Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) is a political party in the Darjeeling District of West Bengal, India. It was formed in 1980 by Subhash Ghisingh with the objective of demanding a Gorkhaland state within India. Early history Part of the desire for independence stems from the notion that the Gurkhas are ethnically and culturally diverse from the rest of the population of West Bengal due to their roots within Nepali history. R. B. Rai describes the Darjeeling region as "social, political, and symbolic center" for all Indian Gorkhas, leading the movement to include the Nepali Language in the Indian constitution.” Other ethnic identities in the region such as the Lepchas, the indigenous population of the area, and the Bhutias are looked at by Gorkhas as holding minority status. Language is one of the main distinguishing factors between Gorkhas and others in the Darjeeling district as out of a total of around one million people living in the hills of Darjeeling, 90 percent speak Nepali. It is also important to note that the Nepali spoken in the Darjeeling district is distinct from that spoken outside of the Darjeeling region as it emerged as a combination of several different “kura” or “Gorkhali” dialects. The British went even further in helping establish Gorkhas as a distinct ethnic identity as they institutionalized their racial classification through military policy. Over time this led to an even stronger sense of ethnic identity. A sense of otherness for Indian born Nepali speakers may also have been a strong contributing factor for some in their motivation to gain independence from India. Indian born Nepali speakers were not considered Nepalis by other Nepali speakers, but were also looked at as foreigners by Indians. Some members of the Indian government such as ex-Prime Minister Morarji Desai who stated that if Indians wanted to speak Nepali that they should “Go to Nepal” clearly share this stance on the Nepali language. The tie between ethnic heritage and the Gorkha National Liberation Front is clearly represented in the flag’s use of the traditional sword of the Gorkha’s, the Kukri. A contributing factor to the push for an independent Gorkhaland beyond ethnic identity was an economic downturn brought on by corruption and mismanagement of resources in the Darjeeling region by the Indian government during post colonial rule. Although the region was recognized as having several valuable resources such as tea, lumber and tourism, misappropriation