GUWAHATI: The Gorkha community in Assam has asked the state government to form an empowered committee to dispose of cases pertaining to non-inclusion of members in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the doubtful voter tag they have been carrying for years.
A delegation of the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh (BGP) met chief secretary Alok Kumar here on Saturday. A notification by the Union ministry last year had exempted the community from referring cases to the foreigner's tribunals.
The September 24, 2018 notification had said, "The Gorkha community who were Indian citizens at the time of the commencement of the Constitution, or those who are Indian citizens by birth, or those who have acquired Indian citizenship by registration or naturalization in accordance with the provisions of The Citizenship Act, 1955 are not "foreigners" in terms of Section 2 (a) of The Foreigners Act,1946 as well as The Registration of Foreigners Act,1939, therefore, such cases will not be referred to the Foreigner's Tribunals".
The delegation, led by BGP national secretary Nanda Kirati Dewan and BGP northeast zone secretary Lakpa Lama, asked the state government to implement the notification in letter and spirit. It said the government should send directions to the deputy commissioners of all districts, director general of police and other government agencies for the implementation of the notification.
BGP said about one lakh Gorkhas were excluded from the final NRC released on August 31. Altogether 19 lakh people could not make it to the final list. BGP also said an estimated 22,000 people from the 25 lakh-strong Gorkha community in the state have been marked as "doubtful voters", who cannot vote and were excluded from the NRC.
"The chief secretary assured the delegation that the state government would consider BGP's suggestion to form an empowered committee if it comes within the ambit of NRC guidelines and after seeking legal opinion from constitutional experts. He also assured that no genuine Indian Gorkhas would be left out of the NRC though it may take some time," Dewan said.
BGP, a national confederation of different Gorkha organisations spread over 22 states, said the Gauhati high court in December last year had directed the state government to file a fresh writ petition before the appropriate bench in order to legally implement the notification. "However, more than seven months have gone by and the state government is yet to file a fresh case in the Gauhati HC. This has jeopardized cases of thousands of Gorkhas who are seeking redressal for the imposition of D-voter tag on them and from the foreigner's tribunal," Dewan said.
"We urged the chief secretary to take appropriate measures so that a fresh case is filed at the earliest in the Gauhati HC and Gorkhas are delivered justice," said Lama.
A delegation of the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh (BGP) met chief secretary Alok Kumar here on Saturday. A notification by the Union ministry last year had exempted the community from referring cases to the foreigner's tribunals.
The September 24, 2018 notification had said, "The Gorkha community who were Indian citizens at the time of the commencement of the Constitution, or those who are Indian citizens by birth, or those who have acquired Indian citizenship by registration or naturalization in accordance with the provisions of The Citizenship Act, 1955 are not "foreigners" in terms of Section 2 (a) of The Foreigners Act,1946 as well as The Registration of Foreigners Act,1939, therefore, such cases will not be referred to the Foreigner's Tribunals".
The delegation, led by BGP national secretary Nanda Kirati Dewan and BGP northeast zone secretary Lakpa Lama, asked the state government to implement the notification in letter and spirit. It said the government should send directions to the deputy commissioners of all districts, director general of police and other government agencies for the implementation of the notification.
BGP said about one lakh Gorkhas were excluded from the final NRC released on August 31. Altogether 19 lakh people could not make it to the final list. BGP also said an estimated 22,000 people from the 25 lakh-strong Gorkha community in the state have been marked as "doubtful voters", who cannot vote and were excluded from the NRC.
"The chief secretary assured the delegation that the state government would consider BGP's suggestion to form an empowered committee if it comes within the ambit of NRC guidelines and after seeking legal opinion from constitutional experts. He also assured that no genuine Indian Gorkhas would be left out of the NRC though it may take some time," Dewan said.
BGP, a national confederation of different Gorkha organisations spread over 22 states, said the Gauhati high court in December last year had directed the state government to file a fresh writ petition before the appropriate bench in order to legally implement the notification. "However, more than seven months have gone by and the state government is yet to file a fresh case in the Gauhati HC. This has jeopardized cases of thousands of Gorkhas who are seeking redressal for the imposition of D-voter tag on them and from the foreigner's tribunal," Dewan said.
"We urged the chief secretary to take appropriate measures so that a fresh case is filed at the earliest in the Gauhati HC and Gorkhas are delivered justice," said Lama.
Trending Topics
LATEST VIDEOS
More from TOI
Navbharat Times
Featured Today in Travel
Get the app