BJP Plotting To Displace The Gorkhas: Binoy Tamang

Wepen, March 30, 2019: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has given a clarion call for Gorkha unity to thwart the sinister design of the BJP to displace the Gorkhas from this region. This comes on the wake of BJP President Amit Shah’s threat to replicate the National Register of Citizen’s (NRC) in West Bengal if voted to power.

Amit Shah addressing a BJP rally in Alipurduar in North Bengal on Friday had stated “We will implement National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Bengal to identify and throw out each and every infiltrator from the state. We want to assure each and every Hindu refugee that none has to leave the country. All of you will have a place to live in India with respect. The Citizenship Amendment Bill is our commitment.”

“There is a sinister conspiracy by the BJP against the Gorkhas. We have to unite against such a design. Amit Shah’s statement has come as a shock to the Darjeeling Hill people where more than 80% of population do not have land rights. It is a tell- tale sign of uncertain future for the hill people without land rights if BJP is voted to power” stated Binay Tamang, President, GJM.

The GJM President stated that Shah’s statement comes at a time when the sitting BJP MP of Darjeeling, SS Ahluwalia had alleged the Gorkhas living in Darjeeling were migrants from Nepal.

“Also the recent revelation from the RTI query on the government’s stand on granting of tribal status to the 11 Gorkha Communities, is indeed worrying.  The RTI reply had stated that the granting of tribal status would only increase influx from Nepal” stated Tamang.

All this has compounded the identity crisis of the Hill people feels Tamang.  “Such anti Gorkha , anti- people stance of BJP is highly condemnable and calls for unity amongst Hill people to thwart their sinister design to pose threat to our existence.

We therefore appeal to all Gorkhas to unit at the time of this great threat posed by BJP with a grand design to displace the entire Gorkhas from our land” stated Tamang.

The GJM has requested that all should support Amar Singh Rai, the GJM backed TMC candidate of the Darjeeling constituency.

“Hence, we request all the Gorkhas to vote for Shri Amar  Singh Rai, who has convinced the state government to accord land settlement right to the Gorkhas” stated Tamang.

The Gorkhas in Assam have been feeling the heat of the NRC. Recently the Assam Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Mukesh Sahu had stated  that in Assam, around 1.2 lakh persons were tagged as ‘D’ Voters in this Parliamentary election.

The ‘D’ voter is a category of voters in Assam who have been disenfranchised by Foreigners Tribunals under the jurisdiction of the government for lacking proper citizenship credentials.

There is widespread discontent among the community of around 25 lakhs and living across at least seven Parliamentary seats in the state.

“The Gorkhas living in Assam are mostly descendants of those who migrated or were transferred from Nepal as soldiers, road construction and tea plantation workers, labourers working for the railways and associated industries like coal and marginal farmers, by the British,” said Dipak Nirola, Secretary of the Assam Gorkha Sammelan (AGS).

“But in Assam, despite living here since ages,  Gorkhas are being harassed by authorities  by slapping ‘D’ voter tags. People are very unhappy,” he added.

“An estimated 23,000 to 25,000 Gorkhas are still carrying the ‘D’ voter tag. When BJP came to power in the state in 2016, it promised that the issue will be resolved. But it seems like the BJP government is not serious about solving the problem” the Sammelan leader said.