Bista seeks NRC `shield' for Gorkhas

TT, 30 November 2019, Siliguri: Darjeeling BJP MP Raju Bista on Friday highlighted in Parliament the exclusion the Gorkhas in Assam from the NRC, demanding that they be granted Scheduled Tribe status and be declared original inhabitants of the country.

"After the NRC exercise was initiated in Assam, several Gorkhas have not made it to the final list. They are leaving in insecurity and thus, I raised the issue during zero hour at the Parliament," said Bista in a release issued later in the day.

In Assam, around 70,000odd Gorkhas have been left out of NRC, including family members of prominent literary persons and freedom fighters, ex-servicemen and office bearers of various organisations which work for the community.

Bista, who had visited Assam after the final NRC was published in August and met chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, said it was necessary to highlight in Parliament the plight of the Gorkhas left out of the list.

"Through Parliament, I requested the government to protect the patriotic Gorkhas by granting them ST status and thereby recognizing them as original inhabitants. I am hopeful the government will take necessary steps to ensure that the Gorkha community is protected under the purview of our Constitution," the MP added.

Bista's assertion comes just a day after the BJP suffered a debacle in the Bengal by-elections.

According to political observers, one of the key reasons for Trinamul's victory is the vehement anti-NRC stand of the party.

Binay Tamang, who heads a faction of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, responded to Bista's remarks saying they indicate that Gorkhas would face problems if NRC is implemented in Bengal and India as a whole.

"The MP had raised the issue of NRC and its effect of it on Gorkhas at the Parliament. His statement gives an idea on how serious the problem of NRC is to the Gorkhas. Before the polls, he had said that NRC will not affect any Gorkha but today, he expressed his concern," said Tamang..