Nepal in Darjeeling—Politics of Linkages and Linkages of Politics

This article investigates the imagined linkages between Nepal and Darjeeling. The linkages are strengthened by the cultural and geographical affinities the hills of North Bengal share with Nepal. The region shares open borders with Eastern Nepal, and it was through them that the Gorkha army invaded Darjeeling in the 1780s. Subsequently, the British colonial economy attracted thousands of labourers from Nepal's far-flung regions. This ongoing migration from Nepal to Darjeeling remains one of the key means of linking the two regions. It acts as the residual cultural element, as propounded by the Marxist literary critic Raymond Williams. This article strongly relies on Williams’ ideas of the “residual” to make sense of these linkages and their importance in the cultural process. The article argues, first, that these linkages create certain points of conflict, as witnessed in the demand for Gorkhaland, a separate state for the Gorkhas of India. Secondly, the article shows that the effective dominant culture, which entails the modern nation state, does not allow the residual experience and practice outside itself, thereby tracing Williams’ proposition that “in most cases the residual has to be incorporated if the effective dominant culture is to make sense in these areas”. While the article largely relies on secondary sources, it also employs ethnographic methods to develop its argument.