Even though West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly claimed Pahar Hasche the hills are smiling in reference to political unrest in North Bengal, the newly formed political party Gorkha Jan Kalyan Manch (GJKM) has re-launched the Gorkhaland agitation. Since November 15, 2016 the President of GJKM, Krishna Chettri has started an indefinite hunger strike to press for Gorkhaland statehood. Unlike earlier agitations for Gorkhaland which were launched from the hills, the centre for this latest agitation is in Limbu Busty, Prakash Nagar, Siliguri.

Yet, you wouldn’t know of this fast or the unrest in the region if you looked at the national media, especially the English news. The only English newspaper to have reported on this renewed call for Gorkhaland is The Telegraph.

The demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland comprising of Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars region of north-Bengal, is the oldest such demand in India, with its roots being traced to the Hill Men’s Association placing the demand for a separate administrative unit comprising of these parts back in 1907. Since then, the demand for a state separate from Bengal has seen many champions, including the erstwhile undivided Communist Party of India who supported the formation of a state called Gorkhastan back in the 1950s.