Racism in the time of Corona!

2:40 PM

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social

Racism in the time of Corona!
Nothing can be an excuse to be Racist!

As the pandemic of Corona virus is spreading throughout the world, it is not only spreading fear but also bringing forth the worst face of Racism across the world. The Asian communities residing in Europe and US are facing constant hostility and racial abuses on account of spread of Corona. So is the case with India. As reported in some social media and published in the Indian Express yesterday, some female students from Darjeeling and Sikkim were racially abused and discriminated in many parts of Kolkata. A person racially abused some students calling them ‘Corona’. Even when confronted for his racist remarks, the person seems out rightly unapologetic about his wrong doing. A student shared his experience saying that people refused to sit near him, even when the public transportation was crowded. Since the news about spread of Corona from China to rest of the world, people with Mongoloid features (from North East states, Darjeeling, Ladakh etc) have been target of racial abuse in many parts of country. Though people with Mongoloid features in India face racism in everyday lives and is not a new thing for us but to face such discrimination and abuses at a time of major health crisis is truly disgusting and deplorable. We express our unconditional solidarity with the aggrieved students and vehemently condemn this racist act in strongest possible words. We demand immediate strong legal action against such racists under appropriate provisions of IPC. The larger society should also deeply introspect on their discriminatory, irrational and inhuman practice of Racism.

An Appeal to the Govt. and People of Darjeeling, Dooars and Terai to take measures against spreading of Corona virus

Darjeeling, Dooars and Terai region is situated in a very vulnerable zone, as we share borders with countries like Nepal & Bhutan and with other Indian states. The neighbouring state Sikkim and country Nepal has already started taking strict preventive measures. The closing of schools/colleges/universities are a welcome move but the administration needs to take further concrete precautionary steps in our region. We cannot afford to remain complacent. The government should introduce screening test (thermal fever testing) in Bagdogra Airport and at other entry points into our region. We also appeal to the people to voluntarily postpone/delay all social gatherings (marriage, community meetings etc), religious, political, cultural or festival gatherings, and sports events for coming 30 days. Even the arrival of domestic tourists should be stopped for at least 30 days in our region. In larger public interest, even malls and cinema halls should be closed for next 30 days. Even countries which have good government health facilities like Italy are facing difficulties in controlling the spread of the corona virus, so prevention of spreading of the virus is the best strategy to fight against it. We would like to appeal to the public not to believe in any unsubstantiated rumours, fake news circulated in social media and unscientific claims (like alcohol consumption, ayurvedic medicine or consumption of Cow Urine /cow dung curing Corona) regarding this disease. Measures like regularly cleaning hands with soap, using hand sanitizer, avoiding crowed places, avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth, should be followed. Let us all follow WHO guidelines (https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses), coordinate and cooperate with government health officials and follow their directions in case of any further development. Right now we should not Panic but we should definitely be extra careful and take all precautionary measures!

At this difficult time, let us unite and collectively fight against both Corona and Racism!

Gorkha Students, JNU                                 
18.03.2020

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Rewati Chetri crowned Miss International India 2016 will represent India at Miss International in Japan

10:33 PM

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Rewati Chettri

Nanda Kirati Dewan

Pune, Maharastra 12th Sept 2016: The gorgeous ‘Gorkhali Gabhuru’,  Asom Xontan and Pride of the North East Rewati Chetri was crowned Miss International India 2016 in its first edition of the beauty pageant that took place at Novotel Hotel in Pune on Sunday night. She bagged the title defeating 16 other contestants and will now represent India at the Miss International 2016 pageant happening next month in Tokyo, Japan.

23-year-old Rewati was born to Baburam Chetri and Mrs. Bina Chetri  born and broup up in a small town of Haflong, Assam. She attended her schooling from St. Agnes’ Convent High School, Haflong and graduated in commerce degree from Lumding College, Lumding.

Rewati Chetri at the grand finale of Senorita India Beauty Pageant 2016. The Crowning Momen

The full-time supermodel and also an actress, was a top 10 finalist at Femina Miss India 2015  pageant where she won Miss India Miss Popular and Miss Multimedia subtitles. Rewati represented India at World Miss University 2016 pageant, held in Beijing, where she bagged the continental crown of Miss Asia University.

In July, she made her debut film in a Hindi flim “Gangs of Northeast”, directed by Rupak Gogoi and co-produced by Sanjive Narain and Kenny Lyngdoh Talang.

Rewati Chetry 2nd from Right crowned Miss International India 2016

Speaking to this correspondent from her hotel in Pune the super model said, ‘I must thank my friends and supporters who lend their support and blessings Miss India happened last year. I cannot name all of them but I sincerely acknowledge immense support from my family and closed friends who stood by me thick and thin. I must credit the social media enthusiasts and North Eastern print and electronic media for their publicity and support that made the way for me to crown Miss International India.’

The super model further added I am now called ‘Gorkhali Gabhuru’ joni from the famous lyrics of Mahamanab Asom Ratna Dr, Bhupen Hazarika – the legend dedicated to Gorkhali beauty of Assam at Kapili river. I must thank my people back home for awarding me this title and keeping me in their prayers and blessing me through out. I will try my best to bring home for India the Miss International 2016, which will be the 56th Miss International pageant; it will be held on October 27, 2016 at the Tokyo Dome City Hall in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of most prestigious and premier pageant in the word founded by the Japanese. She has soughed nation’s support for the Miss International contest.  If she makes it, she will be the first Indian to achieve this feat.

Back home her school, college, university friends have began celebration and social media is full or random shares of her crowned photos. The modeling and fashion fraternity have congratulated her for bringing laurels to the state. The All Assam Gorkhali Mahila Samitee, Greater Guwahati Gorkhali Mahila Samitee, AAGSU Guwahati City Committee, AAGSU and Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh, Dima Hasao District committee and the GACDC have also extended congratulations message to Rewati Chetry. Several students and youth organizations, civil society organizations too have applauded the young model’s feat.

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World Wide Media Release by Mantraa Media

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JAC-PLAL opposes native status to Gorkhas

9:18 AM

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northeast gorkhas

Aug 24, 2016 IMPHAL, Aug 23: Opposing the demand of the Gorkha people to the State Government to ‘grant them native resident status’, the Joint Action Committee for Protecting Liangmai Ancestral Land (JAC-PLAL)has urged the Deputy Chief Minister, who also holds the tribal affairs portfolio, not to pay any heed to the demand.In a lengthy memorandum submitted to the Deputy Chief Minister, the Liangmai JAC justified its stand pertaining to the Gorkha issue by highlighting certain background.

“The Gorkha might have come to Manipur sometime in the first decade of the last century but they came to the soil of Manipur as soldiers, cooks, milkmen, traders and agriculturists” it pointed out in its memorandum. According to JAC-PLAL,  then political agent in Manipur, Maj HD Maxwell had verbally ordered Gorkha to move towards Kanglatongbi, Kangpokpi, Irang Part I & II to rear cows and buffaloes on February 17, 1915.Another permission was also given to 42 Gorkha families at Matakong onAugust 23, 1957. The above two permissions speak of their (Gorkha) non-resident status, the Liangmai JAC confirmed.It said, “The Gorkha on the verbal permission of the then political agentcame and occupied Liangmai territory in 1915 without the consent of the original settlers and land owners.

Manipur

Even as they had come and occupied the land, the Gorkha agreed to pay annual tributes to the native land owners. Since then they had been paying the tributes to the land owners till today (Copies of the tribute receipts enclosed as Annexure 1). Besides this, occasionalagreement had been drawn between the Liangmai native villages and tenant (Gorkha) to the effect that the tenants would abide by the customary and traditional practices of the Naga villages.  (Copies of agreements enclosed as annexure 2).”According to JAC-PLAL, there is no Khasland in Liangmai territory.In this regard, the Liangmai JAC recalled a landmark ruling of the Guwahati High Court in Imphal permanent bench between the North East Council, Shillong, the State of Manipur and the Deputy Commisoner, Ukhrul versus the Hundung Victims of Development Project, in which the verdict was passed in favour of the petitioners whose land had been acquired by theNorth Eastern Council through the Government of Manipur.

The verdict is reproduced here below for necessary information— We are here concerned with Hill Areas of Ukhrul that there’s no Government Khaslandin Hill areas of Ukhrul…..”.JAC-PLAL said that every village in Liangmai area is well defined as a unit with clear demarcation of boundaries between the villages. While such was the clear position, the then authority had pushed the migrant Gorkha “to our country andhad caused the present crisis.“The then political agent of Manipur, C Gimson, ICS in his note to foreigners vide copy of Memo No.4770/MS dated 15/8/1943 had written an inspection note of Irang part I & II to the effect that no boundary fixation was required in thearea.

To substantiate the statement, an improvised copy of the said memo is enclosed herewith for necessary information as annexure 3,” it pointed out while adding, “Again another political agent in Manipur, GA Stewart, ICS had issued an order on the 2nd July 1938 to the effect that no grazer should move from onevillage to another without an expressed order from the political agent in Manipur. Improvised copy enclosed as annexure 4.“In the light of the above stated facts and points, it is crystal clear that the Gorkha are not native residents of the State and the land they occupy was given for their temporary stay under certain agreements and conditions.

It is unthinkable to grant them native resident status when theindigenous people of the State are crying for protection of indigenous rights,” the Liangmai JAC added.“It is therefore, requested to look into the matter judiciously and take necessary action not to grant native resident status to Gorkha (Gorkhas),” the JAC-PLAL urged the Deputy Chief Minister.

Via- Sangai news

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Gorkha found murdered at Karong,Senapati Manipur

9:39 AM

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northeast live news

Senapati Manipur, 11 Aug: In what could be termed as heinous crime, a Gorkha tenant from Kanglatongbi Mandir was found murdered this morning at a place near 3 Karong Villages Water Reservoirs, above Mao Karong, Senapati District Manipur.

The victim was identified as one Kumar Pokhrel, 35 years of age, s/o (L) Ram Chandra of Kanglatongbi Mandir and presently residing at Mao Karong for nearly two months. He was survived by his wife and one daughter.

The accused was identified as one K. Adahrii, aged about 49 years, s/o (L) Krehrii of Mao Karong Village. He is the present Chairman of Mao Karong village.

According to some villagers, the dead body was found only after the accused, who fled from the village after the incident, informed one of the villagers that he has committed the crime last night on suspicion of theft who has stolen a sum of Rs.79,000 from his house.

Gorkha found murdered at Karong, Senapati Manipur

On hearing the news, Mao Karong villagers along with some Gorkha residents at Karong went out in search of the dead body and later found at the spot with some bruises on his legs. Villagers said that the victim must have succumbed to some internal injuries as no serious injury was found on his body except a small bruise on the left side of his forehead.

In this connection, elders and leaders of Mao Karong and Kanglatongbi Mandir including Senapati Gorkha Samaj brought about an amicable solution to the problem so as avoid unwanted consequences in future and decided not register the case at Police station, but settled the case according to customary law.

According to the case settlement, the accused has been fined a sum of Rs.4 lakhs as penalty for committing the crime and ex-communicated from the village.

The dead body was later taken to his native village for cremation this afternoon.

Via Herald Today

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Gorkha Students JNU protests discriminatory citizenship policies of Assam Government (NRC)

8:49 AM

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northeast gorkhas

23rd June 2016 JNU Delhi Gorkha Students JNU brought up a poster on 23rd June in the campus protesting against highly exclusionary and discriminatory citizenship policies of Assam government.

"Given the recent history of exodus of Gorkhas from different North Eastern states, Bhutan and Burma, the current threat emanating from Assam and Manipur is highly credible and too large to ignore. Even under such threat the calculated silence maintained by political leaders claiming to represent ‘Gorkha cause’ are highly shameful and smacks of their opportunism. Why the loud chorus of praises made by Indian political establishment of bravery and the sacrifices made by Gorkha soldiers protecting this country somewhat transforms into morbid.

And indifference when that community is brazenly discriminated and vilified in public sphere. It is such numerous instances of political discrimination and exclusion which consolidates and justifies the demand for separate state of Gorkhaland." said Dawa Sherpa.

Gorkha Students JNU 

The Poster

Reject the exclusionary and divisive policies of ‘them’ and ‘us’ in Assam

“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty!”- Thomas Jefferson

The wicked hands of majoritarian chauvinism have always tried to squeeze the identity and existence of marginalized communities through its clever tactic of othering and isolating people. History have witnessed, whenever such tendencies of racial and linguistic hatred have been unleashed it has brought misery to the weaker nations and unending guilt to those who practice it. But it seems humanity do not learn from history and so it repeat its mistakes time after time in all possible spaces on earth. Such an act of majoritarian exclusionary and divisive policies is manifested in the form of a National Registration Certificate in Assam, which identifies the Gorkhas and the Muslims as ‘outsiders’ in the NRC forms thus preparing them to be excluded from their rights in their own homeland. The NRC earlier had fixed the base year as 1951 as per which anybody who was enumerated in the NRC of 1951 and the electoral list of 1951 shall be declared as original inhabitant (OI) of Assam. But under recent specific government notification, the Gorkhas and Muslims are excluded from the category of OI in the NRC forms even though they had all the official documents proving their name enrolled in the NRC of 1951. Many British official documents(like by Krishna Ram Medhi, Sub Deputy Collector, Samuguri in 1937 and Deputy Commissioner of Darrang in 1937) shows that Gorkhas were living in Assam for about century with perfect harmony with the indigenous population. But situation changed after the beginning of Assam Movement in 1980s, when the Gorkhas, Muslims and some other linguistic and religious minorities were perceived by locals as cause of their underdevelopment and treat to their identity and opportunity. They were arbitrarily labeled as ‘immigrants’ who come to rob jobs and lands from the natives and some of them are labeled more brutally as ‘illegal migrants’. The irony is that even those people whose ancestors came during the British times and who have settled considering Assam as their home are branded as immigrants in popular culture. They are treated as undesirables in the society, thus ghettoizing and putting them under the lenses of suspicion always. The level of hatred towards these communities has always been at a high degree in Assam since many decades. The abhorrence spread by the Assam Movement in name of fighting against “foreigner” may be unseen by the majoritarian value system but to the minorities it was a propaganda specifically designed to put the Assamese society in illusion and prey of a false belief that hating specific communities could bring peace and development to them. Such hate propaganda was also seen in Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland in the late 80’s when thousands of Gorkhas were forced to leave their homes and many even died in some unwelcomed ethnic conflicts. All the people of Assam need is hope in the midst of multi-cultaralism where societies interact together in harmony as equal socio-political beings. The Gorkhas of Assam have always been in peaceful coexistence within the larger Assamese society. It even went to the extent of changing its very identity to ‘Assameli Nepali’( Gorkhas of Assam) and trying to intermix Gorkha culture with Assamese and other indigenous culture through various forms of socialisation like marriages, celebrations of indigenous festivals together and respecting the cultural values of everyone. On the contrary, it seems that a few anti-social majoritarian chauvinists do not want peaceful coexistence and want to divide society in name of language, ethnicity and religion. They want hatred to be spread everywhere so that they can divide people into ‘us’ and ‘them’ and rule everyone through the medium of fear and ignorance. Such brazen principles of exclusion and hatred are not only experimented in Assam but similar acts are peeping through the window to terrorize minority communities in Manipur in from of three new bills. Given the recent history of exodus of Gorkhas from different North Eastern states, Bhutan and Burma, the current threat emanating from Assam and Manipur is highly credible and too large to ignore. Even under such threat the calculated silence maintained by political leaders claiming to represent ‘Gorkha cause’ are highly shameful and smacks of their opportunism. Why the loud chorus of praises made by Indian political establishment of bravery and the sacrifices made by Gorkha soldiers protecting this country somewhat transforms into morbid silence and indifference when that community is brazenly discriminated and vilified in public sphere. It is such numerous instances of political discrimination and exclusion which consolidates and justifies the demand for separate state of Gorkhaland.
 
We condemn and reject such exclusionary and divisive policies which are pitted against linguistic and religious minority communities and demand immediate revocation of such discriminatory rules/bills from Assam and Manipur. Let us unite and fight against such majoritarian injustice!

 GORKHA STUDENTS, JNU

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Sushila Sonar's low cost electric Wheelchair

12:18 PM

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science news

Writes Sanjog Chamling

23rd June 2016 Arunachal Pradesh: Sushila Sonar, an Indian Gorkha, who recently won Gold for India in the International Taekwondo Championship held at Bhutan (Read here - Gorkhas Daughter wins Gold and Bronze in International Taekwondo Championship) has given us yet another reason  to be proud. Sushila, a student of BSc Interior Design from  Arunachal Pradesh has designed low cost electric wheelchair which is the hope for the physically challenged and elderly.They will no longer have to be at the mercy of someone to move from one place to another.And they will have no reason to compromise their dignity. she said.

She did her graduation from JD Institute of Fashion Technology Guwahaty. She believes that, her low cost electric wheel chair will be of great help who cannot afford expensive wheelchairs in the market.

Sushila Sonar an Indian Gorkha with her wheelchair

She was inspired to make such a wheelchair when she saw her friend's mother who is partially paralyzed."I call it a 'magic wheels' since it gives mobility to those who are otherwise dependent on others. I recon it gives more confidence to people." she added.

Sushila Sonar's interview
Ms. Sushila Sonar, a Gorkha resident of Arunachal from Naharlagun came up with a brilliant initiative of making low cost electric wheel chair out of  waste products for the Physically Handicapped people. The 'migic wheels' costs Rs 20,000 which is the cheapest so far available in the market.The avarage cost of the powered wheelchair in the market cost from Rs 60,000 to Rs10,00,000 Sonar said.

Sushila Sonar's low cost electric Wheelchair

" Architecture is not an inspirational business, it's a rational procedure to do sensible and hopefully beautiful things in Life "

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Two Indians among 25 killed in Kabul terrorist attack

8:05 PM

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terrorism news

“We have learnt that 2 Indian nationals, Ganesh Thapa & Govind Singh from Dehradun, died tragically in the blast in Kabul today morning,” external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted late on Monday night.

The Taliban and the Islamic State both claimed the first attack, which killed 14 security guards, including the Indians, working for the Canadian embassy in Kabul in a massive blast that left their yellow minibus spattered with blood.

Two Indians were among 25 people killed in a suicide blast in Kabul Monday. Officials said they worked for a private security company, Sabre International, and were probably deployed at the Canadian embassy. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast, which also killed 14 Nepalese guards working for the embassy. A suicide bomber on foot had targeted a mini bus transporting them.

Within hours, a second blast went off inside the vehicle of MP Ataullah Faizani in Chehlsitoon area, injuring him.

The Indian government is working with its Afghan counterpart to repatriate their bodies at the earliest, Swarup said without giving other details. MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, “Ganesh Thapa and Govind Singh from Dehradun died in the blast. The government is in touch with their families and is working to repatriate their mortal remains.”

An injured Nepalese security guard in Kabul - Source: AP

Soon after a Taliban spokesman on Twitter claimed the attack, the Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan and Pakistan released a competing claim in which it named and pictured the alleged bomber, according to the SITE monitoring group. An Afghan intelligence source said officials were investigating the IS claim, which was denied by the Taliban.

Police said the attack on the security guards was carried out by a suicide bomber on foot on a key road leading east out of Kabul towards Jalalabad. The interior ministry said in a statement that five Nepali citizens and four Afghans were wounded. The Canadian embassy confirmed the “cowardly” attack in a tweet and said it had employed the guards.

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