Q: The last time we asked you this question (October 21), you had declined comment. What’s your opinion on the present political crisis in Bengal and Mamata Banerjee’s brand of politics?

A: It is a matter of great sadness, my friend, that Bengal today has sunk into the kind of non-governance, not just mis-governance, mind you, non-governance. The Left Front has obliterated the difference between party and government, a fundamental of democracy. It has turned election engineering into an art and now cries foul when others do the same. The Left Front government introduced in India’s political lexicon, the bandh. Now, Mamataji is doing exactly what the Left Front has mastered for so long.

Q: You’ve told us earlier that the question of your rejoining the BJP “is really of academic interest”. Given the choice, would you join any other political party?

A: (Laughs) I’ve become a veteran of attempting to answer this question. I leave it to you, show me a party, which you think I should join and then I’ll think and answer.