Scholarly discourses involving the peripheral regions often look through the binary lenses of ‘identity’ and ‘development’, which are then ascribed as the root causes, leading to the emergence of political movements in these regions. Analogies emanating from such visions entrapped solely on development deficit fall short in dealing with the interplay and intersections of history, geography and politics related to such regions. The analysis concerning the Gorkhaland Movement also seems to be trapped within such an explanatory binary of ‘identity’ and ‘development’. This article attempts to situate the hills of Darjeeling, where the movement is located, into a less discussed framework of geopolitics that not only politicizes the geographies of the Eastern Himalayas but also historicizes the communities and their aspirations as a response to the manoeuvrings by the concerned states. Within such a framework, we shall also discuss how the colonial geopolitics of migration, henceforth, has been succinctly carried forward by the post-colonial state in shaping its notions related to the hills of Darjeeling.
AitchisonC. U. (1892). A collection of treaties, engagements and sanads relating to India and neighbouring countries (Vol. I). Government of India Central Printing Office.
2.
ArisM. (1979). Bhutan: The early history of a Himalayan Kingdom. Aris & Philips Ltd.
3.
BanerjieI. (1984, August31). Nepali speaking people consider recognition of their language a fundamental prerequisite for establishment of their Indian identity. India Today, https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19840831-nepali…isite-for-establishment-of-their-indian-identity-803682-1984-08-31
4.
BarthF. (1969). Introduction. In BarthF. (Ed.), Ethnic groups and boundaries: The social organization of cultural difference (pp. 9–38). Little, Brown and Company.
5.
BhanjaK. C. (1993). History of Darjeeling and the Sikkim Himalaya. Gyan Publishing House.
6.
BrennerN. (1999). Beyond state-centrism? Space, territoriality, and geographical scale in globalization studies. Theory and Society, 28, 39–78.
7.
ChakrabartiD. (1988). Gorkhaland: Evolution of politics of segregation (Special Lecture No. X). Centre for Himalayan Studies, University of North Bengal.
8.
ChaudhijriK. C. (1960). Anglo-Nepalese relations: From the earliest times of the British Rule in India till the Gurkha War. Modern Book Agency Private Ltd.
9.
ChawlaS. (2019, February8). How Bhutan came to not be a part of India. The Wire, https://thewire.in/south-asia/how-bhutan-came-to-not-be-a-part-of-india
10.
ChengappaR., & KrishnanA. (2017, July17). India-China standoff: All you need to know about Doklam dispute. https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/20170717-india-china-bhutan-border-dispute-doklam-beijing-siliguri-corridor-1022690-2017-07-07
11.
ChettriM. (2013). Ethnic politics in the Nepali Public Sphere: Three cases from the Eastern Himalaya (PhD thesis). SOAS University of London.
12.
ChhetriN. (2016). Restructuring the past, reimagining the future: Ethnic renewal process and claims for recognition as scheduled tribes in Darjeeling. Asian Ethnicity, 18(4), 470–487.
13.
ChhetriN. (2017). From Jat-Jati to Janjati: Demands for recognition as scheduled Tribe and claims of indigeneity in Darjeeling. Sociological Bulletin, 66(1), 75–90.
14.
DalbyS., & Ó TuathailG. (1996). The critical geopolitics constellation: Problematizing fusions of geographical knowledge and power. Political Geography, 15(6/7), 451–456.
15.
DasS. K. (2017, June14). Gorkhaland violence result of TMC inroads in Darjeeling hills. WION. http://www.wionews.com/south?asia/the?gorkhaland?demand?resurrects?on?language?issue?16822
16.
DasT. K. (2010). From Mayel Lyang to Gorkhaland: Continuity of marginality among the Lepchas of Darjeeling Hills. Voice of Dalit, 3(2), 227–251.
17.
DashA. J. (1947). Bengal district gazetteers. Calcutta Government Printing.
18.
DasguptaA. (1999). Ethnic problems and movements for autonomy in Darjeeling. Social Scientist, 27(11), 47–68. https://doi.org/10.2307/3518047
19.
DattaP. (1991). The Gorkhaland agitataion in West Bengal. The Indian Journal of Political Science, 52(2), 225–241.
20.
Datta-RayS. K. (1984). Smash and grab: Annexation of Sikkim. Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.
21.
DixitK. M. (1992a, October16). The dragon bites its tail—Part I. Himal Southasian. https://www.himalmag.com/the-dragon-bites-its-tail-part-i-bhutan-nepal-lhotshampa-kanak-dixit-1992/
22.
DixitK. M. (1992b, October17). The dragon bites its tail—Part II. Himal Southasian, https://www.himalmag.com/the-dragon-bites-its-tail-part-ii-bhutan-nepal-lhotshampa-kanak-dixit-1992/
23.
DixitK. M. (1992c, October17). The dragon bites its tail—Part III. Himal Southasian, https://www.himalmag.com/the-dragon-bites-its-tail-part-iii/
24.
DoddsK. (2005). Global geopolitics: A critical introduction. Pearson. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jird.1800100
25.
GirardiA. (2018, December4). How China is reviving the silk road by buying ports in the Mediterranean. https://www.forbes.com/sites/annalisagirardi/2018/12/04/how-china-is-reviving-the-silk-road-by-buying-ports-in-the-mediterranean/#751fb61a476a
26.
GolayB. (2006). Rethinking Gorkha identity: Outside the imperium of discourse, hegemony, and history. Peace and Democracy in South Asia, 2(1 & 2), 23–49.
27.
HangenS. (2007). Creating a “New Nepal”: The ethnic dimension (No. Policy Studies 34). https://www.eastwestcenter.org/system/tdf/private/ps034.pdf?file=1&type=node&id=32194
28.
HuttM. (1996). Ethnic nationalism, refugees and bhutan. Journal of Refugee Studies, 9(4), 397–420.
29.
HuttM. (1997). Being Nepali without Nepal: Reflections on a South Asian diaspora. In GellnerD. N., Pfaff-CzarneckaJ. & WhelptonJ. (Eds.), Nationalism and ethnicity in a Hindu Kingdom. The politics of culture in contemporary Nepal (pp. 101–144). Harwood Academic Publishers.
30.
JenkinsR. (1994). Rethinking ethnicity: Identity, categorization and power. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 17(2), 197–223.
31.
JosephC. M. (1997). Ethnic conflict in Bhutan: Political and economic dimensions (PhD dissertation). Jawaharlal Nehru University.
32.
KarD. (2012). The Gorkhaland movement: A Cladenstine invasion. N.L. Publisher.
33.
KellyP. (2006). A critique of critical geopolitics. Geopolitics, 11(1), 24–53.
34.
KraemerK.-H. (1999). Democratization and political parties in Nepal. In Lecture presented at the South Asia Seminar, Harvard University. http://nepalresearch.org/publications/harvard_9903.htm
35.
LamaM. P. (1988). Gorkhaland movement: A perspective economic analysis. Himalaya Today, 1(1), 5–9.
36.
MiddletonT. (2013). Anxious belongings: Anxiety and the politics of belonging in subnationalist Darjeeling. American Anthropologist, 115(4), 608–621.
37.
MiddletonT., & ShneidermanS. (2008). Reservations, federalism and the politics of recognition in Nepal. Economic and Political Weekly, 43(19), 39–45.
NandaS. K. (1987). Gorkhaland: Quest for identity. Mainstream, 26(9), 30–31.
40.
O’MalleyL. S. S. (1907). Bengal District Gazetteers: Darjeeling. Logos Press.
41.
Ó TuathailG. (1996). Critical geopolitics: The politics of writing global space. Routledge.
42.
Ó TuathailG., & AgnewJ. (1992). Geopolitics and discourse. Practical geopolitical reasoning in American foreign policy. Political Geography, 11(2), 190–204.
43.
PhadnisU. (1980). Ethnic dimensions of Sikkimese Politics: The 1979 elections. Asian Survey, 20(12), 1236–1252.
44.
PhuntshoK. (2013). The history of Bhutan. Random House India.
45.
PradhanK. (1984). A history of Nepali Literature. Sahitya Academy.
46.
PradhanK. (1991). Gorkha conquest: The process and consequences of the unification of Nepal, with particular reference to Eastern Nepal. Oxford University Press.
47.
RisleyH. H. (1894). The Gazetteer of Sikhim (First). The Bengal Secretariat Press.
48.
RizalD. (2004). The unknown refugee crisis: Expulsion of the ethnic Lhotsampa from Bhutan. Asian Ethnicity, 5(2), 151–177. https://doi.org/10.1080/1463136042000221861
49.
RoseL. E. (1977). The politics of Bhutan. Cornell University Press. https://doi.org/10.5771/0506-7286-1980-2-171
50.
RoutledgeP. (1996). Critical geopolitics and terrains of resistance. Political Geography, 15(6–7), 509–531.
51.
RoutledgeP. (2003). Anti-Geopolitics. In: AgnewJ., MitchellK., & TuathailG. Ó. (Eds.), A companion to political geography. Blackwell Publishing.
52.
SadamuP. (2017). A concise history of Lepcha language. Mani Printing Press.
53.
SahaB. (2016). Gorkhaland movement: Responses of the State. Unpublished MPhil Dissertation, Institute of Development Studies Kolkata, University of Calcutta.
54.
SahaB., & ChakrabortyG. (2017, July5). Understanding the demand for self- Rule in the Darjeeling hills. The Wire, https://thewire.in/politics/darjeeling-hills-self-rule-gorkhaland
55.
SamantaA. K. (2000). Gorkhaland movement: A study in ethnic separatism. APH Publishing Corporation.
56.
SarkarS. (2010). The land question and ethnicity in the Darjeeling hills. Journal of Rural Social Sciences, 25(2), 81–121.
57.
SarkarS. (2013a). Belongingness, contestation and the politics of inclusion in the Darjeeling hills: A little known chapter of Gorkha agitation. The Himalayan Miscellany, 24, 58–94.
58.
SarkarS. (2013b). Gorkhaland movement: Ethnic conflict and state response. Concept Publishing Company.
59.
SarkarS. (2015). Nepali Nation and Nationalism in Darjeeling: Kumar Pradhan in perspective. Studies in Nepali History and Society, 20(1), 31–68.
60.
SharanD. P. (2017, October13). China in Darjeeling: Potential impetus to Doklam Tangle. http://businessworld.in/article/China-In-Darjeeling-Potential-Impetus-To-Doklam-Tangle/12-10-2017-128341/
61.
SharmaK. (1997). Socio-Economic life of Cinchona Plantation Workers in India. N. L. Publishers.
62.
ShneidermanS. (2010). Are the Central Himalayas in Zomia? Some scholarly and political considerations across time and space. Journal of Global History, 5(2), 289–312.
63.
SidhuG. B. S. (2018). Sikkim: Dawn of democracy: The truth behind the Merger with India. Penguin.
64.
SinghA. K. J. (1988). Himalayan triangle: A historical survey of British India’s relations with Tibet, Sikkim and Bhutan 1765–1950. The British Library.
65.
SinhaA. C. (1975). Politics of Sikkim: A sociological study. Thomson Press (India) Limited.
66.
SinhaA. C. (1991). Bhutan: Ethnnic identity and National Dilemma. Reliance Publishing House.
67.
SinhaA. C. (1995). Bhutan in 1994: Will the ethnic conflict be resolved?Asian Survey, 35(2), 166–170.
68.
SinhaA. C. (2003). The Indian Northeast Frontier and the Nepali Immigrants. In: SinhaA. C. & SubbaT. B. (Eds.), The Nepalis in Northeast India: A community in search of Indian identity (pp. 31–53). Indus Publishing Company.
69.
StillerL. F. (1973). The rise of the House of Gorkha: A study in the unification of Nepal (1768–1816) (First). Manjusri Publishing House.
70.
SubbaT. B. (1985a). The Lepchas: From legends to the present day. Religion and Society, XXXII(2), 61–70.
71.
SubbaT. B. (1985b). The quiet hills: A study of the Agrarian relations in Hill Darjeeling (Published for the Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society) I.S.P.C.K.
72.
SubbaT. B. (1992). Ethnicity, state and development: A case study of the Gorkhaland movement in Darjeeling. Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.
73.
TamangS., & SitlhouH. (2018). Identity, contestation and ethnic revivalism among Nepalis in Darjeeling. Economic & Political Weekly, LIII(1), 33–39.
74.
TweedD. (2018, August23). China’s New Silk Road. Bloomberg, https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/china-s-silk-road
75.
VenkatachalliahM. (1993). Supreme Court of India R. C. Poudyal And Anr. Etc. Etc vs Union Of India And Ors. Etc. Etc on 10 February, 1993. https://indiankanoon.org/doc/745161/
76.
VergheseB. G. (2004). India’s Northeast Resurgent: Ethnicity, governance, development (revised ed). Konark Publishers.
77.
WhelptonJ. (1991). Kings, soldiers, and priests: Nepalese politics and the rise of Jang Bahadur Rana, 1830–1857. Manohar.
