Morcha (GJM) rival Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) today said it would mark Citizenship Day on August 23 to celebrate the purported “clarification” on the citizenship of Nepali-speaking Indian citizens.
On August 22, 1988, the Centre, state and the GNLF had signed a memorandum of settlement for the formation of the now repealed Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC).
Since the GNLF was also raising the issue of lack of clarity on the issue of citizenship of the Nepali speaking Indians — citing Article VII of the Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship, 1950 — the Centre had come up with a notification on August 23, 1988, stating that all residents living in India before January 26, 1950 are Indian nationals.
The GNLF had said in 1986 that this article is creating confusion about the citizenship of Nepali speaking Indian citizens. Ghisingh’s party believes that the August 23, 1988, notification has clarified the citizenship of Nepali speaking Indians.
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha on the other had has denounced the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) for announcing its ‘Accord Day’ would henceforth be celebrated on August 23 instead of August 22 as was the practice over the past two decades. The change in date is because August 23 also happens to be the ‘Nagarikta Diwas’ for Gorkhas living in the country, claims the GNLF.
The Subash Ghisingh-led GNLF settled for the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council on August 22, 1988 after a gory 26-month agitation for a separate state that saw more than 1,200 people dead. After being forced to take the back seat by Bimal Gurung’s Gorkha Janmukti Morcha ever since 2008, the GNLF was virtually inactive politically in the hills, until the Lok Sabha election this April. The party has once again picked up its demands such as the Sixth Schedule status for the Darjeeling hills and reinstatement of the defunct DGHC, while today’s quirky announcement was that the Gorkhas of the country were conferred with Indian citizenship on August 23, 1988.
The Darjeeling branch committee of the GNLF put up posters in town announcing Friday as the ‘Accord Day’ celebration day. “The DGHC was formed in August 1988 after much hardship and struggle. Most importantly, it has constitutional guarantee and is autonomous in the true sense of the term. We will observe Accord Day in the three sub-divisions of the hills in a big way,” said GNLF Darjeeling convener MG Subba.
Meanwhile, GJM assistant general secretary Binay Tamang said, “We are against the GNLF celebrating the so-called ‘Nagarikta Diwas’. Such a move will only raise the citizenship question of all Gorkhas living in the country. It was Ghisingh who signed the DGHC accord on August 22, 1988; did he do so on an Indian or some other citizenship?”
Source: Telegraph and EOI
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| One of the posters put up by the GNLF in Darjeeling on Thursday. |
Since the GNLF was also raising the issue of lack of clarity on the issue of citizenship of the Nepali speaking Indians — citing Article VII of the Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship, 1950 — the Centre had come up with a notification on August 23, 1988, stating that all residents living in India before January 26, 1950 are Indian nationals.
The GNLF had said in 1986 that this article is creating confusion about the citizenship of Nepali speaking Indian citizens. Ghisingh’s party believes that the August 23, 1988, notification has clarified the citizenship of Nepali speaking Indians.
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha on the other had has denounced the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) for announcing its ‘Accord Day’ would henceforth be celebrated on August 23 instead of August 22 as was the practice over the past two decades. The change in date is because August 23 also happens to be the ‘Nagarikta Diwas’ for Gorkhas living in the country, claims the GNLF.
The Subash Ghisingh-led GNLF settled for the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council on August 22, 1988 after a gory 26-month agitation for a separate state that saw more than 1,200 people dead. After being forced to take the back seat by Bimal Gurung’s Gorkha Janmukti Morcha ever since 2008, the GNLF was virtually inactive politically in the hills, until the Lok Sabha election this April. The party has once again picked up its demands such as the Sixth Schedule status for the Darjeeling hills and reinstatement of the defunct DGHC, while today’s quirky announcement was that the Gorkhas of the country were conferred with Indian citizenship on August 23, 1988.
The Darjeeling branch committee of the GNLF put up posters in town announcing Friday as the ‘Accord Day’ celebration day. “The DGHC was formed in August 1988 after much hardship and struggle. Most importantly, it has constitutional guarantee and is autonomous in the true sense of the term. We will observe Accord Day in the three sub-divisions of the hills in a big way,” said GNLF Darjeeling convener MG Subba.
Meanwhile, GJM assistant general secretary Binay Tamang said, “We are against the GNLF celebrating the so-called ‘Nagarikta Diwas’. Such a move will only raise the citizenship question of all Gorkhas living in the country. It was Ghisingh who signed the DGHC accord on August 22, 1988; did he do so on an Indian or some other citizenship?”
Source: Telegraph and EOI
+to+Contest+SMC+Elections+Together.jpg "BJM + GJM + KPP + JMM (Dooars) to Contest SMC Elections Together")
