Voice of opposition, symbol of valour

Madan Tamang died as bravely as he had lived his life. Arguably, the hills’ most-gifted orator to enter politics, Tamang never wavered when it came to speaking out his mind, which at the end cost him his life.

He entered politics from his college days and was a close associate of the then undisputed leader of the hills, Deo Prakash Rai. During the 1970s, he also headed Tarun Gorkha, the youth wing of the ABGL and immediately shot into the limelight with his oratory skills.

In 1977, he was made the district secretary of the ABGL but resigned in 1980 to join a new outfit called Pranta Parishad. His exit from the ABGL was largely because of difference in opinion with the senior leadership of the party. Pranta Parishad threatened to overshadow the ABGL after it spearheaded a campaign along with other apolitical organisations like the Nepali Bhasa Manyata Samiti to include the Nepali language in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution.

Tamang worked closely with Subash Ghisingh during the initial days of Pranta Parishad, but the latter floated the GNLF in 1980 and slowly started overshadowing the Parishad with the statehood demand.

By 1986, the entire hills were with Ghisingh but Tamang refused to join him. Even at the height of the Gorkhaland agitation between 1986 and 1988, Tamang never stopped from criticising Ghisingh and the violence the GNLF had unleashed in the hills. During those times, Tamang was the only visible individual who spoke against the GNLF even while residing in the hills.

The GNLF did not take things lying low and burnt his ancestral house at Meghma near Sandakphu.

In 1992, Tamang floated the Gorkha Democratic Front (GDF) when the GNLF started opposing the inclusion of the “Nepali” language in the Constitution. The GNLF wanted the nomenclature to be changed from Nepali to Gorkhali while getting incorporated in the Constitution.

While addressing a public meeting, hordes of khukuri wielding GNLF supporters came up to him but he stood his ground at Chowk Bazaar and continued with his speech. In the end, the language was incorporated as Nepali/Gorkhali in the Constitution.

After his success with the Nepali language agitation, Tamang lied low only for some time to join the ABGL in 2004.

He defied GNLF-sponsored strikes to address public meetings against the inclusion of the hills in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. His vehicle was attacked in Kalimpong, his meeting was stoned in Bijanbari but he never lived in fear but instead headed an anti-Ghisingh conglomeration called the People’s Democratic Front.

When the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha was formed in 2007, he initially supported the new party but animosity started to crop up when his call for a collective leadership to pursue the statehood demand was shot down by the nascent outfit. Alleged Morcha supporters attacked his house, burnt the party office and stopped him from holding public meetings in Darjeeling, but nothing could stop him from voicing his views.

A couple of weeks ago, Tamang had played a vital role in bringing non-Morcha parties to form the Democratic Front.

Tamang dedicated his life to politics but he also loved to live life kingsize. He was well read and had one of the finest collections of books. He was also a keen gardener and had very good aesthetic taste. His Gothic house bears testimony to it.

Source: The Telegraph