POLL! Important Fieldwork Dilemma!

Okay, quick, I need advice. A moment of fieldwork glory (or at least good pictures for PowerPoint presentations) is within reach. But I'm a wee bit uncertain as to whether it is a good idea to pursue it.

(Mom: don't read any more of this post. It will only make you worried.)

Tomorrow there is a gherao here in Darjeeling by the Gorkha League. Now, who, you ask, are they? To answer that question requires a journey back to 1985. (Which you may recognize as the year "We are the World" spent four weeks at number one on the Hot 100 Billboard.) That year a group called the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) started getting all feisty about wanting their own state, Darjeeling, rather than being a part of West Bengal. Actually, in a country less insanely violent than India, it probably would have been pretty alarming. Because the GNLF had little gangs of young men who would go around and collect "donations" and would get into fights with representatives of the ruling political party.

This being India, it was only a little alarming. There are plenty more unemployed young men where those came from, but these sorts of things can be bad for the tea barons. So the GNLF didn't win a new state with their agitation, but they got an autonomous district.

Fastforward, and now there is this new political party, the Gorkha League, that is taking back up the cause of having a Darjeeling state. Tomorrow, they are going to begin a 15-day gherao at the headquarters of the Darjeeling autonomous district. A gherao is like a sit-in, except that it is announced in advance. And you announce your quit date in advance. That way, there is no danger that your resolve will been seen to crack, as it might in an indefinite sit-in.

By the way, Indians have a way with this kind of face-saving civil disobedience. When I was in Kolkatta last week, for instance, the Communist Party called a one-day general strike but announced an exemption for the IT sector. The disappointment of the IT comrades at being excluded from the day of solidarity was probably not too severe, however. Because, you see, computer companies tend not to be hot-beds of anti-capitalist activism. So it was kind of the equivalent of not inviting the Prom Queen out -- you aren't fooling anybody into thinking you wouldn't be rejected if you tried.

To get back to the point: it is kind of possible that these Gorkha League sit-inners will get into a scuffle with the GNLF folks at some point. And one of my goals for this dissertation about violence is that I will never actually have to observe any of it.

I think I will go and have a look, see how freely alcohol is flowing and whether there are any women at all there (a good barometer of what the intention of the gathering is), and then go away with a few PowerPoint-friendly pictures if things look ominous. But, what is your advice: take the poll below, please!!! And feel free to add comments. I value your collective wisdom on this point.