Anit Thapa, whose party the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) is in power in Darjeeling hills, has raked up the sensitive issue of Indian Gorkhas’ identity and asserted that many hill politicians are using this narrative only to come to power.

The issue of identity for Indian Gorkhas is the bedrock for the demand for the state of Gorkhaland to be carved out of Bengal.

The hills have witnessed four phases of agitation on the demand for statehood — from 1986, 2007, 2013 and 2019 — which have turned violent.

Proponents of the Gorkhaland state maintain that the creation of a state different from Bengal would distinguish the Indian Gorkhas from the Nepali-speaking citizens of Nepal and nullify the identity crisis that exists among the Indian Gorkhas.

The India-Nepal friendship treaty of 1950 allows citizens of both the neighbouring countries to move into each other’s territory freely without the need for visas. However, this has been one of the reasons for the identity crisis of Indian Gorkhas.

Thapa on Sunday took up the topic of identity crisis head-on.

“There is peace in the hills (now). Every year, our students are cracking the IPS and IAS (UPSC) exams. That is our identity…. We have our identity but we have become victims of politics. We do not know our history, our story but we have been told that we have an identity crisis,” said Thapa, while addressing an event organised by Gorkha Welfare Society in Siliguri on Saturday.

In the past two years, five students belonging to the hill communities have cracked the UPSC examinations.

Helming the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), Thapa, often accused by his opponents of going slow on the statehood demand, stated that hill politicians were using the identity narrative to come to power.

“We also have voter cards, Bengalis also have voter cards, Biharis also have voter cards and it (the card) is the same for all. However, we say we have an identity crisis...,” said Thapa.

The hill leader, who is an ally of the Trinamool Congress in Darjeeling hills, said that the government had not discriminated against the Gorkhas

“The government has not discriminated against us but for political mileage we tend to say so (that Indian Gorkhas have an identity crisis,” said Thapa.

The TMC government, just like other plains-centric parties, is against any further division of Bengal.

Thapa, who started his political career with Bimal Gurung’s Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in 2007, added that identity issues did unite the Indian Gorkhas.

The Morcha was formed with Gorkhaland state as its primary agenda. However, the Morcha agreed to accept the GTA, a semi-autonomous administrative body, in 2012.

Thapa, who parted ways with Gurung in 2017, said agitations had destroyed many positive aspects of Darjeeling like its robust education system.

“This battle (for statehood) needs to be fought at the intellectual level,” said Thapa.