Four organisations representing the Gorkha community in Assam came together on Friday to stage a protest and submit a memorandum to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal regarding the exclusion of members of the community from the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The All Assam Gorkha Students’ Union, the Assam Nepali Sahitya Sabha, the All Assam Gorkha Sammelan (AAGS) and the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangha (BGP) staged a protest in Guwahati, announcing that under no circumstances would Gorkha people excluded from the final NRC approach the Foreigners Tribunals (FTs) to appeal against their exclusion.
They cited a 2018 Ministry of Home Affairs order saying that Gorkhas living in India cannot be referred to FTs in Assam.
Durga Khatiwada, president of the Assam Nepali Sahitya Sabha and a Sahitya Akademi award winner, said, “Gorkha people will not go to FTs. We are indigenous people and we cannot be dragged to FTs. There is a clear MHA order to this effect… Family members of a Gorkha freedom fighter are among the 19 lakh excluded people…”
Nanda Kirati Dewan, national secretary (youth affairs) of the BGP, said, “The state government has to respect and validate the MHA order. Gorkhas will not go to FTs …”
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