How Gorkha state demand evolved from a 1907 petition to the Centre’s new panel

On August 22, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs formed a high-level committee to develop a framework for a "permanent political solution" to the Gorkha issue. This committee will address the historic demand for a separate administrative identity for the Gorkha community, a movement that dates back over a century. The committee will consider the complex history of the Gorkha demand, which began with the Darjeeling Hillmen's Association's petition to the Minto-Morley Reforms Committee in 1907.

Over the decades, this demand was championed by various groups, including the Gorkha Officers' Association and the Kurseong Gorkha Library, who proposed alternative governance systems like a Chief Commissioner's Province or a separate state called "Gorkhasthan". In the 1980s, the movement gained violent momentum under Subhas Ghising, founder of the Gorkha National Liberation Front, who coined the term "Gorkhaland".

This led to a series of agitations and the establishment of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) in 1988. In recent years, the Gorkha demand has seen a resurgence, with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) leading the charge. The newly formed committee will examine all aspects of the Gorkha issue in line with the Indian Constitution, with a focus on governance, financial assistance, and the potential granting of Scheduled Tribe status to 11 key Gorkha communities.