CK Shrestha Rejects Felicitation - After Organizers Refer to Him As Being From NEPAL

Gorkha Theater Legend CK Shrestha Rejects Felicitation - After Organizers Refer to Him As Being From NEPAL

The Identity crisis felt by the Indian Gorkhas has bogged down generations of our people, and not just the ordinary people like you and I, even our celebrated artists, scholars, politicians and every prominent personality has to face this often repeated question - are you from NEPAL?

It is one thing to question, quiet another to say so on an invitation card for a program to be held at Siliguri by a West Bengal-based organization, in which the Bengal Tourism Minister Gautam Deb was to inaugurate the program.

A Calcutta based organization Sarbabharatiya Sangeet-o-Sanskriti Parishad was set to felicitate renowned Gorkhali theater personality Mr. CK Shrestha at Dinabandhu Mancha in Siliguri today. The Chief Guest of the program is J. C. Roy, Director of Cultural and Information Directorate, Bengal government.

Yet,the Invitation card states that Mr. CK Shrestha is from NEPAL.

Protesting against the humiliation, not just against himself, but also against the Gorkhali community, Mr. CK Shrestha has refused their invitation, and has declined to attend the program today.

 CK Shrestha Rejects Felicitation - After Organizers Refer to Him As Being From NEPAL

In a stern letter written to the organizers, Mr. CK Shrestha has said, 'my eagerness to attend your function was cut short when I received the invitation card today, which labels me as a citizen of Nepal. To be branded a foreigner in your own country is the gravest insult that can be given to a person, and the last thing I expected from an organization of your stature. This is simply unacceptable and I take serious offence in this act of humiliation that I have been subjected to. I am an Indian Gorkha, and being a citizen of this country is something that I am very proud of.'

Mr. Shrestha further writes, 'If a well known person like me is humiliated in this manner, I shudder to think about the fate of the countless other lesser known Gorkhas who are a part of this country.'

Take strong exception to the humiliation, Mr. Shrestha adds, 'I strongly condemn this mindless and deliberate branding of members of Indian Gorkha community as Nepali citizens, and in protest, I hereby decline the felicitation extended to me by your organization.

Jai Gorkha! Jai Hind!"

This is percisely why we need GORKHALAND statehood... as long as we remain a part of Bengal... we will continue to be humiliated.

Via The DC

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