GUWAHATI, August 5: Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh (BGP) has welcomed the Assam Cabinet’s decision not to prosecute members of the Gorkha community under the Citizenship Act and withdraw all cases against community members in foreigners’ tribunals (FTs).
The Parisangh thanked chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for solving the long pending problem of the Gorkhas of Assam that began way back in 1997.
BGP is the only registered national organisation of Indian Gorkhas, representing over 10 million Gorkhas with 22 state units and five zones, including the North East zone.
Reacting to the Cabinet’s decision, Nanda Kirati Dewan, national secretary, Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh issued a statement on Thursday, saying that Cabinet decision has come as a huge relief for Gorkha families who were prosecuted under the citizenship law.
“It would also remove the tag of illegal immigrants or foreigners from members of the community who are original inhabitants of Assam and are bonafide Indian citizens,” Dewan stated.
At least 22,000 Gorkhas were declared ‘doubtful voters’ (D-Voters) arbitrarily in the electoral rolls since 1997 and nearly 2,500 are being heard at various Foreigner Tribunal (FT) courts.
“Around 500 cases have been disposed of since the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process began. Few were given ex-parte decisions and declared foreigners while some were jailed in detention camps. With our combined efforts, most of these cases have been resolved, but some are still pending,” he stated.
It may be noted that on behalf of Gorkhas of Assam, the BGP had filed an interlocutory application (IA) before the Supreme Court of India on NRC after the first draft was made public.
“BGP pursued the matter not just legally but also before the constitutional authority. The then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, Justice Ranjan Gogoi had observed on the floor of the bench that Gorkhas are assets of the nation,” Dewan stated.
The Union home ministry had in 2018 clarified that members of the Gorkha community who were Indians at the time of commencement of the Constitution, who are Indian citizens by birth or who have acquired citizenship by registration or naturalisation are not ‘foreigners’ as defined by Foreigners Act, 1946 and Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939 and their cases should not be referred to foreigners tribunals.
“The matter was continuously followed by the Parisangh and other civil society organisations who played their part in achieving this amicable solution. We thank the government of Assam and congratulate our fellow Gorkhas and organisations whose conviction today is vindicated,” he stated.