Conversations in a Tea Garden Ahead of the West Bengal Elections
The Mujnai tea garden has temples, churches and Buddhist gumphas. Its population in 2011 was 3,962, and had around 3,500 voters in 2021.
Sanjit Lama. Photo: Snigdhendu Bhattacharya
Politics4 hours ago
Alipurduar (West Bengal): âEven seven-eight years ago, hardly anyone got compensation for elephant attacks, but now people get them,â said 28-year-old Sanjit Lama. He is a Buddhist who owns a grocery shop in the courtyard of his home, next to a tiny Buddhist gumpha at the western end of Mujnai tea garden, 27 km south of the Indo-Bhutan border in Alipurduar district.
He elaborated further with the example of his neighbour, septuagenarian Maili Tamang, who died after an elephant attack in 2019. After this, her son, 47-year-old Bijay Tamang, received cash compensation from the government and a job as a home guard in 2020.