The Indian e-commerce company Flipkart which was ridiculed last year for sending a sexist email to female customers has done it again, this time with an offensive advertisement that reinforces the stereotype of Gorkha/Chowkidar. The advertisements designed to promote the recently launched “Flipkart Assured” customer loyalty service had insensitively characterized Gorkhas in the role of security guard. Though it is true that the advertisements in question were tailored to remove the objectionable content (khukri sign from the Nepali Topi and suitably changed the voices of character) after a court case was filed against the company by Gorkha Youth and Students Association (GYSA) and Hamro Swabhiman trust. But the way Indian company has chosen to put their defense is highly questionable. Responding “In a note to our Gorkha brother and sisters” the company has argued that it has unintentionally hurt the sentiment of Gorkhas and the creation of such character was based on the fact that some of the Gorkhas are employed as the security guard. Here is what they have to say:
“A security guard is someone we trust with our life, Every day. We trust our security guards to let the right people into our homes. We trust them with our children’s safety when they’re outdoors. We trust them to ensure that we sleep safe every night. The campaign drew from these codes of assurance to drive the key proposition of Flipkart Assured. It is with this intent that the character which the child portrayed was chosen to play the part”.
Now, where it has been written that while charting out a security guard character it has always to be a Gorkha? Also when more acceptable alternatives are present why the creators of commercial chose to reinstall the same stereotype? Perhaps there is no real reason whatsoever (there was never one) except for the fact that people who have made this offensive advertisement could see the humor in this when there is none. The company would have done better had they not utilized their knowledge about Gorkhas, which is based on narrow and frequently incorrect assumptions picked up from the Indian cinema.
More importantly, the company should not apologise for the fact that Gorkha community was offended by the advertisements- apologies for doing it in first place by acknowledging that such portrayal was unacceptable.
However, Flipkart advertisement is not the first to stereotype Gorkhas as baton- wielding watchmen, look at this other advertisement ‘Nepali Watchmen’ by Carwale.com that came out in 2015. It uses the same set of stereotype – a guard with slanted eyes in his incorrect Hindi saying Kyun dar gaya na Shabzee. Then, who can forget Amir Khan’s popular “Coca-Cola ad” that came in 2003, where the Indian actor pulled off one of the worst stereotypes of Gorkhas ever done in the industry. Clearly, these highly unimaginative ads represent a dull reproduction of approaches which have now become a common feature of Indian advertisement.
In this whole episode what is most ironic is that when Coldplay made a music video ‘Hym for the Weekend’, many in India took to social media and accused the British rock band of reinforcing stereotype; rightly so. For days the narrative of victimhood was played over the various media portals. But in this case, when an Indian company has produced an objectionable advertisement mainstream media has failed to raise any questions, showing no interest in reporting about the issue.
Isn’t portraying Nepali people like this a form of racism and needs to be ridiculed. So much for sensitivity to the centuries of oppression.
Nepali Restricted to Clichéd Occupations
The Nepalese much like any other community makes living in a wide array of professions, but thanks to popular culture their portrayal is restricted to some clichéd occupation such as watchmen, domestic help, Gorkha Army and sex workers. Their presence in other spheres has been never seen and acknowledged.
The Indian cinema is the biggest culprit which has portrayed Nepalese/Gorkhali as either the Khukri- wielding Gorkha soldiers or the Baton- wielding guards. To start with the movie Kasauti (1974), where Pran played the role of dumb- witted Gorkha to Paresh Rawal’s portrayal of a loyal and suspicious guard in Haseena Maan Jayegi (1999) and an ignoramus Chunkey Pandey from Apna Sapna Money Money (2007). In all these movies, mentioned above Indian cinema creates a largely imaginary picture of witless Gorkha, used as a prop to evoke humor. They speak in an unrealistic Hindi accent and there vocabulary to address other people is limited to two words- Memsaab and Sahabzee. Then there are another set of movies like Tango Charlie (2005) and LOC Kargil (2003), where Gorkhas are portrayed as savage, merciless and loyal officers. In fact, in LOC Kargil there is a scene where the commanding officer is giving a speech before the Kargil war and makes a reference to Hitler’s statement about Gorkhas that “I can have the Gurkha troops… I can conquer the entire world.” This personification of Gorkhas as the lethal, loyal and obedient race is a colonial construct and some Nepalese/Gorkhali themselves propagate this gullibly and walk into the trap of colonial stereotypes about the martial recruits.
In this highly restrictive portrayal of Gorkhas in Indian cinema, there are only two narratives- Gorkhas as the loyal guard or brave soldiers that exalt obedience as the highest virtue of Gorkha community. Further, there is a common thread in all these characters that is the presentation of Nepali community stitched around their nationality. So Nepalese of Nepal and Nepali-speaking people of India are lumped together in one nationality with no clue that there is an identity of Indian Nepalese that is separate from the Nepalese of Nepal.
The mainstream media is not too far behind in installing such stereotypes. To get a perspective, look at some of these stories that appeared in leading Indian dailies. DNA carried a story in 2013 From ‘Bahadur’ to Security Private Limited about a Nepali man who started his career as watchmen but now owns a security agency. Likewise in June 2016, New Indian Express carried a story How Nepalis came to be the world’s security guard. It makes an extremely stereotypic effort to tell you the various reasons why Gorkhas are preferred all over the world for the job of security guard.
The most offensive of all them is the article that appeared on April 2016 in The Hindu with the headline The Gorkha and his Whistle . The writer, who is totally ignorant about the life of a watchman, makes an attempt to understand why that the Gorkha who works as a night watchman in her locality is almost invisible. She writes:
Where does he (Gorkha) live? Does he go into hibernation for the rest of the month? What does he do? Is it the same gurkha who goes to houses at the other end of the city or are there many gurkhas? Do they all live in a secluded colony, far from the disease of modern life and people’s prying eyes, like Matthew Arnold’s Scholar Gypsy ?
The fact is that stereotypes are so internalized that they go well beyond the confines of media, television, and cinema. Not to be surprised if they are officially sanctioned and state-adopted. For instance in 2014 Tamil Nadu state government notifications shamelessly advertised for the post of Gorkha- Watchman. So does the state of Andhra Pradesh which has enlisted various categories for the post of guards such as watchmen, chowkidar, gatekeeper, Night Guard, and Gorkha Watchmen.
But who is to blame when even the Indian Prime Minister portrayed Gorkhas as the loyal security guards of India. This is what he has said in 2014 while campaigning for the party candidate S.S Ahluwalia (currently BJP MP from Darjeeling district) in Siliguri:
“Gorkha work as security guards across the country, people may not trust the police, but they trust the Gorkhalis, it is not a small job, it is huge respect, when someone can go off to sleep with crores of goods lying around, just because a Gorkhali is guarding it, this is not a small respect, this is huge honour, to be trusted, you have earned this trust, you have earned this respect”..
These limited and unbalanced portrayals of Nepali as a loyal subject is constructed by the people who have little understanding of Nepalese/Gorkhali themselves- and little foresight how such images impact the Nepali-speaking population in India.
Maanvender Singh, Ph.D Scholar, Department of History, Sikkim University, Gangtok. maanvenders08@gmail.com
Gorkha Youth and Students' Association of India (GYASA) filed Complaint against Flipkart Advertisement
Complaint filed against Flipkart Advertisement which is defamatory, sacriligeous, communal, racist and hurting the sentiments of the Indian Gorkha community and insulting khukri emblem of the Indian Gorkha Brigade and Assam Rifles.
DETAILED COMPLAINT:-
To,
Shri Robin Hibu IPS,
Inspector General of Police (Delhi Police)
Nodal officer for Northeast
Sub: - Complaint against Flipkart Advertisment which is defamatory, sacriligeous, communal, racist and hurting the sentiments of the Indian Gorkha community and insulting the khukri emblems of the Indian Gorkha Brigade and Assam Rifles.
(Above) Flipkart advertisement dated 22 August 2016 front pages on national dailies such as Times of India, The Hindu and others.
1. In two advertisement posted online, for which we have shared the link below, as well as being shown in TV and print media, https://youtu.be/sWWAamxP-mw https://youtu.be/gUl00MwN9Oc
2. Description: We want to draw your attention to the racist advertisement currently being propagated by Flipkart. The ad carries a boy portrayed as a security guard wearing a belt prominently saying SECURITY along with a Nepali cap with a badge of khukris which denote that he is a Nepali\Gorkhali. Thus a security guard has been depicted as a professional icon of the Nepali community creating a stereo-type affecting all Indian Gorkhalis.
3. Their advertisement makes a mockery of the Gorkha community, and stereotypes us as being Chowkidars with overly exaggerated and highly offensive [which they may consider as being funny] Hindi accent. Stereotyping a community is the most basic forms of racism and by promoting their business using racist stereotyping; Flipkart has shown how insensitive they are and at the same time exposed the hypocrisy of our great nation. While we cry for blood when an Indian is ‘stereotyped and racially abused’ in foreign shores, we tend to silently accept stereotyping as an accepted form of comedy when it is done to the minorities in our own nation. Flipkart has insulted the Gorkhali/Nepali community of India by perpetuating across national media to 1.3 billion Indians that the Khukri bearers are a community representing mere security guards.
4. Sir, the Gorkha community holds esteemed status in the world as immortalized by the words of Late Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, MC, Ex-Chief of Indian Army ‘If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or a Gorkha.’ The contributions made by Gorkhali community towards our nation building is unprecedented. In each and every sphere, the Gorkhas have always performed to the best of our abilities and contributed towards making India one of the greatest nations on earth. From Freedom Fighter Sahid Durga Malla whose statue adorns the Parliament grounds, to INA Capt. Ram Singh Thakuri who gave music to iconic INA songs like Kadam Kadam Badaye Ja and also to the current band version of our National Anthem, to Shri Damber Singh Gurung whose role as the member of Constituent Assembly in framing the Constitution of our great nation was highly praised by Baba Saheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar, the Gorkhas have provided illustrious luminaries who have led from the front in helping get India Independence and ushering in democracy.
5. Following the promulgation of our constitution, Gorkhas have worked tirelessly in each and every sphere to make a name for themselves and our nation, as reflected in Gorkha icon Shri. Pawan Kumar Chamling the longest serving Chief Minister in India ever. Be it in the form of legendary football player Chandan Singh Rawat representing India in Olympics at the Helsinki (1952), or in the form of iconic Indian National Football Team Captain Shyam Thapa, to the current Indian National Team Captain Sunil Chettri, Olympian and this year’s Khel Ratna awardee Jitu Rai to Arjuna Award awardee Shiva Thapa, from former Indian National Hockey team Captain Bharat Chettri to Ms. Chung Chung Bhutia of the Indian National Women’s Football team,the Gorkhashave excelled in the field of sports. In the form of award winning scientists Dr. Sunita Pradhan and Dr. Sarala Khaling, to the internationally acclaimed Artist Ms. Hemlata Pradhan, to noted social worker recently felicitated by the Hon’ble President of India Ms. Rongu Souriya to Internationally acclaimed author Ms. Jyoti Thapa Mani,the Gorkhali women have made immense contribution towards our nation. In the world of arts and entertainment who doesn’t get mesmerized by the works of National Award winning actress Ms. Gitanjali Thapa, or by the works of India’s top cinematographer Mr. Binod Pradhan or Mr. Nima Namchu the Chief Creative Officer at Havas Worldwide, or by Mr. Danny Denzongpa one of the most illustrious Gorkhali sons in Bollywood. In terms of bravery and patriotism, there is no parallel to Gorkha contributions in keeping our nation safe. If we start listing the name of the Gorkha brave-hearts, it would take us at least 2 years to write them down, suffice it to say the Gorkha Regiment, has, as of today won 6 Theater Honors, 18 Battle Honors, 3 Param Vir Chakras, 5 Ashok Chakras, 28 Maha Vir Chakras, 75 Vir Chakras and numerous other honors and citations. India’s first Field Marshal Gen. Sam “Bahadur” Manekshaw was a Gorkha by creed, and so is India’s current Chief of the Army Staff Gen. Dalbir Singh Suhag.
6. From academics to entertainment, from sports to defense of our nation, the Gorkhas despite our low numbers have contributed immensely towards nation building. Yet, Flipkart has chosen to show Gorkhas as Chowkidars with funny accent, thus sullying the image of our community.
7. Flipkart uses Gorkha religious and cultural artifact (Bhadgauley Topi/ Gorkha Hat) with Khukuri insignia as part of security personnel Uniform. The advertisement sends out a perception that the cultural Gorkha topi with Khukuri insignia is a part of the security uniform and everyone wearing it is chowkidar.
8. Much like what Pagdai and Kirpan mean to the Sikh community, the Gorkha topi and Khukuri are the biggest religious and cultural symbol for the Gorkhas, and every Gorkha, irrespective of theirstatus in the society - be it a watchman, teacher, sportsperson, or the army takes pride in wearing our topi. To use such articles of immense religious and cultural significance for derogatory advertisement and making a mockery of the accent in which Gorkhalis speak Hindi,is a deliberate act of stereotyping the entire community as only security guards and watchmen who cannot speak Hindi normally, thus establishing our community as either being uneducated or foreigners who cannot speak Hindi properly. Also This is a cheap exploitation of culture and customs for commercial gain and it is utterly offensive and unethical. Most of all, insulting the Khukri which is the sacred weapon of India’s seven Gorkha Regiments (the 1st GR, 3rd GR, 4th GR, 5th GR, 8th GR, 9th GR, 11th GR) as they are deployed in defence operations across the most hostile terrains and situations across India. Even the Chief of Indian Army General Dalbir Singh Suhag wears the khukri on his hat as he belonged to the 5th Gorkha Rifles.
9. We want to understand the intention of Flipkart in using thereligious and cultural symbol of a community to subtly depict the entire Gorkha people in a bad light. How did the ‘creative directors’ of the advertisement even think that the Gorkha Topi and Khukuri is a part of any security uniform? And that Gorkhas can only speak Hindi in a very offensive accent?
10. We have also found out that Flipkart has in an earlier advertisement depicted children with mongoloid features as being beauty parlor workers, while round eyed “Indian” [according to Flipkart norms] looking children as their rich patrons, thus stereotyping the entire NE women as being beauty parlour workers (https://youtu.be/-JpjpiC0ZpI)
11. Given the repeated instances of Racist portrayal of our Gorkha community, as well as racist portrayal of NE communities, we demand that a case of hurting Gorkha religious sentiments under Indian Penal Code section 153(A) and racial discrimination and promotion of racism under Indian Penal Codesection 295 (A) be immediately filed against Flipkart CEO Binny Bansal (Corporate Address - Flipkart Internet Private Limited, Vaishnavi Summit, Ground Floor, 7th Main, 80 Feet Road, 3rd Block, Koramangala Industrial Layout, Bangalore – 560034, Karnataka, India, Ph - 0124-6150000) (Email – ceo@flipkart.com and Virat Tandon CEO, of Mullen Lintasthe Ad agency which created these racist advertisements.
12. In addition, we demand an immediate public apology from Flipkart across various platforms - online, on TV and Print media for hurting the sentiments of over 12.5 million Indian Gorkhas and removal of these highly offensive advertisementsfrom all forms of communications immediately.
Sincerely,
Lt. Col (Retd) Sukul Pradhan
Jyoti Thapa Mani (Author – The Khukri Braves)
Rajen Pandey Chhetry – Gorkha Social Activist
General Secretary - Nepali Sammelan Delhi
President - Gorkha Youth and Students’ Association of India (GYASA)
Gorkha Autonomous Council Demand Committee (GACDC)
Hamro Swabhimaan Trust
All India Kirati Khambu Rai Association
All Manipur Gorkha Students’ Union (AMGSU)
President – All Manipur Gorkha Students’ Union, Delhi
ARNOVA
D.M College Gorkha Students Union, Manipur
Gorkha Foundation India
Copy To:-
1. Shri. M. Venkaiah Naidu, Hon’ble Minister for Information & Broadcasting
2. Dr. Jitendra Singh, Hon’ble MoS Development of North East Region, MoS PMO
3. Shri. SS Ahluwalia, Hon’ble MoS Parlimentary Affairs, MoS Farmers Welfare, Member of Parliament Darjeeling
4. Shri. Pawan Kumar Chamling, Hon’ble Chief Minister Govt of Sikkim
5. Shri. Bimal Gurung, Chief, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration
6. General Dalbir Singh, Chief of Army Staff (COAS)
7. Shri. Justice H L Dattu, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission
8. Shri Naseem Ahmed, Chairman, National Commission for Minorities
9. Shri. RP Sharmah, Member of Parliament, Tezpur
10. Shri. PD Rai, Member of Parliament (LS), Sikkim
11. Shri. Hishey Lachungpa, Member of Parliament (RS), Sikkim
12. Shri. Benoy Roychowdhury, Chairman (ASCI)
13. Lt. Gen Shakti Gurung (Retd) – Gorka Kalyan Board, Uttarakhand
14. President, Gorkha Janmukti Students Union, Darjeeling
15. President, All Assam Gorkha Students Union,
16. President, Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF)
17. President, Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh (BGP)
18. President, All Manipur Gorkha Students Union
19. President, Gorkha Janmukti Yuva Morcha, Darjeeling
20. President, Gorkha National Students Front, Darjeeling Why The Gorkha Community Is Furious With Two Flipkart Ads
Remember the last Gorkhali character you saw in a Hindi movie? Yes, the same one who played the watchman?
Isn't it problematic that the above sentences could be referring to any Gorkhali character in any Hindi film and would still be factually correct?
It is in common knowledge that mainstream Hindi films and advertisements tend to stereotype Gorkhali people as watchmen.
Indian Gorkha Community Furious With Flipkart Ads
Now, Flipkart has joined the list of offenders by endorsing the mothballed stereotype. The company recently launched 'Assured Flipkart', a campaign that seeks to apprise its customers of their extensive quality checks that "guarantee a superior shopping experience".
If you are familiar with the previous Flipkart ads, you know that they have a bunch of kids backed with adult voiceovers, making simplistic ads seem cute. The two new ads are of the same kind.
In both the ads, two watchmen try to warn the sahebji and the madamji from ordering online because one cannot trust these online portals. To this, the sahebji and the madamji say that with Assured Flipkart, there is ensured and fast delivery of the orders. Of the two watchmen, one is Gorkha and is seen wearing the traditional Bhadgauley Topi, a hat that the Gorkhas wear.
What Flipkart didn't foresee was that these ads would offend the Gorkha community. The portrayal of the watchman was not taken lightly by the community.
A complaint letter submitted to the Delhi Police by the Gorkha Youth and Students' Association of India (GYASA), said, "Their advertisement makes a mockery of the Gorkha community, and stereotypes us as being Chowkidars, with overly exaggerated and highly offensive [which they may consider as being funny] Hindi accent."
It added, "Stereotyping a community is the most basic forms of racism and by promoting their business using racist stereotyping; Flipkart has shown how insensitive they are and at the same time exposed the hypocrisy of our great nation. While we cry for blood when an Indian is 'stereotyped and racially abused' in foreign shores, we tend to silently accept stereotyping as an accepted form of comedy when it is done to the minorities of our own nation."
Speaking to HuffPost India, lawyer and Gorkha Rights Activist, Roshni Rai, said, "I stay in Mumbai and people here refer to watchmen as Gorkha. Many people from the community do not want to disclose their identity because of that. People don't know that there are Nepalis in India. They think if one is Nepali then they must be from Nepal. But we are Indians and proud to be. This kind of advertisements really hurt the sentiment of the community. So, people are filing complaints against Flipkart. We demand an apology from them."
The complaint by GYASA also mentions that the ad shows the kid-watchman wearing the Bhadgauley Topi or the Gorkha Hat with Khukuri insignia indicating that it is part of a security personnel's uniform.
Speaking to HuffPost India, Dinesh Sharma from GYASA said, "What I found personally very offensive is that a cultural artefact of my community has been used to portray that this is what watchmen's uniforms are. Like a Kirpan for the Sikh community, no one can depict the topi so derogatorily. It is very demeaning. Gorkhas have a history of defending he country. When you show that this hat in TV and pop culture as something that security guards wear, it is demeaning. This hat is our pride. We give this to dignitaries. It holds high value in my community. I would have laughed at a caricature of a Gorkha person because I don't object to the portrayal of members of my community wearing the security uniform. This is the premise of our protest."
The complaint letter also mentioned a previous ad by Flipkart that "depicted children with mongoloid features as being beauty parlor workers, while round eyed "Indian" [according to Flipkart norms] looking children as their rich patrons, thus stereotyping the entire NE women as being beauty parlour workers."
In addition to an apology, GYASA has filed a complaint against Flipkart with Delhi Police and the complaint has been handed over to the Nodal Officer for Northeast.
Why I Don't Agree with Flipkart Advertisement and will Protest?
By Dinesh Sharma
The recent advertisement by #Flipkart has drawn a new debate within the Gorkha community and the Northeast region at large. This is not the first time that Flipkart has indulged people with a subtly racist message in their advertisement. A previous ad by the same company has some NE lookalikes as massage and beauty parlor attendants. So, when I say I protest, it is not for this one ad, but the continuous trend of negative stereotype of the Gorkhas and the NE region portrayed in Indian popular media.
Many amongst my own circle of friend see nothing wrong with the ad. they question my progressiveness and broad mindedness when I say that such ads should not be encouraged. I am often accused of letting my emotions rule over practicality. That, I have no 'sense of humor' and I lack the basic progressiveness of the 21st century.
Okay, I accept and be it so. But, let me state my position clear.
A journalist friend asked me "Gorkhas have been depicted like this in popular media for a long time now. Why this protest now?"
Perhaps the very reason that we never complained about such negative stereotyping, today we see this trend of ridiculing and stereotyping culture and people. Nobody actually bothered to think about the deep repercussions such negative portrayal will bear on our today and future. Such popular media gimmick creates the impression that someone donning the ‘Bhadgaule’ hat or ‘khukri’ is a security guy, watchmen, or a domestic help.
This topi and Khukuri is something very important to my identity as a Gorkha and a cultural artifact which we proudly wear. Be it politicians, sportspersons, intellectuals, or a common man, we all take pride in wearing a Gorkha topi. It holds a cultural significance to us and we also gift the topi as a token of love and appreciation to guests in our villages, festivals, and social gatherings.
Now when these media start portraying that Topi and Khukuri are for security guys, it is a personal insult to me. This is clearly demeaning and the negative stereotyping is a wilful malice intentionally directed against us. Would these ads dare to use a 'Kirpan' or 'pagdee' as something for security? No, because their arse will burn and they know it.
When a world-class company shows this level of cultural illiteracy, it is pertinent to question their achievements and success level. They may be financial giants, but they seem to lack those basic human values of RESPECT and DIGNITY which are the pillars of any civilized world.
I protest this ad because if I don't do it today, I will lose the pride of wearing my Topi tomorrow or talking about the amazing Khukuri.
I understand that there are thousands of Gorkhas working a dignified life working as Security and domestic help around this country. I also know many more Gorkhas who are leading this nation in sports, academics, defence, art, and culture. Would you treat them as security guards when they wear their cultural artefact?
If I don’t protest, the kids will forget all our achievements and contributions to the nation saying we are all security guards and watchmen
If I don’t protest, my community stands at the risk of being labelled as security and the funnily accented Chinese momo and chowmein.
If I don't protest, they will trample all our achievements in military, Sports, art, and culture and bring it down to the level of heavily accented "Saabji, bolo Saabji"
If I don’t protest these popular media will trivialize my proud cultural heritage, and our history saying we are nothing but watchmen and guards.
A DISCUSSION ON NRC WITH PREM TAMANG - PRESIDENT - AAGSU
As the issue of NRC in Assam has finally begun to subside with the assurance from the CM, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal that Gorkhas will be considered as genuine citizens of the state, we (GYASA) called up to speak with Shri Prem Tamang, President All Assam Gorkha Students Union (AAGSU) on the updates.
Welcoming the move by the government to identify illegal migrants, Prem Tamang said "AAGSU welcomes the move and appreciate the government's decision to acknowledge the history and contribution of the Gorkhas in Assam."
"As a responsible organization, AAGSU will continue to cooperate and speak not just for the Gorkhas , but also for other communities and will do everything to protect the state from illegal influx. We support the proposition that all Illegal Bangladeshis must be chased out from Assam."
"Some so-called intellectuals thinks Gorkhas as Nepali of Nepal. But no, we came with the land 300-400 years ago and have our history in this land. Our language is Nepali language and hence the confusion and people make issue out of it. Many think that many migrate to India from Nepal. But the fact is many go back rather than new coming in. And AAGSU welcomes the NRC move."
AAGSU on NRC issue for Gorkha in Assam
"We welcome the 1971 NRC cut off date and it will include 75-80% of our population. There might be chances 25% of Gorkhas may be left out as they do not have documents, but we are saying they are indigenous. There is always a possibility of bringing a special NRC team to count their status and get it re-verified."
Acknowledging that the issue is highly political, Tamang said "some people are playing politics out of this things. But this time, it will be guaranteed that we are not foreigners. Once we have the NRC, the foreigners tag will be forever removed and we will be a permanent resident of this proud land. NRC will give us our birthright of a motherland and AAGSU supports it wholeheartedly."
There are some few few places where there are lots of program coming. We are indigenous gorkhas living since time immemorial. We are in Assam and first of all my priority is Assam, my homeland. There are many bangladeshi in Assam. And we as Gorkhas as people of the land must also ensure that NRC is our responsibility to remove illegal immigrants. We are all together in this NRC movement."
Since there are many young, old ones in social media and lot of confusion and fear factors are coming in the minds of people and so many confusion. Yet he said they are doing all the best to ensure that NRC is implemented and we as Gorkhas as son of the soil of Assam will and must be covered.
We can't oppose the system, we must work along with the system, try to reason out our stand and why. He said he became President of AAGSU in a very difficult time. Concluding our short conversation, Prem Tamang said "We drank water of Assam since birth and childhood and Assam is our land and we love our land and are equally concern of the state. Mati, Mato and Jati comes in sequential order.
Wishing GYASA the best of luck and he appealed everyone to understand the issue and not to be led by false propaganda. He says, "let us continue using social media platform to highlight Gorkhas positivity."
Also on the 19th & 20th July Gorkha Autonomous Demand Committee (GADC), a wing of AAGSU, will be taking out a a "Paidel Yatra " from Dhemagi till Dispur last gate". Via (GYASA)
Report by: Sanjay and @Gautam Chhetry (DU Students)
Gorkha Youth and Students’ Association organized Orientation for New Students and Delhi/NCR Gorkha meeting at Gorkha Welfare Center, New Delhi today. Students from different colleges, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and eminent personalities from Delhi/NCR attend the event.
Opening the session, Dinesh Sharma social activist and founder member of GYASA introduced the history, objectives and activities of the association. Explaining the idea of the initiative he says “we don’t aspire to be an NGO claiming to do this and that for the community, but will make sure that the aspirations of the youths and the ordinary people are heard across social and political circle, when pursuing issues related to the welfare and betterment of the community.”
The event was divided into two sessions – ‘orientation for new students’ and ‘general discussion on issues facing Gorkha community in Delhi/NCR’.
Gorkha Students Orientation and GYASA public meeting in Delhi
SESSION I:
Adarsh Chhetry, Joint Secretary of NorthEast Students Society (NESS), Motilal Nehru College extended a warm welcome to the new students while motivating them to excel in their academic career. He emphasized on the importance of participating in various extracurricular activities and representing the community in every social-cultural aspect of college life. Sharing his own experiences, Aadarsh says “We are like sponges, and there is nothing different in any colleges; it depends on each student how much one can absorb from the teaching.”
Colonel (Retd) Sukul Pradhan then introduced Gorkha Football Club, a registered football society in Delhi. Col. Pradhan is a quiet activist who had raised and educated over 36 students from less privileged background in Bijanbari, Darjeeling. Starting his speech with “Moh ta Nepali ma baat garchu”, Col Pradhan emphasized on the need to build up confidence of the community. While lamenting the hesitation of many youngster in calling themselves Gorkha in public, Col. Pradhan shared his personal experience when he was asked to wash a car washer by his immediate neighbour thinking him to be another low wage labourer. After washing his neighbour’s car, Col Pradhan politely explains his neighbour how every honest job and sincere hard-working should never be looked down upon.
Urging everyone in the audience to help and support Gorkha Football Club, Col Pradhan said that “the idea of GFC is to connect to the community and youth through sports. We all love watching football and spending time with our friends and family doing something nice and positive. Let us all make every GFC match a Gorkha ‘mela’ in the coming days.”
The first session ended with an introduction of new students and address by Tshering Lepcha from JNU, who encouraged students to aspire big and extended all help from the senior Gorkha students from the prestigious university.
Session II
Shri Prem Prasad Sharma and Gopal Koirala of All Assam Gorkha Students Union (AAGSU-Delhi Leaders) opened the session by introducing the various issues facing the Gorkha community. They highlighted on the urgent need for all of us to collaborate as a community and come together for any emergency and urgent situation. Gopal Koirala emphasized the importance of Delhi Police for North East initiative and called upon everyone to work with the team at #1093 for assistance during emergencies.
Renowned social worker and poet Shri Uttam Kumar Chhettri lauded the efforts of GYASA in confidence building and slowing winning the trust of the community. “Sadly, there are still people in our community who hesitate to call themselves Gorkhas in public, or speak Nepali. Unless we speak our language, who else will? Unless we ourselves love and be proud to be Gorkha, who else will, Let us inculcate the spirit of being a proud Gorkha”, he added. Through his experience with Indian Red Cross, Uttam Chhetry also gave an overview of the mechanism behind donating and receiving blood. Requirements for blood being one of the most constant issues, he suggested that rather than donating individually, we must collective donate under the name of a community or organization, so that the blood banks can issue blood on the recommendation of the organization during any emergency.
Ramesh Singh Thakuri, eminent theatre personality, Ex-President and CEO of Dominos Pizza (India) and the son of Gorkha legend Capt. Ram Singh Thakuri mesmerized the audience with his motivational and inspirational address. “We should be confident about ourselves and never be bogged down under any circumstances. Learn good Hindi and English, and respond to the other person in the same language that they speak to you. Don’t be afraid and look into their eyes when you talk” he said. Citing his own example he says “My nickname in school was Chinku, but that didn’t bother me. I was a proud Chinky and I carried that attitude. I always respected the person before me, and that person would automatically respect me in return, without having to ask for it.” He called upon every youth to pursue their interest and not be bothered about parental or peer pressures, “but make sure you at least have a graduate degree because you may need a back-up anytime.”
Prem Chhetri, lawyer and advocate in Supreme Court while welcoming the initiatives by GYASA also focused on the need to distribute responsibilities and work with co-ordination for larger public issues. “We have too many issues to be handled by a single team – social, cultural, political, migration issues, pursuing government welfare benefits, reservations, and many more. A single team thinking about all these issues will burnout the activist on the ground. As a community, we must come forward and discuss how we can distribute responsibilities to various organizations. With a central team to coordinate and monitor the overall progresses, distribution of responsibilities will bring a proper structure and focus to our efforts.” Mr Chhetri also pointed out the as a community, we have been presenting a very confused public perception. “Organizations and individuals should stop representing the community without due consultation with all stakeholders. We must prioritize what we want - SC, ST, or OBC, but there should a consensus on the issues.”
“Today we have IGP Robin Hibu, IPS who is working tirelessly for the benefit of the entire region. What happens tomorrow if Robin sir is transferred or retires? Is it back to square one then? We must bring together all our police officials, bureaucrats, legal experts, and ‘grounded’ intellectuals on a common platform where we can discuss issues that are relevant to the community. This should be the think-tank that should determine what we should do and how, not people with hidden agendas and dubious standings,” Prem Chhetri added.
Adding to the discussion, Rajen Chhetry of GYASA asked “why a team of 4-5 members go about meeting ministers and officials and claim to represent the community?” He asked the audience if anyone of them were informed or consulted about the issues being raised in the memorandum because “seeing their reports on media and facebook, they seem to be claiming they are community representatives. Which community are they representing? Have they discussed about any community issue in a public gathering, outside of Facebook?”
Rajen Chhetry also pointed out the insensitivity of these so called leader and ‘apex organizations’ regarding issues of the North East, and Gorkha settled outside Sikkim and Gorkhaland regions. “While they go about taking names of Gorkhas across India, they don’t even seem to know the ground realities and local issues facing the community in different states.” Warning against any such moves by individuals and organization, Rajen added “Don’t think you can hoodwink and fool the people anymore. Gone are the days when the job of the public was only to clap; we have started questioning now and they don’t like it.”
The event ended with scholarship announcement for meritorious students by Haamro Swabhimaan representatives. Detailing the criteria and subjects for which scholarships are on offer, Mohan Karki, Yog Guru called upon parents and students to reach out to the organization for any such requirements. This was followed by an open forum where people asked questions and clarifications form the presenters.
GYASA would like to extend sincere gratitude to Gorkha Welfare Center Administrator and Manager Jolen Gurung for letting us use the premise for the event. We also like to thank Dipendra Basnet, good samaritan and Gorkha FC mentor, and Major Deepak Bista, NSG for financially helping us for the event. Mothers’ Group (Delhi), World Gorkha Foundation Trust, sister of legendary footballer Shyam Thapa, Gorkha FC boys, JNU community, and students for making this event a success. A big shout out to senior students for such a warm welcome to the new students. We wish you all the best.
25th June 2016 Delhi: Raju Chetry (24 years), a Gorkha brother from Duliajan, Assam defeated the death after getting extremely injured in a road accident in South Delhi.
Words are not enough to explain the smile that I have seen in his face today, though the wound is still profound and painful. It reminded me a quote from Dalai Lama and I quote “When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us to develop inner happiness and peace”.
Today is the fourth day since the fateful night of 20th June, when the tragic road accident almost taken his life. God was kind enough to send IGP Robin Hibu (IPS), the Messiah in this case whose timely action and intervention make the positive difference. All Assam Gorkha Student Union (AAGSU) Delhi Unit has been constantly trying our best to provide all possible help and assistance whatever we can do with our limited resources. It is a huge encouragement and inspiration for us when we see people coming from different parts of the country extending a helping hand in this case. A special thanks to our Gorkha brothers and sisters from Delhi (Ms Rebecca Rai – Delhi Police For North East Representative (DPNER – Darjeeling), Mr Rajen Chetry (2) – DPNER – Manipur, Mr Rajen Chetry (1) – Gorkha Youth and Student Association (GYASA), Mr Sunil Tamang – Delhi Police for whole heartedly supporting and standing with us in the hour of need. It will take enough time to fully recover and heal the wound physically but our support and prayers will give him strength to overcome this darkest period of his life. A much needed support, prayer, encouragement, motivation is the need of the hour to keep his spirit high.
Following are some of the Photos from the hospital
We are very much thankful to the people who have generously contributed towards the treatment of Mr Raju Chetry and would like to update you all their name and contributions, as a gesture to acknowledge their contributions.
We All Assam Gorkha Student Union (AAGSU) humbly request all the well wishers, brothers, and sisters to generously contribute whatever amount you can for the treatment of our brother Raju Chetry. You can deposit the amount in the following account: Account Holder Name: Prem Prasad Sharma Bank Name: Axis Bank A/C No: 913010049307931 IFSC Code: UTIB0001129 Branch: Duliajan, Assam
(Note: Mr Prem Prasad Sharma is President of AAGSU Delhi Unit)
“Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that”.
~ Norman Vincent Peale
STATEMENT OF THE BHARATIYA GORKHA PARISANGH REGARDING THE MEETING IT HAD WITH DONER MINISTER DR JITENDRA SINGH
With reference to the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh’s meeting with Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Development of Northeast Region (DONER), and the reports on the meeting as carried by various national newspapers, including The Hindustan Times of News Delhi, The Hindu of Chennai and The Tribune of Chandigarh, certain erroneous and mischievous views are being circulated regarding the objectives of the Parisangh’s meeting. We are clarifying some points here.
1.The granting of Schedule Tribe status is state-specific. (According to the Union Tribal Ministry website: “The list of Scheduled Tribes is State/UT specific and a community declared as a Scheduled Tribe in a State need not be so in another State/UT.” http://tribal.nic.in/Con.../IntroductionScheduledTribes.aspx )
Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh logo
This clearly means that the demand for ST status in by the Sikkim Chief Minister and by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha will pertain only to Gorkhas in Sikkim and West Bengal, and will not automatically extend to Gorkhas living in other states of India. Therefore, to infer that Parisangh’s meeting with Dr Jitendra Singh jeopardizes the move to have ST status for Gorkhas across India ignores these constitutional provisions and is based on ill understanding of such provisions. Any suggestion that Parisangh is being used to throw a spanner in the demands arising out of Sikkim and Darjeeling is erroneous, malicious and ill-conceived.
2.The demand for OBC status for Gorkhas in the Northeast is entirely in the context of the Parisangh’s meeting with the DONER minister and not any other Union ministry. When ST status for Gorkhas in Northeast states was broached to the minister, Dr Jitendra Singh said there were pending issues about OBC status for Gorkhas in these states. The Parisangh said that the demand for OBC was an old one, and it wanted ST status for Gorkhas there. However, since the issues discussed pertained only to Gorkhas in the Northeast and not to Gorkhas in general across India, the Parisangh told the minister that it knew that because the entire Northeast region was a complex interplay of tribal affiliations, various state governments and the policymakers of the Northeast were reluctant to accord TRIBAL STATUS to Gorkhas. An example is Mizoram, where the Home Department has suggest OBC status for the Gorkhas, but the state cabinet has been reluctant to accord even OBC status, deciding instead to hold a new census of Gorkhas in the state. Since ST status may not be forthcoming for some time, the best alternative for Gorkhas to derive policy benefits in the region is through recognition as OBC.
3.Even OBC status is state-specific. Gorkhas, for instance, are OBCs in Uttarakhand but their OBC status does not confer similar status to Gorkhas in other Indian States nor to all Gorkhas at the Central level. The Parisangh, in its meeting with Dr Jitendra Singh, requested that he use his influence to have the Central Government extend the OBC status, in addition to ST/SC, given to Gorkhas in certain Northeast and other Indian states to the Central level, so that Gorkhas can still derive economic and development benefits of the Central Government.
4.The letter of the Parisangh, attached with this statement, to Union Tribal Welfare Minister Jual Oram clearly proves that the only pan-India social organization of the Gorkhas wants Scheduled Tribe status for all categories of Gorkhas across India. In fact, a resolution passed in the 3rd Mahaadhiveshan of the Parisangh in 2012 called for the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh to contact the authorities to confer special category statuses, including Schedule Tribes, Schedule Caste and OBC, wherever best applicable so that the Gorkhas are not left out of the development processes of the various states in which they are resident. The Parisangh is committed to ensuring that Gorkhas across India has access to whatever benefits the Constitution can accord under various provisions, whether they by ST, SC, OBC or other social categorizations.
5.It is a journalistic practice to contact the person/persons/organization about whom the journalist is writing something. When office bearers are unavailable to clarify points that may seem inadequate, the article normally mentions the fact that no one answered the journalist’s queries. It is, therefore, against journalistic practices to assume and infer malicious motives without having tried to ascertain the facts from the organization named. No one bothered to contact the Parisangh office bearers to seek their clarification, so the Parisangh rejects such articles as individual fantasies and biased opinions.
The Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh (BGP) which claims to be the "apex body of Gorkhas in India" seems to be trying to undo all the good work done by the Govt of Sikkim and Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) who have pushed for all the Gorkhas to be recognized as Scheduled Tribes.
In a meeting with the DoNER Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, they have demanded once again that Gorkhas be included under OBC and not ST. Here is a report from the national daily The Hindu [details: http://bit.ly/1OkhO5n]
"The Gorkhas have urged the central government to give “Other Backward Class” status to the community, an official statement said on Sunday. A delegation of the community leaders and members from Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Uttarakhand made the demand when they met union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and PMO Jitendra Singh here on Saturday.
BGP delegation to MoS DoNER
According to the release here, the minister gave a patient hearing to the delegation led by Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangha president S.M. Moktan. The Parisangha is a national organisation of Gorkhas in the country, the release said. Prominent among the delegationwere V.B. Thupu from Uttar Pradesh, D.C. Poudiyal and P.P. Pradhan from West Bengal, Guman Bhoj Limbo from New Delhi, Jagannath Koirala from Meghalaya and Bhupendra Adhikari from Uttarakhand." This is the 2nd time that BGP has sent representation to Union Ministers, earlier it was to MoS Home Kiren Rijju demanding OBC status for Gorkhas.
Currently the Central Govt has formed a committee to examine the inclusion of all the Gorkha communities as ST, where as BGP is repeatedly pushing for OBC status, thus we wonder whose interest is BGP serving?
Are they getting funded by anti-Gorkha political parties to push for such an absurd demand during such a critical time?
A tremendous show by Gorkha players in a local Delhi QUTAB Premier League, Gorkha Youth and Students' Association of India - GYASA (GYASA FC) players walk away with Runners-up trophy in the 7th edition of QPL, a Delhi-based local football tournament organized by Vijay Kumar Bali. Theho Pao from GYASA FC was the Top Scorer of the tournament with 6 goals to his credit. To spot Theho in the crowd is quite simple - he is the quiet guy sitting a little away from the rest of the noisy and chattering team circle.
We cannot forget to thank Jenny Lepcha and family for setting up the much-needed food and drinks stall for the boys. You did this for us despite all the inconveniences and the losses. Hats off for such a sporting spirit.
Well done boys, we are proud of you all.
GYASA FC Runners-up in Delhi QUTAB Premier League
In an all-Gorkha dominated finals, three Gorkha teams – two teams from GYASA FC and North East Gorkha Boys reached the semi-finals of the the 32-team knockout football tournament at Dlf Chhatarpur Farms, New Delhi. There were several other teams who did not make it to the final stages. It was indeed a pleasure to meet so many other Gorkha players playing for so many different clubs and teams.
We are all winners.... the Spirit is more than the trophy.
NORTHEAST AND DARJEELING GORKHA YOUTHS COMES TOGETHER TO RESCUE A GORKHA CHELI IN DELHI:-
Big shout out to Good Samaritans Chogyal Sherpa Sherpa his sister Upasna, Karan from Darjeeling and All Assam Gorkha Student's Union Delhi Unit (AAGSU Delhi) Amit Kumar, Gopal Koirala and Prem Prasad Sharma for going all the way out and helping out Uma Magar, a lady from Margherita, Assam who was in Police station helplessly alone. A Big big Thank You always to honourable IGP Robin Hibu Sir Nodal officer of Delhi Police For North East Folks for guiding us and holding our back always and Delhi police Amar Colony PS Sub Inspector Om Prakash for the swift action and coordination. Thank you to all the generous Gorkha elders in Delhi who were more than willing to offer accomodation for our cheli.
Darjeeling and North East Gorkha youths come together to rescue a girl in Delhi
Gopal Koirala writes:-
Uma Magar, a Gorkha lady from, Margherita, Assam who came to Delhi nine months back and has been living with Amit Mukhiya (who hails from Darjeeling) as married couple in Chhatarpur in Delhi. Everything was good, but on 8th April, Amit left their rented accommodation and since then his mobile has been switched off and there is no information about him. She was helpless and was crying at Amar Colony Police station for help.
Today, Chogel Sherpa and All Assam Gorkha Student Union Delhi Unit visited the police station and offer a helping hand. We can provide food and shelter for a few days, we will assist her to get a job so that she can stand on her own. We also appreciate if any Gorkha brothers, sisters or well wisher can offer suitable job for her. She is currently staying at Wazirabad at P P Sharma's house, who's wife also belongs to Margherita, Assam. I talked to her Cousin (brother) who is working at Ashoka Hotel and asked him to come to visit her.
SURAJ SUBBA, FOUND on 28-03-2016 (Delhi):
Rajen Chhetry, Delhi Police for North East representative and a Gorkha Youth activist received a phone call from another DPNE representative from Manipur, Timothy Chongthu. Timothy informed Rajen about a youth from Sikkim found sleeping in a Park at Munirka, South of Delhi.
Rajen Chhetry and Sandeep Pandey immediately swung into action and headed to Munirka to meet the boy. 23 years old Suraj Subba said he is from Manipal, Sikkim and had come down to Delhi a couple of weeks ago looking for his Lover and a ‘happy life after’. However, the story did not work out as he had idealized, and he found himself out on the streets a few days after landing in the city.
He has been sleeping in the park for three days and did not have any money to buy food or to go home. Whatever little he had in his bag, cloths and money was robbed at the ghettos near the railway station. Delhi Police Sub Inspector Ranveer from Vasant Kunj Police station had met Suraj the previous day in the park. After inquiry, the police officer had given him Rs. 600 to buy his tickets and go home. However, when the boy was seen in the same park the next day, the police inspector informed Timothy who then reached out to Rajen Chhetry.
Rajen Chhetry with Suraj Subba
Rajen approached a nearby ‘Namastey Café’ run by a good hearted Gorkha, Puran Rai from Darjeeling. Upon hearing the story, he offered to provide food and shelter for Suraj for the interim few days. Meanwhile, Rajen contacted Sikkim House using the number given in Delhi Police brochures for emergency state help. After narrating the entire story to one Mr. Ganesh over the phone, he requested accommodation for Suraj and arrangements for him to go back to Sikkim. Ganesh told us that such matters are handled by the Resident Commissioner and he provided us his direct number. Unfortunately, all our calls went unanswered.
Having no other option, we asked Suraj if we can put up his information on our Facebook page and try getting some help. We then reached out to different people and online media, Voice of Sikkim, The Darjeeling Chronicles, Indian Gorkhas, and other media outlets. We received massive support on the information posted on GYASA and the associated online media channels page, with people caming back with information about his village and parents.
Earlier that day, GYASA members collected had some money within themselves and handed it to Suraj. Namastey Café owner Puran Rai volunteered to accommodate Suraj till he is settled. Mr. Arun Dubey, working as a Sales Director for a UK based-firm offered to book the tickets and travel expenses for Suraj Subba. Christina and Caleb from Sikkim also called in to offer their help with tracing the family of Suraj in Sikkim.
Then, the next challenge was to get the identification papers for Suraj. Arun Dubey and Rajen Chhetry also helped in arranging identity papers for the journey. Puran Rai, the café owner safely dropped him to the auto-stand. Rajen Chhetry received a call from Suraj after he reached safely back home and reunited with his family on 1st April 2016.
TIRTHA TAMANG, LOST on 3rd April 2016:
A newly recruited Delhi Police personal from Sikkim, Tirtha Tamang committed suicide at Police Training School, Kharoda Kalan, Delhi. Reportedly Tirtha Tamang was going through depression for some time. With the aim to facilitate integration of North East people in the city, Delhi Police had recently recruited more than 600 police personal from across all North Eastern states. The new recruits had reached Delhi for their training just two days earlier.
As the news of the death reached Robin Hibu IPS, Jt. CP and Nodal Officer for North East folks he tried reaching out to Sikkim House for help. Reportedly, the person at the reception desk informed IGP Robin Hibu IPS that ‘it is a holiday today and he cannot help’. On requesting if he could inform his official, he asked Robin Hibu IPS to do that himself. Finally, Robin Hibu IPS did manage to reach the Resident Commissioner and got someone from Sikkim House to rush to the venue.
The Undercurrent:
If you have observed a striking similarity in these two stories, it is the callousness of the Sikkim House reception desk who is not efficient for emergency response. Both times, the person manning the emergency helpline has reacted badly during emergencies. If the phone number is not meant for such emergency, then Sikkim House should not have published it officially on Delhi Police emergency helpline numbers.
In a city like Delhi, people don’t have time to spend days and night trying to help each other. The state and government machineries in Delhi should be more proactive in helping their citizens. How does it reflect on the state or the region to find its people homeless and begging for food in cities? How difficult is it for the person manning the reception desk to differentiate between a SOS call and a leisure enquiry?
As Delhi Police representatives, we all try to help best in our personal capacity. Under Delhi Police for North East People, the police force is also involving community leaders and social activist to assist the government in handling such issues. However, all these good work by the Delhi Police stops when the state houses keep their doors shut and mouth mum during such emergency. When citizens are willing to help voluntarily, what does it take for the State Houses to involve them and hear them out? The saddest day would be when such good Samaritans get fed up of the Babu culture and the Great Walls of the State Houses.
Shout out to Gorkha Youth & Students' Association (GYASA) FC for winning a friendly weekend football match with HMAR FC. GYASA FC registered their first vistory over HMAR FC with a score of 4-0. Sanjay Rai from GYASA FC was the star of the match scoring a HATRICK. The 4th goal was scored by Rahul from GYASA FC.
GYASA FC had met with the same team on an earlier ocassion and lost 4-0 during the North East Festival tournament. The victory was a sweet reward for the team who have put in so much of effort in the last few months. Now that the scores are even, both the team are excited to play again in the future.
TEAM GYASA FC & HMAR FC
Congratulating GYASA FC on the victory, HMAR FC official James Sanate said it is really good to see GYASA team improve so much in such a short time. Speaking after the victory, Amit Sharma, Manager of the GYASA FC team said "All of us from different parts of North East Region. GYASA FC has Gorkha boys and others players from Manipur, Darjeeling, Sikkim, Dehradun, Assam, and other parts. We have come a long way as a strong Gorkha team in Delhi/NCR. We hope we continue receiving support from sports lovers. This way, we bond, have some fun and win tournaments too."
The football match was graced by Shri. Kirti Mani Khatiwoda, General Secretary, Manipur Nepali Sahitya Parishad, Manipur.
Special Thanks to Dinesh Sharma & Jeeten Basnet for bringing refreshement and water for the boys.
In an interview to TheDC Ms. Rangu Souriya who is one of the "100 Women of India" awardee, thus recognized by the Government of India had said, "As history is our witness, there is nothing that woman cannot do… we can do what any man does, and in a better way… I think the inner interest, courage, bravery and sense of responsibility towards my society is perhaps because I am a woman."
Yesterday, as our Host/MC Ms, Bhumika put it, "it was a women power day... the hands which rock the cradle rule the world..."
It felt amazing to see one of the most outstanding HEROES from North East Jt. Commissioner Robin Hibu (of DPNEF) and Ms. Rangu Souriya (anti-Trafficking crusader) together. Comm. Hibu stated that Ms, Souriya was "an ICON for all of NE," and Ms. Souriya said "it was my dream to meet the most noble hearted person, about whom I had heard so much..."
At the end of the meet and greet, Commissioner Hibu pledged his support to the cause championed by Ms Souriya and assured her of guaranteeing support not only in Delhi, but all of NE India. Comm. Hibu stated that if there was any person who evoked the feeling of saying "JAI GORKHA" it was Ms. Souriya.
The feeling that Ms. Rangu Souriya has accomplished so much, despite having to face such an ordeal was not lost on the Gorkha community in Delhi, who got together to give a rousing welcome and felicitate Ms. Souriya.
It might be recalled that Ms. Souriya is in Delhi for the Presidential Honour she is receiving at the Rastrapati Bhavan, New Delhi later today - on 22nd January 2016.
Ms. Rongu Souriya is one of the "#100 women in India" who will be felicitated by the Ministry of Women and Child Development at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Yesterday the Gorkha Foundation, India, an umbrella body comprising various Gorkha social organizations and Individuals in Delhi/NCR organized a felicitation program to honour one of our HEROES.
The Program was attended by eminent Gorkha personalities in Delhi/NCR including Jyoti Thapa Mani, author of The Khukri Braves, Ramesh Thakuri, theatre personality and grandson of legendary Ram Singh Thakuri. Local leader and Delhi MCD Councillor, Shri Dharamvir Singh also joined the program including Colonel Sukul Pradhan, Advocate Prem Chhetri, businessman Neeraj Chhetry, Mothers’ Group Delhi/NCR, and other individuals from across the city.
The event began with a recital of Vande Mataram by BIkram Khatri followed by an introduction of Rongu Souriya by Shri Prem Chhetri. Speaking at the occasion, Rongu Souriya narrated the life threatening ordeals and challenges she faces when dealing with criminals and child traffickers.
As she spoke, Ms. Rangu mentioned that even after rescuing children from traffickers and brothels, the bigger challenge is in rehabilitating the rescued girls. In most cases, the society at large refuses to accept the rescued girls which traumatizes them further, often leading to suicide and vulnerable to fall back to the same crime again. In the absence of any such children home or rehabilitation center for her girls, Rongu Souriya stated that many a times she is forced to take it on herself to normalize their lives. She sometimes even have to fight with the parents who refuse to accept their daughter back.
Listening to her, we all felt that the society needs to change its mindset if it wants to seriously tackle the issue of child trafficking and prostitution, a trade in which the Gorkha community is extremely vulnerable.
Ms. Rongu Souriya also emphasized upon the need to create awareness amongst the rural and the economically weak section of the population. There is also an urgent need to awaken the consciousness of the Gorkha community and tackle such issues and a collective resolve to stand up against any such crimes.
As she spoke of the seriousness of the situation and her failure to get any government support, she appealed to each individuals present in the gathering to do their part and support her initiative in whatever way they can. Ms. Souriya’s passionate speech had the audience spellbound, shocked, and teary at some points.
Speaking at the occasion, MCD Councillor, Shri Dharamvir Singh spoke about the need for a collective fight against such social evils. He assured his full support for any assistance required at any point of time.
Eminent Gorkhali author Ms. Jyoti Thapa Mani spoke about the need for a community oriented approach for tackling such evils that has plagued the Gorkha community. Rescuing a child is just the beginning of the ordeal, the real challenge is in rehabilitating the girl child. It is indeed a wonder that Rangu Souriya has successfully rescued and rehabilitated more than 500 kids even without a shelter home. Jyoti Thapa later presented a copy of her book The Khukri Braves to Rongu Souriya and said that “Rongu’s fight is the spirit of Gorkha that refuses to cower down in the face of any back-breaking challenge.”
Mr. Rajen Chhetry of GYASA, while assuring his whole support for Rongu Souriya’s fight against child trafficking called upon the authorities and the government to acknowledge the contribution and impact she has made to the community. He said “While the President of the country invites her for a felicitation, we as a community have never actually even supported such Gorkha bravehearts. She has been fighting this war alone and here we are clapping only when the President invites her. We must wake up soon and take a stock of the real situation.”
Several speakers at the event spoke and assured support for Rongu Souriya’s project. Some of the attendees also made financial commitment to support her cause. Neeraj Chhetry, social worker and business man called for a deeper introspection onto the root cause of the problem. He said that creating opportunities and government support for entrepreneurship will go a long way in keeping a check on the rising crime rates against girls and people from the region in general.
The evening ended with casual interaction and sumptuous dinner prepared and hosted by Mothers’ Group Delhi/NCR.
The Gorkha Heart: How Indian Gorkhas Stepped in to Help a Nepali National, When Nepal Embassy Refused Help
Meghlal Nepali originally from Pyuthan district, Pokhari Ward # 5 Bange Gram Vikas Samity – Rapti Anchal suffered a series of misfortune since February of 2015 in Delhi. Last night he was rescued by volunteers from Gorkha Youth and Students’s Association (GYASA).
This is what happened.
Meghlal had been living in Delhi for the past 25 years, where he worked as a driver. Back home, he has a loving family with wife – 5 daughters, mother and father. He had gone to visit them in early February and came to Delhi. On February 25, 2015 while on his way to join his work, he was struck by a motorbike – Royal Enfield.
The biker took him to AIIMS where he was treated for external injuries and let off. The biker offered to pay Meghlal Rs 5000 towards his treatment, which Meghlal refused, as he was grievously injured. The biker then offered to treat him at Shiva hospital in Gurgaon, so Meghlal went with him to the hospital, however there the hospital calculated a treatment cost of Rs 2.25 Lakhs.
On hearing the sum the biker refused to pay for the treatment, and argued that his bike itself wasn’t worth that much. Following this Meghlal was left to fend for himself.
Since then Meghlal suffered apathy and indifference from his own, and things came to such a pass that he was left in front of Sikanderpur Metro station in Gurgaon, with no money and no one to turn to. The wound on his right leg had started to get infectious and he could not even move. From being a hard working driver, to being homeless, Meghlal suffered a lot in these past 4 months.
Yesterday, a social worker from Manipur Mr. Edward while passing through the Sikanderpur metro station, saw a face that could belong to someone from the North East, so he stopped and asked Meghlal his details. On coming to know that Meghlal was a Nepali, Mr. Edward called up GYASA activist Dilip Kumar, who is from Prasain village, Senapati district in Manipur.
Dilip informed other GYASA members and along with his friend Suraj Shresht and another activist Mr. Matthew went to check on Meghlal, leaving his office two hours before he was supposed to get off.
On arrival, Dilip and Suraj found that Meghlal was suffering, there was pus coming out of his infection in the right foot. Lack of treatment had made his leg unusable and Meghlal was in tremendous pain.
Mr. Dinesh Sharma a senior member of GYASA was monitoring the situation from Delhi and suggested that they could call Nepali embassy and ask for help. Ms. Ashmita picked up the phone at Nepal embassy and informed them that they could not help Meghlal. They offered to trace his family in Nepal, and that is all, Ashmita said, they could do for him.
Frustrated, but determined, GYASA members tried to find a place for Meghlal to spend the night, so that he could be taken to a hospital in the morning. A Good Samaritan Mr. Sagan Moktan who is in Delhi offered to pay for a Hotel room, however, the volunteers could not find any place to keep him, even the hotels refused to give him a room seeing his distraught condition.
So the volunteers approached GJM Gurgaon leader Mr. NB Pradhan for help, and he told them, he cannot help them.
Tired and out of options the GYASA members contemplated on what they could do. Meghlal in the meanwhile could see their desperation and told them that he will spend the night outside the metro station, the way he had done for the past 4 months.
That is when Dilip realized that they had to take action themselves, and that he could take Meghlal to his place, and they did.
Once Meghlal arrived at their place, the first thing they did was helped him to shower and cleaned all his wounds. Rakesh Rai volunteered for the work, and made Mr. Meghlal look sparkling in no time.
With his wounds cleaned, and having eaten dinner, Mr. Meghlal looked entirely different than how the GYASA members had found him.
He is resting, but he will need all our help to get proper treatment done and get compensation from the biker who caused the accident.
Once again, we THANK the amazingly kind volunteers from GYASA who have time and again stepped up to help those Gorkhas who are in desperate need in Delhi, Noida, NCR and Gurgaon region, irrespective of the country or state they come from.
In particular, we thank Mr. Edward, Mr. Dilip Kumar, Mr. Suraj Shresth, Mr. Matthew, Mr. Dinesh Sharma, Mr. Sunil Bista, Mr. Raju Bhandari, Mr. Sujan Pradhan, Mr. Arjun Rai and Ms. Rakhi Pradhan for their incredible acts of kindness, and Mr. Sagan Moktan for offering to pay the hotel bill and his generosity.
The book release event of Roshni’s Rai’s book “From the Mountains to the Ocean” took place at New Delhi today, 29th of November 2015. Roshni Rai, an advocate by profession is also an ultra-marathon runner and a motivational speaker from Darjeeling.
Roshni Rai is also the founder of “Run Run with Roshni” foundation through which she supports underprivileged Gorkha runners from across India to run in different nation and international marathons run in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Shillong since the year 2012. The vision of ‘Run with Roshni Foundation’ is to find and nurture talented runners from the Gorkha community to represent the country in international and Olympic Games. In every marathon they participate, the team from “Run with Roshni” wears t-shirts with slogan- “WE ARE GORKHAS PROUD TO BE INDIAN. JAI GORKHA JAI HIND!”
Her book “From the Mountains to the Ocean” is the culmination of her journey as a little girl from a remote village in Darjeeling to Mumbai in 2004 through self-discovery and realization in the process. The book narrates the story of Rai’s passion for Running and the vision to highlight the social issues of the Gorkha community through the medium of sports. Interspersed with the history of Darjeeling and of Gorkhas, the book also talks of her struggle to get Gorkhas recognition as Indians through her initiative `Run with Roshni’, whereby she is enabling underprivileged youth from Darjeeling to run marathons across the country.
The book launch event was organized by and hosted by the Gorkha community in JNU, New Delhi. Special shout out to Bijay Thapa for organizing and coordinating the event so smoothly. The event was graced by Major DP Singh, a Kargil War Veteran and India’s first amputee marathon runner. Several eminent Gorkha personalities including Dr. Mahendra P Lama, Prof. Shrawan Kumar Acharya, Jyoti Thapa, Bikram Pandey - Resident Consul General of Greece in Nepal and the chairman of the Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon, world’s highest train Running Marathon, Amber Thakuri family of Indian National Army (INA) Capt. Ram Singh Thakuri who composed the song “Kadam Kadam badaye ja, khushi ko geet jaye ja” Colonel Pradhan, Reuben Gurung, Saha Yudhister, Andrew Gurung, Sagan Moktan, and other eminent personalities from across Delhi and Gurgaon attended the event helped at the conference hall of School of International Studies, Building II, JNU Campus, New Delhi.
Speaking at the occasion, Prof Mahendra P Lama emphasized on the need for the community to focus on Education. Citing examples of the contribution of upcoming writers like Roshni Rai and Jyoti Thapa to highlight the different aspects and aspirations of the Gorkha community in various subjects and fields. Roshni Rai also answered questions from the audience on the subject and theme of the book, the challenges and here experiences while publishing her maiden book “From the Mountains to the Ocean.” Roshni Rai was also extended an invitation to the Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon 2016 in Nepal. The event ended with an informal interaction with Roshni Rai and the audience over some light refreshment. Roshni Rai also signed copies of her book and readily agreed to selfied and pictures with the fans.
Prof Mahendra P Lama
Extending heartiest congratulations to Roshni Rai for her achievements, Gorkha Youth and Students’ Association (GYASA) wishes Roshni Rai much more success in the coming future. We will continue support in her endeavor and vision for the question of an Olympic medal from the community.
(A report on the speech made by Shri Pawan Chamling during Gorkha Mahotav 2015, Dehradun )
Shri Pawan Chamling congratulated the people of Uttarakhand and the Gorkha community across the nation for the Mahotsav to mark the glorious 200 years of the Gorkha history in Dehradun. Highlighting the contribution of the Gorkha community towards nation building of India, the Chief Minister pointed out the role Gorkhas have played in shaping the history of India from the days when Buddha marked his journey seeking and spreading knowledge from Nepal to India. Citing the example of the Khalanga he said that the Gorkha community have been natives of the land for time immemorial and are spread across the country like Sikkim, Darjeeling, Assam, and across the North Eastern region.
Reading out a list of Gorkha freedom fighters and martyrs, Shri Pawan Chamling added that right from the Independence struggle of the country, to the currently serving Lieutenant Generals from the community Lieutenant General (Retired) Shakti Gurung PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM (Previously Military Secretary of the Indian Army) and Lieutenant General (Retired) Ram Pradhan AVSM, SM, VSM, the commitment shown by the Gorkhas towards the security and defense of the nation remains unparalleled. The list of people he read out consisted of Gorkha people from different parts of the country driving home the point that the community has been spread across the country, and no matter where we are we have always given our best towards nation building.
People often ask me ‘were you born in India, are you from Nepal, Your family migrated to India’?
I tell them “Yeah, perhaps they came along with Lord Buddha.”
While congratulating the people from Uttarakhand for the glorious 200 years, he also highlighted the fact that the Nepali speaking Gorkha community in India is also an example of peace in the country. Citing the example of the peaceful Sikkim merger, he added that the Gorkha community had been committed to peace in the nation and have worked with the government towards solution of issues facing the community within the constitutional framework of India. He also added that the identity of the Indian Gorkha is pan-India as the community is spread across the country.
While every Gorkha community settled in different states of India must work with their state government seeking the welfare of the community, the Identity of the Indian Gorkhas must be worked in close collaboration with the central government. The community is today facing identity issue due to the similarities of Gorkha ethnic identity of the Nepali speaking population across India and Nepal. We are often mistaken for citizens of Nepal. Thus, he emphasized that we need seek center’s intervention and urge the government to recognize the Gorkhas as an ethnic minority community and seek support under ethnic minority provisions of the central Government. He stated that there is a bigger need for us to work for the welfare of the community as a whole and beyond states and territories in India.
Even in changing times and economy, the Gorkha community continues to bring in innovation and quickly adapting to the changing needs of the nation. Citing the example of Sikkim as the first state in India to introduce and promote 100 percent Organic farming, he urged upon the Gorkha students to wake up to the rising call of the nation. He accentuated the point that India and the Gorkha community needs highly educated students in service oriented professional studies and Information Technology, top Central Government bureaucrats, IAS, Foreign services, and other top decision-making positions.
"We must explore entrepreneurship in different fields and create jobs for the people, encourage students for higher studies, aim for the top level decision-making positions of the government bureaucracy, research on history of the people, culture, and art. The youths need to be ‘producers’ and not just ‘consumers’."
The Chief Minister called upon the youth to acquire and develop entrepreneurship skills and venture into promoting tourism, and become producers and not just consumers. He suggested the youths to venture into business and market tourism, handicrafts, art, culture and create jobs and ideas in the society. While our regions have huge tourism potentials, our youths must excel in service sector and find innovative ideas to market the places.
After the speech, the Chief Minister humbly placed himself in the service of the community. He said “Malai Kaam Araunu hous, ke garnu parney bhannu hous, mo jailey pani taiyar chhu.”
Footnote:
Gorkha Youth and Students' Association of India - GYASA (represented by Rajen Chhetry and Dinesh Sharma) and Run with Roshni , VK Kunwor (6th Generation descendant of Capt. Balbhadra Kunwor along with other Gorkhas being honoured during Gorkha DWI Shatapdi Mahotsav 2015 and felicitated by Honourable Shri Pawan Chamling , Chief Minister of Sikkim.
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