Kirati Khambu Rai community lines up programmes for ST status

A shaman from the Rai community performs a ritual at a rally in Kalimpong on Thursday.
Photo: Chinlop Fudong Lepcha, TT

SNS, Kurseong, 16 January: The Kirati Khambu Rai community said they have lined up a series of programmes to press its demand for the Scheduled Tribe status. The programmes, initiated by the Rai Rights Movement, will include a relay hunger strike that will begin on 18 January and dharnas in Delhi and Kolkata in the coming days.

Staging a mammoth rally to mark their new year (Yalambar Sambat 5074) here today, the Kirati community demanded ST status under Article 366 (24) and 372 of the Constitution.

Holding placards and shouting slogans, around 7,000 members of the community kick-started the rally from Mela ground. The rally went around the town and culminated in a meeting at the place whence it had originated.

The rally was staged under the banner of Kirati Khambu Rai Cultural Organisation based in Kalimpong.

The president of the organisation’s central committee, Arun Rai, said the Kirati Khambu Rais meet all the criteria needed for any community to acquire the ST status. The Rais have their own culture and traditions harking back to hoary past, he added. 

“We are tribal and our population is around 4 lakh in the Hills, yet we are still lagging behind in every index of development. It is now time for us to demand our rights,” a spokesperson of the Rights Movement, Sandip Kulung said while addressing the rally. 

He further called upon intellectuals to come forward in support of the demand. He also demanded the introduction of the Rai-related subjects in school curriculum and construction of ‘Rai Bhawan’ in all the three sub-divisions of Darjeeling Hills. 

Rajeev Ravidas, TT: About 10,000 members of the Rai community from across the hills and plains took part in the rally demanding tribal status. Nine persons will sit on a relay hunger strike in Kalimpong from January 18 in support of the demand. 

“The Rais are worshippers of sun, air, water and earth with our own unique tradition and culture. We fulfil all the criteria required to secure the tribal status,” said Arun Prakash Rai, the president of Kirati Khambu Rai Sanskritik Sansthan, an association of the Rais. 

Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha