BHARATIYA GORKHA PARISANGH HUMAN RIGHTS CELL TO TAKE UP RIGHT VIOLATIONS OF GORKHALAND ACTIVISTS - PARISANGH CALLS FOR UNITY IN FIGHT FOR SEPARATE STATE

Kalimpong, August 9, 2013: The Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh condemned the repressionary measures adopted by the Mamata Banerjee Government and said Gorkhaland activists were being deprived of their civil rights. 

At a press conference in Kalimpong, BGP President Rev Dr Enos Das Pradhan said that the organisation's human-rights cell would take up cases of atrocities by security forces unleashed by the West Bengal Government on unarmed, peaceful protestors in various parts of the hills. He also said that it was time all those who were fighting Gorkhaland came together to pursue the demand, setting aside their difference in the greater interest of the Gorkhas of India. Dr Pradhan said that, in a bid to thwart the people’s aspirations, there is a conspiracy by the state government to turn the people’s movement into a law-and-order problem and control it with the strong arm of the law. 

Evidence of this lay in the indiscriminate arrest of Gorkha protestors on trumped up charges and in changes in the bureaucracy designed to signal law-and-order shortcomings. Forcible shutting down of cable television networks in Darjeeling was also an indication of the dictatorial stance adopted by the West Bengal Government. 

The Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh appeals to everyone to be vigilant and to immediately approach the BGP Human Rights Cell under Shri Pravakar Dewan for redress. They should contact the Cell and Shri Dewan for advice on how to gather proof and documents that will stand in courts of law. The Parisangh feels that unlike in the earlier movement for Gorkhaland in the mid 1980s, when the government and its police forces deprived thousands of Gorkhas of their civilian rights, this time human-rights violations should not go unchallenged. The Gorkhas are exercising their democratic rights granted to them by the Constitution of India and any illegal attempts to prevent them from expressing their just demands cannot be condoned or allowed. 

The Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh also feels that since the Central and state government are using their combined forces to thwart the long-standing aspirations of the Gorkhas of India, it is time the Gorkhas too came on a common platform to fight for a separate state. Across the country, it is the desire of the Gorkhas to see all political parties and organizations unitedly fight for Gorkhaland. The utmost priority is the creation of a state and all political objectives of individual parties are subservient to this greater call. 

The Parisangh welcomes the civilian attempt to constitute an all-party delegation to meet the Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh, to press for the carving out of the state of Gorkhaland. The Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh appeals to all political formations and organizations to lay aside their differences and embark on a new initiative to collectively work for the fulfillment of the people’s aspirations. While recognizing that each political party or organization has its own ideology, programmes and objectives, the Parisangh strongly believes that everyone can, and should, jointly pursue the single-point agenda of Gorkhaland. 

Politics must rise above individual interests in the greater interest of the Gorkha community of India. The Parisangh hopes that the parties and organizations accept this proposal with the whole-hearted support of the entire Gorkha population of India.