GJM rally for Scheduled Tribe status to 11 communities in ‪Mirik‬

11:20 PM

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schedule tribe

Writes - YOWAN GURUNG

The youth wing of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today called a mass rally to push for the demand of granting Scheduled Tribe status to the 11 communities of the Darjeeling hills and the plains of Siliguri.The rally was called upon by Mirik Subdivision GJYM President Yogesh Golay and other party cadres.

The Gorkha Janmukti Yuwa Morcha (GJYM) rally started from the Bypess more from eleven in the morning and ended at Receipt Centre Krishnanagar and everyone has been asked to support the demand. The GJM has been demanding tribal status for 10 communities from the hills and one from the Dooars area. The communities from the hills are Bhujel,Gurung, Mangar, Newar, Jogi, Khas, Rai, Sunwar, Thami, Yakha (Dewan) and the plains community is the Dhimal.

The Morcha got a boost to its demand after Prime Minister Narendra Modi endorsed it during an election campaign for party candidates in the north Bengal region recently. Earlier this year a committee was also formed by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs to examine and make recommendations.

Rally for Scheduled Tribe status to 11 communities in ‪Mirik‬

“The PM, Narendra Modi, has given a positive response to our demand. A committee has also been formed by the central government. It must be remembered that we are demanding for ST status and therefore, we must take proactive steps to pursue the issue,” said Arun Sigchi, Soureni Sabhasad, today.

The state government too had recommended the inclusion of the 10 hill communities under the tribal status category. At present, the Bhutia, Sherpa, Yolmo, Lepcha and Tamang come under the Scheduled Tribe status. The Bharatiya Gorkha Janjati Sangarsha Mahasangh (BGJSM), an umbrella organisation of the communities demanding tribal status, too has been pursuing the issue with the central government. After the Centre’s initial nod to look into the issue, the Mahasangh has started a mass signature campaign to garner support and make people aware of the demand.

“We Gorkhas have faulted on many occasions with our various demands because of disunity. But the time has come to work together and take forward this demand to its end,” said Arun Ghising, the Thurbu Duptin Samasty Sabhasad .The speakers during the programme were GTA Sabhasads Arun Sigchi,Arun Ghising, Phubu Rai,Mirik Municipality Chairperson Mala Subba,Ladup Ghising and Sunil Ragubangshi in host.


Via VOM

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Signature campaign for 11 gorkha communities demanding tribal status

7:27 AM

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tribal news

Darjeeling 9 May 2016 The Bharatiya Gorkha Janjati Sangarsha Mahasangh, an umbrella organisation of 11 hill communities demanding tribal status, today announced it would organise a signature campaign in various parts of the country to garner support and to create pressure on the Centre.

The BGJSM’s demand is for according tribal status to the Bhujel, Gurung, Mangar, Newar, Jogi, Khas, Rai, Sunwar, Thami and Yakha (Dewan) communities from the hills and the Dhimals from the plains of Siliguri. The organisation, which is affiliated to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, asserted that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Bagdogra and Birpara on April 7 to campaign for the state Assembly election, he had said the process for granting tribal status to the 11 communities had started.

Signature campaign for 11 gorkha communities demanding tribal status

Through the planned signature campaign, the Mahasangh wants not only to thank the prime minister for his assurance, but also to urge him to take concrete steps in facilitating the early grant of tribal status.

The GJM had initiated the demand for issuing granting tribal status to those communities that had been left out. Presently, the Bhutia, Sherpa, Yolmo, Lepcha and Tamang communities come under the tribal category. GJM leaders have also placed the demand in several bipartite and tripartite meetings as the matter also figures in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration agreement.

BGJSM president Kanchan Gurung said, “The signature campaign has actually started already from May 7 beginning from Lebong and the next day it was held in Mirik. We conducted the campaign today along Hill Cart Road in Darjeeling town. We are getting a good response from the people.”

The BGJSM maintained that the signature campaign was being undertaken solely after the announcement by the prime minister and refused to comment on a recent government circular that stated a committee has been formed to look into the demand. On April 2 this year, the Union tribal affairs ministry issued an order stating it had decided to constitute a committee which would be headed by Ashok Pal, joint secretary to the tribal affairs ministry, for examining and making recommendations on the issue of granting tribal status to the 11 communities in question.

“We do not want to comment on the formation of the committee as it is official work requiring due process. All we have to say is that no matter what, we should get tribal status. And we feel that through the signature campaign we want to tell the prime minister to grant it as soon as possible,” said Gurung, adding the list of signatures garnered would be sent to the prime minister on a regular basis.

The BGJSM also said that after the Assembly election results on May 19, they would hold a meeting with GJM chief Bimal Gurung to plan future programmes. They will also try to meet central ministers and the prime minister too if possible, to pursue the much sought-after demand.


(EOIC)

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