Old settlers are not business community: Trader association

SNS, Gangtok, 10 July :Amidst the controversy over the writ petition by the Association of the Old Settlers of Sikkim (AOSS) raging in the state, another association comprising some traders has expressed annoyance for referring to the old settlers as the ‘business community’ while condemning the move by a few petitioners from the community of the old settlers. 

The All Sikkim Trader Association comprising the Sikkimese as well as the old settlers of Sikkim today addressed a Press conference and said that the vested interests of a few have dragged the entire business community in the controversy, irrespective of their identity. 

“It is derogatory and humiliating for us as the business community as a whole is being criticised for the move made by a few members of the AOSS, specifically the petitioners,” a spokesperson of the organisation said. 

The association appealed to the organisations and parties condemning the move of the petitioners to address them as the old settlers and not as business community henceforth. 

Commenting on the protest by the Sikkim Himali Rajya Parisahad (SHRP) against the old settlers on Tuesday, the association’s vice president, Mr Lakpa Sherpa said the violence by SHRP is condemnable. 

“There should be no atrocities or violence against the old settlers as a whole. Only a handful of petitioners have engineered the move. The whole community of the old settlers cannot be smeared with the same tar.” 

The treasurer of the association, Mr Anand Lal Agarwal, himself an old settler, said: “We all desire Income Tax exemption, but we do not want to run roughshod over the sentiments of others.” “Moreover, incomes of many of the old settlers are not enough to be taxed,” he added.