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New Delhi: Speakers at a seminar on Gorkhaland held in the Union Capital on 10 February 2023 underscored the aspirations of Indian Gorkhas while emphasising that creation of Gorkhaland only from the political, identity and emotional aspirations would be incomplete without considering the security realities connected with geography of the region.

The envisaged Gorkhaland is geographically part & parcel of the Siliguri Corridor, which is vital land bridge for Sikkim & NE, the speakers at the seminar were unanimous in pointing out. What was especially emphasised is that Security of Siliguri Corridor is vital for national security that needs to be seen as an inescapable reality for creation of Gorkhaland.

Focus was drawn at the seminar on the following:

STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF SILIGURI CORRIDOR AND GEOGRAPHY

• The speakers were particular in drawing attention to the following:
• External Threat to the Corridor & Military Implications
• Internal Threat by Demographic Inversion
• North Bengal & Sikkim
• Demographic Invasion From Bangladesh
• Demographic Pattern in Bharat-Nepal Terrai Region
• Red Corridor & Siliguri Corridor-The Connect
• Fact Check & Way Forward

THREAT TO SILIGURI CORRIDOR FROM CHUMBI VALLEY & DOKLAM

• Chumbi Valley points like a dagger towards Siliguri Corridor via Sikkim
• PLA has built major highway from Lhasa to Yadong, 15 kms to Nathula
• Doklam – Jaldhaka to Siliguri Corridor is a possible approach
• Doklam Plateau dominates Siliguri Corridor including Darjeeling and Sikkim Hills by observation & effective fire
• Siliguri, the metro of the East – major communication & commercial hub for NE, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh
• Hence China’s interest in Doklam & Siliguri Corridor is obvious

IMPORTANCE OF SILIGURI & SILIGURI CORRIDOR

• Road distances from Siliguri to Kakaribhitta, Nepal – 28 kms; Banglabadha in BD – 16 kms; Phuntsoling-154 kms
• Nathula Pass in Chumbi Valley – 166 kms
• Phulbari Land Port & immigration Point – 14 kms

SILIGURI CORRIDOR

• NH 17 & Rail Line to NE (Tinsukia)
• NH 10 & rail line under construction to Sikkim
• Bagdogora & Hasimara airports, NJP Rail Junction, Commercial Infra, military Stations &
  Depots & Para Military establishments.
• 435 km Guwahati-Siliguri Oil Pipeline & Indian Oil Depots
• Hydro Power Dams in Teesta, Barrages/Grids & Bridges over Teesta
• Major Tea & Tourism Industries

EXTERNAL THREAT FROM CHINA

• China’s continuous efforts to hit India’s security to attain superpower status in Asia
• China’s aim in the Region: To capture/disintegrate NE by attacking & capturing Siliguri Corridor
• Missile & Air bases in Tibet – one of the obvious targets is Siliguri Corridor
• Highway into Chumbi Valley & building alternate route through Doklam
• Recruited 400 + Tibetans from Chumbi Valley in 2022 to be deployed along LAC
• China’s push to interlink with Nepal, BD & Myanmar substantiate its interest in Siliguri Corridor to cut off NE.

CHINESE THREAT IN DOKLAM

• Use Doklam Plateau as a launching pad to storm Siliguri Corridor and
  isolate NE
• Drive a wedge between Sikkim & Bhutan
• Out flank Sikkim defences from SW
• Military Implications: Disruption/cutting off Siliguri Corridor
• Result: Entire NE & Sikkim would be isolated choking supply and reinforcement and threatening freedom & security of almost 50 million plus people of the NE.

INTERNAL THREAT – THE ENEMY WITHIN

• Demographic Invasion by Illegal Immigrants and Radicalisation of Population in Siliguri Corridor
• Demographic pattern changing fast towards Muslim majority
• Multiple groups within Bharat to ignite fire from small sparks in the Corridor
• Military Ops & depl in the corridor area can be disrupted by anti-nationals in support of PLA operations.
• Demographic Invasion by Rohingyas & Illegal BD Immigrants

ROHINGYAS SETTLEMENTS: Entire N. Bengal & Hills of Darjeeling & Kalimpong

• NH 10 (Teesta, Melli-towards Sikkim)
• Old Silk Route-Kalimpong-Pedong-Lava-Zuluk-Jelep-la
• Further compounded by exodus of hill youths to Metros for higher education and employment (Lack of both in the Hills)

CATTLE SMUGGLING AND ROHINGYAS INFILTRATION – Arrest of WB politician

• Multi-crore cattle smuggling racket indicates sinister design in the Corridor
• Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) trafficking & narco-terrorism
• Mushrooming of huge mosques & madrassas and big time funding

DEMOGRAPHIC INVASION IN INDO-NEPAL TERAI REGION ADJACENT TO SILIGURI CORRIDOR

• 116 Villages along Nepal border are now ‘Rohingyas/Muslim majority’, madrasas and mosques mushrooming
• Out of approx 1000 villages in 5 border districts – 116 have more than 50% Muslim population. 300 villages – 30-50% Muslim population (Dainik Bhaskar).
• Assam and UP have recommended jurisdiction of BSF be increased from the present 50 KM to 100 KM for effective search & investigation
• ISI’s IFCN Racket from Nepal
• ISI sponsored large network of agents-Kathmandu to Birganj-all along the border had been pushing hundreds of crores of FICN into India.
• 2019 – kingpin Yunus Ansari +3 Pakistanis arrested in KTM’s Tribhuvan Airport with huge amount of FICN Rs 2000 denomination

RED CORRIDOR AND SILIGURI CORRIDOR

• China – Nepal – Siliguri Corridor- WB – Odisha – Jharkhand – Chhattisgarh-Telangana – Andhra Pradesh – Bay of Bengal
• A Route of Naxalite – Maoist insurgents for movement of arms, drugs & cadres along this corridor

MAJOR THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY

Lethal combination of Maoists & Naxals and with radicalised Illegal Immigrants as majority population in Siliguri Corridor would support China’s advances – in this perceived scenario, the RESULT WILL BE DEVASTATING

FACT CHECK & WAY FORWARD

• To deal with the Dragon, we need to have our house in North Bengal & Sikkim in order.
• WB is geographically too large & Politically Volatile to ensure fool-proof security of the Region & Siliguri Corridor
• Need to not only think out of the box but to GET OUT OF THE BOX & ACT
• In the Book Dragon Fire – A fictional scenario of 130 km thrust by PLA from Doklam-Jaldhaka to Siliguri Corridor is a possibility.

RATIONAL NON POLITICAL NEED OF THE DAY

A compact and strategically manageable Gorkhaland to ensure fool-proof security of the sensitive land bridge – the Siliguri Corridor.