GJM joins the fray on apex court judgment issues, demands Central intervention

‘AOSS must file review petition:’ Keshavraj Pokhrel 

EOI, DARJEELING, FEBRUARY 1, 2023:  The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has appealed to the BJP-led Central government to intervene in the issue of the recent observations of the Supreme Court, asserting it has brought to forefront the identity crises of the entire Gorkha community of the country.

GJM president, Bimal Gurung on Wednesday said the issue could snowball out of hand if the President of the country, the Prime Minister and the Home Minister turned a blind eye. 

Gurung said it was important to take a stand even though the issue was related to Sikkim as it could have a domino effect on the entire Gorkha community of the country. "We are not interested in political and religion issues of Sikkim.

However, being labelled by the highest institution will set a bad precedent which will not augur well for our community. Even the Darjeeling hills will feel the effect," he said. Following the apex court on January 13 passing a judgment on the issue of granting income tax exemptions to the old settlers of Indian origin in Sikkim, political parties, associations and intellectuals of the Himalayan state took to the streets to protest against the observation in the judgment.

The GJM president said he would write to the President, the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and also the Governor of Sikkim. "The Central government must take a stand and have the observation reviwed. The Gorkha community has always stood and sacrificed for the country," said Gurung.

Gurung in the same vein said for issues of identity, the demand for Gorkhaland had been raised. "We (Gorkhas) have an identity crisis. We have always been called outsiders. This is the reason we are demanding a separate Gorkhaland state, "he said.

In January, Gurung revived the demand for a separate state and also held seminars in Delhi. In a follow up to the Delhi seminar another seminar was held in Kalimpong and the Bharatiya Gorkhaland Sangharsh Samity was formed to take forward the Gorkhaland demand. Gurung said he would wait for the reaction of the Centre and take to the streets if required. The Darjeeling MP and BJP national spokesperson, Raju Singh Bista along with the Hamro Party have expressed their dissent on the issue.

Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha spokesperson, Keshavraj Pokharel however said it was the responsibility of the Association of Old Settlers of Sikkim to file a petition seeking review of the SC observation."The Supreme Court passes judgment and makes observations based on the submission of petitioners.

The AOSS in its petition filed in 2013 remarked that Nepalese immigrants residing in Sikkim should not be granted IT exemptions," he said