This MLA's toy gun hit CPM hard: Renu Subba to get GTA award
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Darjeeling: Renulina Subba, who once made headlines for bringing a plastic gun into the Bengal assembly in 1981, is set to receive GTA's inaugural Subash Ghisingh Smriti Sarwachiya Nagrik Samman Puraskar.
Subba, now 87, was Kalimpong's first Gorkha woman MLA.
She won her first election on a All-India Gorkha League ticket in 1977 and later as an independent in 1982.
On Wednesday, Subba told TOI: "During a conflict at a tea garden, CPM cadre carried out a brutal attack. Eight families in the area were completely wiped out. At the time, there was no police outpost in the vicinity."
"I was determined to raise the issue in Vidhan Sabha.
However, since we were in opposition, I was not given an opportunity to speak. So, I went to New Market and bought a toy pistol. I also made a mannequin using cotton, painted it red to resemble blood, and hid it under my shawl. In the assembly, while then-CM Jyoti Basu was claiming that Bengal was peaceful, I stood up and boldly declared, 'No, Mr Basu, you are a liar!' I then staged a demonstration using the mannequin and the toy gun to expose the violence and injustice," she added.
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Subba — also known as the 'iron lady of cinchona' — said it was due to her action that women cops started getting posted at the assembly. "Many thought the pistol was real. A marshal rushed to escort me out, but I resisted, stating, 'No, you cannot arrest me, I am a woman, bring women cops.' It was after this incident that female security personnel began to be recruited for the assembly," she said.
"Subba's symbolic act led to a commotion in the House.
It has remained as a striking example of her dramatic approach to protest and political expression," said author Jiwan Labbar.
GTA chief executive Anit Thapa had announced the award last year on the birth anniversary of Nepali poet Bhanubhakta Acharya. The award will be conferred annually on Ghisingh's birth anniversary — June 22 — to a distinguished individual who made notable contributions to the region. Subash Ghisingh was one of the most influential figures in the politics of the Hills.
"This year, we are bestowing the award on Renulina Subba for her pioneering work in establishing educational institutions, health centres, advocating for the Nepali language, promoting women's empowerment, and leading the cinchona workers' movement," Thapa said on Wednesday.
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