imported>Fylindfotberserk at 08:59, 17 February 2021

2021-02-17T08:59:38Z

New page

{{short description|Indian politician}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox Indian politician
|name = Madan Tamang
|image =
|imagesize =
|alt =
|caption =
|nominee =
|office = President, [[Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League]]
|term =
|birth_date = {{birth date|1948|6|1|df=y}}
|birth_place =
|death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2010|5|21|1948|6|1}}
|death_place = [[Darjeeling]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]
|residence =
|nationality = [[India]]n
}}
'''Madan Tamang''' was an [[India]]n [[politician]] and the president of [[Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League]] (ABGL), a [[moderate]] faction of the [[Gorkhaland]] movement. Opposed to violent methods for the process, he stood for a negotiated settlement to the Gorkhaland dispute.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Tamang-funeral-turns-into-anti-GJM-tirade/articleshow/5970441.cms |title=Tamang funeral turns into anti-GJM tirade |date=25 May 2010 |newspaper=The Times of India}}</ref> He was hacked to death allegedly by [[Gorkha Janmukti Morcha]] supporters on 21 May 2010 which led to spontaneous shutdown in the three divisions of the hills [[Darjeeling]], [[Kurseong]] and [[Kalimpong]].

==Personal life==
Madan Tamang was born on 1 June 1948 to Manbahadur Tamang and Lamu Tamang at [[Meghma]] village in [[Darjeeling district]]. He was the eldest of four brothers. He studied at St Robert's School in Darjeeling and then completed his bachelor's degree in humanities from [[St Joseph's College, Darjeeling|St Joseph's College]] at North Point in Darjeeling. He was married to Bharati Tamang. Madan Tamang entered the tea business by establishing a tea estate in his ancestral land around Meghma on the Indo-Nepal border.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://himalnews.wordpress.com/2010/05/22/madan-tamang-is-no-more-long-may-he-live/ |title=Oolongs & Rhododendrons - Madan Tamang's Twin Passions |date=22 May 2010 |work=Himal News}}</ref>

==Political career==
Madan Tamang entered into politics in 1969 while still in college when he became a close associate of the noted ABGL leader of the time, Deo Prakash Rai. Through the 1970s, he headed '''Tarun Gorkha''', the youth wing of the [[Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League]] (ABGL), and became well known for his oratory skills. Eventually, he became the District Secretary of the Gorkha League in 1977, though he resigned in 1980 to join a new outfit, ''Pranta Parishad'', where he worked closely with [[Subhash Ghisingh]] for some time till Ghisingh started the [[Gorkha National Liberation Front]] (GNLF) in 1980 and demanded the state of Gorkhaland. Meanwhile, the Pranta Parishad along with organizations like the ''Nepali Bhasa Manyata Samiti'' started a campaign to include the [[Nepali language]] in the [[8th Schedule|Eighth Schedule]] of the [[Indian Constitution|Constitution]], and also turned an important rival of Ghisingh. Between 1986 and 1988, he openly criticized Ghisingh for corruption and use of violence for which his ancestral house at [[Meghma]] near [[Sandakphu]] was torched.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kumar |first=Braj Bihari |title=Small States Syndrome in India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nKqF_AgDd4gC&pg=PA99 |year=1998 |page=99 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |isbn=81-7022-691-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Samdara |first=Ranbir |title=The Politics of Autonomy: Indian Experiences |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kcVh_QInSD0C |year=2005 |page=191 |publisher=SAGE |isbn=0-7619-3452-9}}</ref>

After lying low for some time, in 1992, Tamang started the Gorkha Democratic Front (GDF) to counter GNLF's opposition of the inclusion of the Nepali language in the Constitution because it wanted [[Gorkhali]] instead.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100522/jsp/bengal/story_12476426.jsp |title=Voice of opposition, always |date=22 May 2010 |work=The Telegraph |location=Calcutta}}</ref> In 2001, the GDF merged with ABGL, and Madan Tamang became the president of ABGL.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.darjeelingtimes.com/news/Interviews/madantamang.html |title=Interview with Mr. Madan Tamang, President of Gorkha League |date=7 December 2006 |work=Darjeeling Times |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://archive.is/20120724071122/http://www.darjeelingtimes.com/news/Interviews/madantamang.html |archive-date=24 July 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

After the downfall of Subhash Ghisingh and GNLF and the rise of a new party [[Gorkha Janmukti Morcha]] (GJM) headed by [[Bimal Gurung]] in the Darjeeling hills, Madan Tamang became a vocal opponent of the GJM and levelled corruption charges against Bimal Gurung and other GJM leaders. ABGL set up an alliance of eight parties called Democratic Front along with [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP) and [[Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists]] (CPRM) to fight for democracy in the hills through peaceful means and to oppose the GJM from accepting a compromised interim setup in place of a full-fledged state, as originally demanded by the Gorkhaland movement and GJM leaders.<ref name=da>{{cite news |url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/gorkha-leader-madan-tamang-killed-darjeelin/621822/ |title=Gorkha leader Madan Tamang killed, Darjeeling tense |date=21 May 2010 |newspaper=The Indian Express}}</ref><ref name=tt/>

==Death==
On 21 May 2010, at around 9.30 am, Madan Tamang was supervising arrangements for a meeting scheduled for later in the day near Planters Club, Darjeeling to celebrate the 68th Foundation Day of [[Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League]], when some 150 armed assailants stormed the venue. While some attackers started throwing stones at the people gathered at the venue, three men attacked Tamang directly and hacked him with [[khukri]]s, a Gorkha small sword. After being critically injured, he was rushed to the Darjeeling District Hospital where he soon died.<ref name=da/><ref name=dt>{{cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gorkha-leader-Madan-Tamang-hacked-in-public/articleshow/5960365.cms |title=Gorkha leader Madan Tamang hacked in public |date=22 May 2010 |newspaper=The Times of India}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100524/jsp/frontpage/story_12481252.jsp |title='Boy' who delivered the killer blow |newspaper=The Telegraph India |date=24 May 2010 |first=Vivek |last=Chhetri}}</ref> Few days later on 25 May, hundreds of mourners joined his funeral procession after which his body was taken to his native village of Meghma for the last rites.<ref name=tt>{{cite news |url= http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/Madan-Tamangs-body-taken-out-in-massive-procession/article16303183.ece |title=Madan Tamang's body taken out in massive procession |newspaper=The Hindu |date=24 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/hills-mourn-tamang-110052500009_1.html |title=Hills mourn Tamang |date=25 May 2010 |newspaper=Business Standard}}</ref> Later, his wife Bharati Tamang was elected as the president of ABGL. <ref>{{cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Tamangs-murder-threatens-to-derail-Gorkhaland-talks/articleshow/5974887.cms |title=Tamang's murder threatens to derail Gorkhaland talks |date=26 May 2010 |newspaper=The Times of India}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Samanta |first=Amiya K. |title=Gorkhaland Movement: A Study in Ethnic Separatism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J4GqdfG0EU8C |year=2000 |publisher=APH Publishing |isbn=81-7648-166-1}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamang, Madan}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:West Bengal politicians]]
[[Category:Deaths by stabbing in India]]
[[Category:Assassinated Indian politicians]]
[[Category:Indian people of Nepalese descent]]
[[Category:People from Darjeeling]]
[[Category:People murdered in West Bengal]]
[[Category:2010 crimes in India]]
[[Category:2010 murders in Asia]]
[[Category:2010s murders in India]]

Madan Tamang - Revision history

imported>Fylindfotberserk at 08:59, 17 February 2021