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Development (?) and Identity Politics in West Bengal: The Kamtapur Movement in North Bengal

ARUN K. JANA

INTRODUCTION

The state of West Bengal in India has been known for mobilization along class lines since the late 1960s. However, from the mid-1980s, that is, after less than a decade of uninterrupted Left Front rule, the state, particularly the northern part of it, witnessed unprecedented mobilization around ethnic lines in the predominantly hill district of Darjeeling. What is crucial is that the agitating ethnic community, as in many other parts of the country, has demanded the formation of a separate state consisting of the hill areas of the district. After a settlement of this dispute, which looks to be only a temporary one, the state ...

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