SILIGURI,: Darjeeling MP Raju Bista during a Parliament session on Tuesday
questioned the prolonged delay in granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to 11
left-out Gorkha sub-tribes and called for their urgent inclusion in the tribal
list.
During the
Question Hour, Bista asked the government, “How can you keep the citizens of
our nation deprived of their rights by showing fear of increased immigration
from another country?”
“I
supported the ‘Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes (STs) in
Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, 2024’ in the Parliament. I
also took the opportunity to highlight the need for re-inclusion of 11 left-out
Gorkha sub-tribes - Gurung, Bhujel, Mangar, Newar, Jogi, Khas, Rai, Sunwar,
Thami, Yakkha and Dhimal as Scheduled Tribes without any further delay,” Bista
wrote on Facebook.
Bista
reminded the Parliament that the Gorkha community was collectively recognized
as “Hill Tribes” before Independence. However, after Independence, this status
was revoked without any consultation with the community. He pointed out that over
time, out of the 18 Gorkha sub-tribes, seven communities have been granted ST
status.
Tamang and
Limbu were accorded ST status in 2001 under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee
government, but the remaining 11 sub-tribes continue to be excluded, submitted
the Darjeeling MP.
The MP
further emphasized that the Darjeeling hills, Terai, and Dooars regions have
historically been governed under distinctive administrative regimes, including
Non-regulated Area in 1861, Semi-regulated Area 1861-70, Non-regulated Area
1870-74, Scheduled District 1874-1919, Backward Tract 1919-1935, Partially
Excluded Area from 1935-47.
He said,
“I informed the Parliament that these distinctive administrative set ups were
specifically implemented in tribal areas across India. All the tribes that
lived in the Partially Excluded Area have been re-included as Scheduled Tribes
gradually. However, these 11 left-out Gorkha sub-tribes are still suffering.
Highlighting the difficulties felt by these left-out 11 Gorkha sib-tribes, I
stated that increased illegal immigration from Bangladesh and Rohingyas settled
as “vote banks” by the ruling party in the State, is leading to a loss of land,
resources, culture and dilution of the demographics of the indigenous
communities of our region.”
Bista said
he questioned the “absurd” observations made by the RGI against granting Gorkha
ST in some previous letters. “They have commented that granting Gorkhas ST could
potentially lead to influx. Responding to this, I questioned the RGI to provide
actual statistics on if there has been any unnatural increase in the population
of Limbu and Tamang communities who were granted ST in 2001,” said Bista.
“Because,
we know the population of Limbu and Tamang who are originally from India and
indigenous to Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars has remained unchanged in the
past two decades. Hence, this absurd logic and fear on the part of RGI is
unfounded.”
In some
quarters, it is also said that because of the existing Indo-Nepal Friendship
Treaty the remaining Gorkha sub-tribes cannot be granted ST status, as it could
lead to increased immigration.
Responding
to this, the Darjeeling MP informed the Parliament that the demand for the
re-inclusion of the 11 left-out Gorkha sun-tribes as Scheduled Tribes is a
constitutional demand. The government cannot and should not deny the citizens
of our country our rights, by citing it could be taken advantage of by citizens
of another country, he said.
