THE GORKHALAND MOVEMENT: EVERY VILLAGE HAS A STORY TO TELL

This Place of Mud and Bone by Sanjay Bista. Translated from Nepali to English by Anurag Basnet. Penguin India (2025). pp. 249; ISBN: 9780143471035

In 1980, the Darjeeling hills echoed with the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland within the Indian nation-state. The movement witnessed massive support from people from all walks of life. The aftermath of the movement yielded only a handful of memoirs, novels, testimonies, and poems. However, after Chuden Kabimo’s novel Fatsung was published in 2019, numerous novels began to mushroom about the Gorkhaland movement in Nepali and English. But there was always a yearning within me for a story about the movement, a story that I wanted to read and witness. I did not know what kind of story it was. Not until I came across This Place of Mud and Bone.

The story is set in a village called Labda in Darjeeling. The book is divided into two parts. The disquieting stories of Part I are rooted in the 1980s Gorkhaland movement— widely referred to in Nepali as Chayasi ko Andolan. The narrator frames the deaths and violence of Part I within this context. In Part II, set between 2007 and 2017, we encounter both familiar and new faces as fresh political symbols, such as a new party and a flag, begin to appear in Labda.

Ramprasad Gurung, a resident of Labda and a central figure in the narrative, embodies both the contradictions and the complexities of leadership within the Gorkhaland movement. He is a former Indian Army soldier turned vice-president of the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) and the Gorkha Volunteer Cell (GVC) chief. Ramprasad considers himself “more of a revolutionary than a political leader” (pp. 30). His departure from the army is told in two contradictory versions, either as an act of defiance after being labelled a foreigner in his own country or a more ambiguous decision according to the people who served with him.

These competing narratives raise questions about truth, myth-making, and the political uses of personal sacrifice in revolutionary contexts. His strained relationship with the GNLF General Secretary— likened to “two tigers” sharing “one forest”, highlights that the movement’s struggles were not only against external forces but also internal rivalries, rooted in power, ego and long-standing village politics (pp. 49). Ramprasad’s fiery political speeches, particularly his Labour Day eve address rejecting communist involvement while asserting a Gorkha working class identity, reveal a political consciousness unwilling to be subsumed under ideological banners. They also reflect his uncompromising nature and unwillingness to hold his tongue.

By 2007, a new party called the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) had emerged. Former GNLF members joined the new party, including Ramprasad. He remarks, “We must not rest, we must continue the Andolan, but at this point, Gorkhaland must not happen” (pp. 206). But why is Ramprasad, a man who sacrificed his job and joined the movement almost three decades ago, stating that Gorkhaland must not happen? His response pushes us to question what other elements hold the region’s people together besides Gorkhaland.

This Place of Mud and Bone offers captivating characters reflecting layers and contradictions of human lives— much like the movement itself. Tshering, once known as Simple Tshering, for his intelligence and quietness, later came to be known among people as Mad Tshering. Similarly, Karnay, a mischievous character, terrorises the village but cares more deeply for his family than for his wealth. Additionally, the book highlights the socio-economic dimension of women, especially in the chapter, “The Woman Who Sold Eggs.” Sarita, the woman who sold eggs, enables us to understand women's struggle beyond the roles and participation in the movement. The depth of characters and the astounding ability of the author to weave the characters with Ramprasad as the protagonist, while engaging with the Gorkhaland movement of the 1980s, 2007 and 2017, makes this novel stand out as both political and profoundly human.

Violence is a pertinent theme in fictional and academic writings on the Gorkhaland movement. Subba (2000) discusses a series of “violence” and “counter-violence” that occurred between May 1986 and December 1988. He classifies violence into four categories: GNLF vs Police, GNLF vs CPI(M), GNLF vs GVC and GNLF vs GNLF. Similarly, the spectacle of July 27 th 1986, and statements of “six inch”, numbers and tables of people killed, etc, are widely mentioned in fictional writings. While reading the first part, there is a similar reiteration of killings and murder. But, this is not to deny this form of violent deaths and killings, whether “fictional” or “factual”. However, Ramprasad, despite serving in the Indian army, is mis(identified) as a foreigner. This act of labelling the Gorkhas as foreigners or “outsiders” in India itself is a form of violence. Zizek (2008) states that objective violence— systemic and symbolic, often invisible within a system, ultimately produces subjective violence through war, the repressive apparatus or the actions of seemingly ‘evil’ individuals. Academic and fictional writings unraveling such objective violence enrich the stories and examination of the movement.

Sanjay Bista and Anurag Basnet belong to two different generations, both witnessing the Gorkhaland movement from 1986. In the author’s note, Bista’s reflection and opinion on the movement are worth considering. Simultaneously, Basnet provides a brief chronology of the Gorkhaland movement, essentially serving as a background for some sections of the story. The chapter titles are captivating, drawing readers in. The early chapters progress steadily, but the narrative soon picks up speed, brimming with surprises and lingering questions.

This Place of Mud and Bone explores the contradictions inherent in the heart of the Gorkhaland movement and the everyday lives of its people. The political desires for one’s homeland exist alongside themes of loss, terror, and violence. While the book focuses on the Gorkhaland movement, it also highlights the painful experience of Ramprasad, an Indian soldier being labelled a ‘foreigner’ in his own country. For the Gorkhas, this experience is both distressing and a continuous humiliation. Bista’s novel succeeds in telling a story that is both particular to Labda and resonant with the collective memory of the people in the Darjeeling hills.

References
Subba, T. B. (2000). Ethnicity, state and development: A case study of Gorkhaland movement in Darjeeling. Har-Anand Publications Zizek, S. (2008). Violence. Picador