Subash Ghisingh: Authorspeak

Darjeeling, April 22: Subash the writer is dear to Ghisingh the politician.

GNLF chief Subash Ghisingh today said he was always a “writer” first. “I am a writer first. I came into politics after I realised that the politicians then were doing no good to the community. I was a driver trying to guide the bus for want of a proper operator,” said the 75-year-old Ghisingh.

The veteran hill politician, who once wrote Nepali novels using the name “Subash”, has 22 works to his credit. But ever since Ghisingh gained mass support as a leader in the eighties when he started the Gorkhaland agitation, though he has been in politics since the late 60s, he had not been writing much. One of his popular works is Manna.

In fact, the GNLF chief, who was interacting with a group of journalists today, seems to have lost count of his novels. “I had written about 18-19 books but if I would have continued, the figure would have now crossed 100,” he said.

After being hounded out of the Darjeeling hills in 2008, a year after the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha came into existence with its renewed Gorkhaland agitation, Ghisingh had kept himself busy with research. “I am currently doing a research on the World War II and the feats of Gorkhas after which they were recognised as a martial race. There are more than 300 cemeteries of the Gorkhas in Rangoon.”

The GNLF chief had extensively travelled to Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Bhutan while cooling his heels for the last three years.

Asked when he would publish his next book, Ghisingh said: “Let me take care of the situation here. If I get time, I will have to visit more places for my research work.” Most of the publishers of Ghisingh’s book are Darjeeling based.

Ghisingh is also working on Theravada Buddhism one of the oldest surviving Buddhist schools and widely practised in the south-eastern countries.

The leader has been also advocating the need to inculcate the habit of travelling. “A person must have a passport. He must travel far and wide to understand one’s place. If you haven’t seen the world, how can you as a leader prescribe a solution for a place,” he said adding: “Apart from D.P. Rai, the hills no longer have leaders of quality.”

Rai, an ABGL leader who died in the eighties, was the first from the hills to be a minister in the United Front government in Bengal.

Talking as “Ghisingh the politician”, the GNLF chief wondered why the hill people rejected the Sixth Schedule status.

“It has legislative powers. The new Gorkha Hill Council (under the special status) can take care of everything. There will be tax holidays and there will be a beeline of investors thus generating employment for this region,” the politician said. “I am fine but the people here seem to have turned upside down.”

Asked if he would launch an agitation for the inclusion of the hills within the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, Ghisingh said: “The party has already done its job by signing a historic document (on December 6, 2005 with the state and Centre).”

The hint was that he was not interested in a mass agitation unless the people came forward to support him.

Ghisingh said he was trying to educate the “misled people” by distributing CDs of his Mirik and Darjeeling speeches. “Politics means, being in tune with desh, kaal ani paristhiti (place, time and current situations) or else it will be a waste of time,” politician Ghisingh said.