Bimal Gurung today said he felt like a "joker" wearing the traditional Nepali attire, daura sural, as hardly any party leader or worker wore it at the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's foundation day programme here.
Gurung and his wife Asha, who is a GTA Sabha member, were the only
senior Morcha leaders to wear the traditional dress at the event to mark
the 10th anniversary of the Morcha.
"I am feeling lonely today. The day used to be celebrated like a festival. Today, looking around, I feel that daura sural is
not our community's dress. It seems like someone has taken away our
topi (headgear)," Gurung said at the Gorkha Rangamanch Bhavan.
"I have become a joker today (for wearing the dress.). It is not
enough to just bring out rallies and raise slogans. We have to show that
we are different (from Bengal). Also, wearing our traditional dress
should be a matter of pride. It is an issue of our dignity," he said.
While the traditional Napali attire for a man is called daura sural, the female attire is called chaubandi choli.
None of the senior Morcha leaders, including party general secretary
Roshan Giri, assistant general secretary Binay Tamang, GTA Sabha
members, Ramesh Lama and others, were in the traditional dress. Among
the 700-odd people at the auditorium today, only about 10 per cent were
seen wearing the traditional dress.
"I am neither scolding you nor dictating anything. I am proud of my
dress and I will wear it for a month from today. I do not care if others
wear it or not," Gurung said.
In 2008, Gurung had directed that all hill residents should wear the
traditional dress for a month during the Puja season to show that the
hill people were different.
That year, some alleged Morcha cadres had blackened the faces of some
Darjeeling residents who were found not wearing the traditional attire.
The diktat was criticised by many, following which Gurung said that
from the following year, he would leave it to the the hill people to
decide whether to wear the dress or not.
In 2009, while most Morcha leaders were seen in the traditional
attire on important days and also in the festive month, very few
residents wore it.
Over the past couple of years, even Morcha leaders have stopped wearing the dress.
Today, Gurung said: "I do not believe in cosmetic politics. Whenever I
believe in something, I pursue it seriously (referring to his
consistency in wearing the traditional attire during the festive month
since 2008). We must not get lost. I believe in Gorkhaland and we must
not lose this (statehood) battle."(TT)
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