Binay praise for Bodo MP

VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, 07 Aug 2019, Darjeeling: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader Binay Tamang on Tuesday thanked Assam MP Biswajit Daimary for demanding Union Territory status for "Gorkhaland, Bodoland and Karbi Anglong".

Daimary, a member of the Bodoland People's Front, made the demand while participating in a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on Monday on the Centre's decision to do away with special status for Jammu and Kashmir.

Binay Tamang was quick to seize on the statement. "Daimary's decision to raise the issue of Gorkhaland is praiseworthy and we would like to thank the MP," said Tamang. Tamang urged Darjeeling MP Raju Bista to specifically raise the "Gorkhaland" demand. Bista had already urged the government in Parliament to find a "permanent political solution' for Darjeeling, Dooars and the Terai.

The Bharatiya Gorkha Parisang, an apolitical body in support of the separate state, held a meeting in Siliguri on Tuesday and appreciated Daimary's move.

An organisation called National Federation of New States (NFNS) is already in existence. Munish Tamang, the national working president of Parisang, is the present secretary general of the NFNS.

"I would like to thank Rajya Sabha member Biswajit Daimary for raising the issue of Bodoland, Gorkhaland, Karbi Anglong and other regions," Munish Tamang said.

"The Parisangh wants the Centre to find an immediate resolution to the long-pending demand of Gorkhaland, especially in the context of the sensitive chicken neck area that is crucial from the point of national security," said Munish.

Tribal status Raju Bista and Indra Hang Subba, the MPs of Darjeeling and Sikkim, respectively, called on Union tribal minister Arjun Munda on Tuesday and apprised him of the "misun- derstanding in a certain section of the media" over granting tribal status to 11 Gorkha communities.

"Munda has assured both the MPs that the 11 left-out Gorkha tribes have their roots, cultural identity, indigeneity in the region. So, the government is committed to fulfilling all required formalities according to the existing rules and laws," a statement issued by Bista's office said.

The Telegraph had recently reported that minister of state for trial affairs, Renuka Singh Saruta, had said in the Lok Sabha that the Registrar General of India had not agreed to the inclusion of the 11 communities in the ST category..