Jiwan Namdung is a prominent Nepali poet and a towering literary figure in Nepali literature. He is the president of the Nepali Sahitya Akademi, and was conferred with the Sahitya Akademi award in 1994.
The unrest in the hills of Darjeeling has led to its complete lockdown. And, amidst this, is a poet who's been on the run.
Jiwan Namdung is a prominent Nepali poet and a towering literary figure in Nepali literature. He is the president of the Nepali Sahitya Akademi, and was conferred with the Sahitya Akademi award in 1994.
But the events that unfolded during the last few days has forced the poet to go underground. On June 1, on the invitation of the Gorkhaland Janmukti Morcha, Namdung was part of a discussion soon after CM Mamata Banerjee passed a notification making Bengali a compulsory third language in schools. GJM leader Roshan Guru invited several educational and social organisations to deliberate on the matter.
During the discussion, all the organisations held the view that by making Bengali compulsory, the CM was trying to impose it on the Nepali-speaking citizens of the state.
After the discussion on May 30, the police filed cases against all those present in the meeting, including GJM leader Bimal Gurung, Namdung, Giri, former Nepali Sahitya Akademi president Prem Pradhan, and Rev Joy Haldar.
Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (punishment for riots), 148 (rioting, arson with deadly weapons), 149 (common intent), 505 (statement amounting to public mischief), 153(A) (promoting enmity among different groups), 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), etc, of the IPC have been slapped on them.
Fearing arrest, Namdung has gone underground. In Siliguri where he stays, the house is now locked. After several attempts to reach him, Namdung agreed to speak to DNA on the phone from an undisclosed location.
"There have been several attacks on our language over the last century. Our only demand was that no imposition should be made on us. As part of a literary organisation, it is my duty and my right to speak up," says Namdung.
"The Nepali Sahitya Akademi had Pt Jawarharlal Nehru as its first patron in 1958, and Mahatma Gandhi blessed the Akademi in 1925. Even Rabindranath Tagore visited us in 1931. As president of the Akademi, I hold every right to speak against the erasure of my language," says Namdung.
The poet's own words, written part of a poem called 'Poor pines in Darjeeling', perhaps, succinctly describe the state of his homeland. And, that of his own: "There are only pines nowadays in Darjeeling. Neither can they walk around, nor can they move a step, in the name of a movement."
Charges of criminal conspiracy
Jiwan Namdung faces charges of rioting, arosn with deadly weapons, unlawful assembly, promoting enmity among different groups and criminal conspiracy.
“Our only demand was that no imposition should be made on us. As part of a literary organisation, it my right to speak up,” Namdung told DNA.
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 "Jiwan Namdung")
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