Writes Gorkhas N Gorkhaland
No Candidate Deserves My Vote!
No State No Vote !
Beware of Vote !
Vote is our Enemy !
Gorkhaland is only our Solution & “NOTA” is only our Option !
NOTA, (None of the Above) also known as "against all", is a ballot option in Indian electoral system, designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates in a voting system.
On 27 September 2013, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the right to register a "NOTA" vote in elections should apply, and ordered the Election Commission to provide such a button in the electronic voting machines.
Even though NOTA are considered as invalid votes, however it is also counted and recorded as rejection of all, in the general election 2014 NOTA polled 1.1% of the votes which counted to over 6 million votes.
Why NOTA for Gorkhaland ?
The state and the name of Gorkhaland is quite necessary for entire settled Gorkhas in India for the sake of their clear and distinct Indian identity so as to distinguish themselves from people of Nepal. As we the Indian Gorkhas have always been look down as an emigrant / foreigners who have come from Nepal in search of their livelihood, permitted as per the Indo- Nepal treaty of 1950.
Moreover, the essence of Grokhaland is not only the development or the creation of statehood within the republic of India BUT to resolve the “Identity Crisis” of Indian Gorkhas by creating a separate state of Gorkhaland “OUT of West Bengal”. I may not be wrong, if I say the Grokha struggle of separation from Bengal is the longest ongoing struggle in the history of modern Indian, as it goes long back to 1907:
Historical chronology of Gorkha struggle in the State of West Bengal:
1907 - The demand for a separate administrative set up for Gorkhas were submitted by the leaders of the Hill People to the British Government.
1929, the Hillmen's Association again raised the same demand before the Simon Commission.
1930, a joint petition was submitted by Hillmen's Association, Gorkha Officers Association and the Kurseong Gorkha Library to the Secretary of the State of India, Samuel Hoare for separation from the province of Bengal.
1941, the Hillmen's Association under the presidency of Rup Narayan Sinha urged the Secretary of State of India, Lord Pethick Lawrence, to exclude Darjeeling from the province of Bengal and make it a Chief Commissioners Province.
1952, ALGI under the presidency of N.B. Gurung met Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India in Kalimpong and submitted a memorandum demanding the separation from Bengal.
1980 – 1988, Subash Ghisingh demand for a “Separate State” named “Gorkhaland” the movement gained serious momentum with a violent agitation. The agitation ultimately led to the establishment of 1st semiautonomous body for Gorkhas in India in the year1988 called Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council and also forced the government to release the Gazette Notification on the citizenship Issue of Indian Gorkhas on 23rd August 1988 declaring all Indian Gorkhas to be the citizen of India.
2007, Bimal Gurung raised the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland once again but land up signed an agreement for the formation of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, a semiautonomous body, thus, replacing the DGHC in the Darjeeling hills.
Though it’s been more than 100 years we have been struggling to separate from the state of Bengal, however, we are still prisoned under the administrative set up of West Bengal. Through we firmly believe in the democracy of our nation BUT we should strongly voice out the suppressive, discriminatory, dissection attitude of Bengal, further Accepting the Legislative Assembly and the electorate process of Bengal also means Accepting, Welcoming and Glorifying the state Administration of West Bengal.
Therefore why not use the power of Right to Reject (NOTA) on the electronic voting machine so as to express our opinion constitutionally and show our solidarity towards the issue of Gorkhaland as we no longer intend to accept the imperialism of Bengal.
Hence, it is our duty as a responsible gorkha citizen to think, think thrice before we VOTE, and vote not just politically BUT wisely !
No state No Vote !
Beware of Vote !
Vote is our Enemy !
Gorkhaland is only our Solution & “NOTA” is only our Option !
No Candidate Deserves My Vote!
No State No Vote !
Beware of Vote !
Vote is our Enemy !
Gorkhaland is only our Solution & “NOTA” is only our Option !
NOTA, (None of the Above) also known as "against all", is a ballot option in Indian electoral system, designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates in a voting system.
On 27 September 2013, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the right to register a "NOTA" vote in elections should apply, and ordered the Election Commission to provide such a button in the electronic voting machines.
Even though NOTA are considered as invalid votes, however it is also counted and recorded as rejection of all, in the general election 2014 NOTA polled 1.1% of the votes which counted to over 6 million votes.
Why NOTA for Gorkhaland ?
The state and the name of Gorkhaland is quite necessary for entire settled Gorkhas in India for the sake of their clear and distinct Indian identity so as to distinguish themselves from people of Nepal. As we the Indian Gorkhas have always been look down as an emigrant / foreigners who have come from Nepal in search of their livelihood, permitted as per the Indo- Nepal treaty of 1950.
Moreover, the essence of Grokhaland is not only the development or the creation of statehood within the republic of India BUT to resolve the “Identity Crisis” of Indian Gorkhas by creating a separate state of Gorkhaland “OUT of West Bengal”. I may not be wrong, if I say the Grokha struggle of separation from Bengal is the longest ongoing struggle in the history of modern Indian, as it goes long back to 1907:
Historical chronology of Gorkha struggle in the State of West Bengal:
1907 - The demand for a separate administrative set up for Gorkhas were submitted by the leaders of the Hill People to the British Government.
1929, the Hillmen's Association again raised the same demand before the Simon Commission.
1930, a joint petition was submitted by Hillmen's Association, Gorkha Officers Association and the Kurseong Gorkha Library to the Secretary of the State of India, Samuel Hoare for separation from the province of Bengal.
1941, the Hillmen's Association under the presidency of Rup Narayan Sinha urged the Secretary of State of India, Lord Pethick Lawrence, to exclude Darjeeling from the province of Bengal and make it a Chief Commissioners Province.
1952, ALGI under the presidency of N.B. Gurung met Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India in Kalimpong and submitted a memorandum demanding the separation from Bengal.
1980 – 1988, Subash Ghisingh demand for a “Separate State” named “Gorkhaland” the movement gained serious momentum with a violent agitation. The agitation ultimately led to the establishment of 1st semiautonomous body for Gorkhas in India in the year1988 called Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council and also forced the government to release the Gazette Notification on the citizenship Issue of Indian Gorkhas on 23rd August 1988 declaring all Indian Gorkhas to be the citizen of India.
2007, Bimal Gurung raised the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland once again but land up signed an agreement for the formation of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, a semiautonomous body, thus, replacing the DGHC in the Darjeeling hills.
Though it’s been more than 100 years we have been struggling to separate from the state of Bengal, however, we are still prisoned under the administrative set up of West Bengal. Through we firmly believe in the democracy of our nation BUT we should strongly voice out the suppressive, discriminatory, dissection attitude of Bengal, further Accepting the Legislative Assembly and the electorate process of Bengal also means Accepting, Welcoming and Glorifying the state Administration of West Bengal.
Therefore why not use the power of Right to Reject (NOTA) on the electronic voting machine so as to express our opinion constitutionally and show our solidarity towards the issue of Gorkhaland as we no longer intend to accept the imperialism of Bengal.
Hence, it is our duty as a responsible gorkha citizen to think, think thrice before we VOTE, and vote not just politically BUT wisely !
No state No Vote !
Beware of Vote !
Vote is our Enemy !
Gorkhaland is only our Solution & “NOTA” is only our Option !
+Avinash+Gurung+at+the+Gorkha+Rangamanch+Bhavan+in+Darjeeling+on+Saturday;+Bimal+and+Asha+Gurung+in+the+audience.+Pictures+by+Suman+Tamang.jpg)
