BJP Darjeeling MP lures Gorkhas with schedule Tribe bait

8:40 PM

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tribal news

Darjeeling: BJP MP S.S. Ahluwalia has written to the Union tribal ministry pressing for inclusion of 11 Gorkha communities in the Schedule Tribal list, the move coinciding with the rural polls in the Bengal.

The letter written by Ahluwalia is dated April 25, 2018, but it was posted by Gorkha leader Roshan Giri on social media on Tuesday. The BJP had used the tribal card effectively in earlier elections.

The Darjeeling MP has justified his decision to write the letter now saying the term of the committee constituted by the Union tribal ministry to look into the demand ends in May this year.

"I request you to use your influence to take a decision on the 11 communities and direct constitutional amendment to include these communities in the ST list," Ahluwalia's letter to Jual Oram in Hindnd Himalachal Pradesh had already recommended the inclusion of the 11 Gorkha communities in the ST list.

The 11 communities demanding tribal status are Bhujel, Gurung, Mangar, Newar, Jogi, Khas, Rai, Sunuwar, Thami, Yakka (Dewan) and Dhimal.

The demand has popular support among members of the 11 communities who constitutes nearly 50 percent of the Gorkha population.

Although the BJP has been dangling the tribal card before the Gorkhas, actual progress has been slow.

Even though Ahluwalia's letter states that the committee's tenure will end in May this year, observers are sceptical given past records. "The letter has surfaced in public domain when Bengal is going for rural polls. Gorkhas constitute a sizeable population in the Dooars. The timing raises eyebrows," said an observer.

Bengal, Sikkim and Himalachal Pradesh had already recommended the inclusion of the 11 Gorkha communities in the ST list

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Centre to accord tribal status to the Gorkhas - Tribal Minister

5:45 PM

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West Bengal

The Centre is eager to accord tribal status to the 11 Gorkha communities, but some technical problems are holding it back for now, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram said in Kalimpong on Sunday. “The central government is pursuing the demand for tribal status for 11 Gorkha communities with all sincerity. But, we have to follow the established norms and procedures to get over some technical problems,” Oram told reporters in this hill town.

“All the 11 Gorkha communities seeking tribal status are living in almost all states of the country. For that, the tribal department needs to take inputs from the states concerned and consult other departments involved. That is why the issue is pending,” he said.

Union Tribal Affairs Minister said the West Bengal and Sikkim governments had already issued recommendation for these communities. (Source: File Photo)

“I want all Gorkhas to know that the Prime Minister has already promised that the status will be accorded, so there is no room for doubt. People should not worry unnecessarily,” the minister said. To a question, he said the West Bengal and Sikkim governments had already issued recommendation for these communities.

Via indianexpress

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गोर्खा फाउनडेशनले केन्द्रिय जनजाती एंव अदिबाशी मन्त्री जोयल ओरमलाई चडाए बिन्ती पत्र

3:10 PM

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tribal news

अस्ती शनिबार दिनाँक ९ तारिकको दिन गोर्खा फाउनडेशनका प्रतिनिधिहरुले मानननिय केन्द्रिय जनजाती मन्त्री श्रीमान जोयल उराँव सित वहाँको बासस्थानमा भेट गरेर गोर्खाहरुको बिभिन्न माँगहरुले लिएर एउटा ज्ञापन सुम्पे। यस् ज्ञापन पत्र बिशेष गरेर ४ सुत्रिय माँग गरिएको थियो। प्रथम, गोर्खाहरुको एउटा सपना गोर्खाल्यान्डको निम्ती यहाँको समर्थन ग्रुप अफ मिनिस्टरको सभामा समर्थन गर्दै जोड तोडले कुरा उठाइ दिनु, वहाँले भन्नु भयो म यस्मा पुरा समर्थन गर्दै कुरा उठाउने छु। दोस्रो माँगमा, भारतिय गोर्खाहरुले गरीरहेको लम्बित माँग गोर्खाहरुको समुदायको ११ जातीलाई जनजातीको माँग चाँडो भन्दा चाँडो मान्यता दिया जावोस। स्मरण रहोस् यस् माँग सित बिभिन्न संगठनहरुले गरेको आर टि आइको कपी एँव सिक्किम सरकारको माँगमा केन्द्रिय सरकारको जवाबको कपी पनि मन्त्री महोदयलाई सुम्पे को थियो, अनी यसै सन्दर्भमा ११ जातीको मुद्दा मन्त्री महोदयसित ब्रितान्तरुपमा चर्चा गरिएको थियो अनी आँउदो सन्सदको सत्रमा यो पारीत होस् भनी गोर्खा फाउनडेशनको प्रतिनिधिहरुले अनुरोध गरे साथै वहाँले भन्नु भयो यो माँग चाडैनै पुरा गरिने छ। तेस्रो माँगमा केन्द्रिय जनजाती मन्त्रालयको बन बन्धु कल्यान योजना अन्तर्गत गोर्खा बाहुल्य क्षेत्र एँव जनजाती बहुल्य क्षेत्रमा घरहरुको निर्माण चाडैनै पुरा गरियोस।

अनी चौथो माँगमा एकलब्य मोडेल रेसीडेन्टल स्कुल योजना अन्तर्गत गोर्खा बाहुल्य क्षेत्र एँव जनजाती बहुल्य क्षेत्रमा स्कुलहरुको निर्माण चाडैनै पुरा गरियोस, यसमा यो माँग चाडैनै पुरा गरिने छ भनेर वहाँले भन्नु भयो। अन्तमा मन्त्री महोदयलाई जनजाती मन्त्रालयको सबै सुनीयोजित कार्य एव कार्यक्रम सठिक रुपमा लागु भएको छ कि छैन साथै कार्य पुरा भएको छ कि छैन भनेर यस्को जाँचको देखरेख गर्नको निम्ती समाज र मन्त्रलाय बाट सयुक्त समितीको गठन हुनु पर्छ भन्दा वहाँले, यस् माथि तुरन्त पहल गर्ने आसवासन दिनु भयो। आजको यस् सभा अतीनै सकारात्मक थियो। आजको प्रतिनिधि टोलीमा श्रीमती किरण सेवा, अरुण दास, बिनोद घले, निरज रावत, रुस्तम छेत्री, डि० के० प्रधान, लोप्सँग लामा, एन्ड्रु गुरुङ, सघन मोक्तान आदी उपस्थित थिए।
सघन मोक्तान
अध्य्क्ष
गोर्खा फाउनडेशन
नयाँ दिल्ली

Via  Gorkha Foundation

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TMC, GJM war over ST status demand - All you need to know

11:34 AM

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tribal news

Darjeeling 3 Jun 2016 Fresh from their victories in the just concluded state Assembly election, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the hill Trinamool Congress has embarked on a war of words over the issue of granting Scheduled Tribe status to the 11 communities of the hills.

The hill TMC organised a victory celebration and a public meeting in Darjeeling where its leaders accused the GJM of hoodwinking the people over the issue by claiming Prime Minister Narendra Modi had endorsed its demand. Sardha Subba, the Darjeeling TMC candidate for the Assembly election and the hill Trinamool Mahila Congress president, said that according to a Press Information Bureau report released on Thursday, the Union Cabinet chaired by Modi on May 25 approved of the introduction of two Bills relating to the issue of granting tribal status to various communities in five states. According to the PBI report, the Cabinet has given ex-post facto approval to the amendments in the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order of 1950 to modify the list of Scheduled Tribes in the state of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Tripura and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

Hill communities  seeking  ST status - a file photo

“The GJM claims the matter has been taken up by the PM himself and it is in the implementation stages. But the PBI report clearly shows that even though five states and a Union territory are mentioned, the demand from Darjeeling has been left out. This shows the GJM is playing with the sentiments of the people and fooling them for political interests,” said Subba today in the public meeting. The Prime Minister, campaigning in May for north Bengal BJP candidates in Siliguri, said the process of granting tribal status to the 11 communities had already been initiated and that a committee already been formed to look into the matter. The GJM wants the 11 communities to be brought under the ST list.

The communities from the hills are Bhujel, Gurung, Mangar, Newar, Jogi, Khas, Rai, Sunwar, Thami and Yakha Dewan, and the Dhimal from the Dooars. Meanwhile, the GJM disagreed saying the Union Cabinet’s approval to place two Bills for the five states as reported by the PBI and its demand were in different stages. “She (Subba) is not aware of this. Committees were formed in 2013 for the five states and the UT, and based on the recommendations of those states, relevant Bills have been placed before the Cabinet. However, in our case, a committee was formed only this year, hence it did not find mention,” countered Binay Tamang, the GJM assistant secretary.

All the same, he expressed happiness that the Cabinet had approved the introduction of two Bills for amendment, saying this would set a precedent. “When the Bills get amended, they will become the basis to facilitate the Centre to take up our case,” Tamang said. The GJM leader furnished an order issued on April 2 by deputy secretary of the Union tribal ministry Roopak Chaudhuri to the chief secretaries of all states, excluding Haryana and Punjab. The order states the tribal ministry has decided to constitute a committee headed by Ashok Pai, joint secretary, Union ministry of tribal affairs, to examine and recommend granting of ST status to 11 communities living in Sikkim and other Gorkha dominated states and areas.

As per the order, the committee will have to consult with the Sikkim government and the states with significant Gorkha populations and submit its report to the tribal affairs ministry within three months.


Via EOI

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Central committee formed to look into the demand for ST status to 11 hill communities - GJM

11:15 AM

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Trinamool Congress

Writes Vivek Chhetri

Darjeeling, June 3: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) today advised Trinamul women chief in the hills, Sharda Subba Rai, to consult her party leadership before making statements on granting tribal status to 11 communities.

"The statement issued by Sharda Subba Rai, the Trinamul candidate who lost the recent Assembly election from Darjeeling, clearly suggests that she is unaware of the developments over the tribal status issue. It is also very clear that she has not consulted senior Trinamul leaders and we suggest that she be clear on an issue that is as important as granting tribal status before making any comments," said Binay Tamang, assistant general secretary of the Morcha.

The Morcha was reacting to Subba's charges that the hill party and its ally at the Centre, the BJP, were not sincere on the tribal issue.

Central committee formed to look into the demand for ST status to 11 hill communities

"On May 25, the Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval for the introduction of two bills in Parliament to modify the list of Scheduled Tribes in five states - Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Tripura - and identification of new communities in the Union Territory of Puducherry," Sharda Subba said had said.

Five communities from Chattisgarh, two each from Assam, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu and one each from Tripura and Puducherry have been identified, the Trinamul leader had said.

"The Morcha is an ally of the BJP but there was no mention of a single community from the hills. This clearly proves that both the Morcha and the BJP are not sincere about the demand and are only using it as an election plank as municipal polls are due this year and GTA elections next year," Sharda Subba had said.

Tamang today said: "On April 2, the Centre formed a committee to look into the demand of granting ST status to 11 communities. Whereas in the case of the committees that were recommended on May 25, such a committee had been formed in 2013. It is after the report of the 2013 committee that the Centre is now preparing to place a bill in Parliament. Our case is different as the committee has only been formed now, that too because of our incessant pressure, and we are confident that the recommendation from this committee will be favourable for us," said Tamang.

"The developments clearly suggest that Sharda Subba Rai is confused on the issue," said Tamang.


Via Telegraph

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GJM youth wing to push for Scheduled Tribe status demand

10:16 AM

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tribal news

Darjeeling 29 May 2016 The youth wing of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) today said it will hold a mass rally on June 2 to push for the demand of granting Scheduled Tribe status to the 11 communities of the hills and the plains of Siliguri.

The Gorkha Janmukti Yuwa Morcha (GJYM) rally will start from the Motor Stand area from eleven in the morning and end at Chowrastha and everyone has been asked to support the demand. The GJM has been demanding tribal status for 10 communities from the hills and one from the Dooars area. The communities from the hills are Bhujel,

Gurung, Mangar, Newar, Jogi, Khas, Rai, Sunwar, Thami, Yakha (Dewan) and the plains community is the Dhimal.

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

Gorkha Janmukti Yuwa Morcha (GJYM) - A File Photo 

“The PM has given a positive response to our demand. A committee has also been formed by the central government. It must be remembered that we are demanding for ST status and therefore, we must take proactive steps to pursue the issue,” said Sanjeev Lama, the GJYM general secretary, today.

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

“We Gorkhas have faulted on many occasions with our various demands because of disunity. But the time has come to work together and take forward this demand to its end,” said Amrit Yonzon, the youth front’s spokesperson.

(EOIC)

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GJM and JAP on agitation path to protect their support base

8:31 AM

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tribal news

Writes Vivek Chhetri and Rajeev Ravidas

May 30: After a bitter and hard fought-Assembly election, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and its rival, Jana Andolan Party, are now busy protecting their support base and are on the path of agitation in the hills less than a month after the poll.

Four days after the poll results were announced, the JAP started a relay hunger strike at Tricone Park in Kalimpong from May 23 demanding streamlining of water distribution system in town. The party has threatened to intensify the protest if the problem is not resolved by the public health engineering under the GTA and the residents are not given water on a regular basis.

"We are likely to continue the dharna for some more time since the administration has done precious little to resolve the problem," said Nayan Pradhan, JAP secretary.

GJM and JAP on agitation path to protect their support base

The JAP is at present holding meetings at block and village levels to chalk out its future programmes.

The Morcha, too, has decided to launch an agitation to demand land rights to people living in tea gardens and cinchona plantations and tribal status for 11 hill communities.

Suraj Subba, the general secretary of the Janmukti Parcha-Patta Sangharsh Committee, said: "We have decided to hold gate meetings in front of all 87 tea gardens in the hills and in the cinchona plantations on June 13 for an hour before the start work. This is the start of our agitation and we will vigorously pursue our demand."

The Morcha's youth wing, the Gorkha Janmukti Yuva Morcha, has also decided to hold a rally in Darjeeling on June 2 to seek tribal status for 11 hill communities.

"The rally will start from Darjeeling Motor Stand and wind its way to Chowrastha," said Amrit Yonzone, the spokesman for the Yuva Morcha.

Telegraph

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Signature campaign for 11 gorkha communities demanding tribal status

7:27 AM

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tribal news

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

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

Signature campaign for 11 gorkha communities demanding tribal status

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

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

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

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

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

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


(EOIC)

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