Assam move to protect land rights of Gorkhas

The government's decision will make it easier for the community to buy, sell and transfer land in the four districts

[Ranoj Pegu.File photo]

Writes :Umanand Jaiswl

The Assam government on Thursday declared Gorkhas living in the tribal belts and blocks in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) a protected class.

The move will, among other benefits, make it easier for the Gorkha community to buy, sell and transfer land in the four districts — Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri — that make up the BTR.

Education and welfare of plain tribes and backward classes (non-BTC) minister Ranoj Pegu announced the decision, adding that over 1.65 lakh Gorkha community members will benefit from the move.

“Under the provisions of chapter X of Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886, the cabinet has approved to include Gorkhas as a protected class in the tribal belts and blocks in the districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri who are residing there before 2003, that is, when the districts came under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution,” Pegu said.

The Bodoland Territorial Council was established as an autonomous council on February 10, 2003, under the Sixth Schedule, which provides for the administration of tribal areas and safeguarding the rights of tribals.

Pegu also said: “Similarly, the cabinet has decided to notify the indigenous Tai Ahom, Moran, Muttock, Chutia and Gorkha people residing in the Sadiya tribal belt (Upper Assam) as a protected class. The government has also decided to create more tribal belts and blocks.”

There are 17 tribal belts and 30 blocks spread across Tinsukia, Sonitpur, Nagaon, Morigaon, Lakhimpur, Kamrup, Kamrup (metro), Goalpara, Dhemaji, Darrang, Bongaigaon and the four BTR districts in Assam.

The move was welcomed by the Gorkha community, the fulfilment of a long-pending demand.

There are around 25 lakh Gorkhas in Assam, of whom about 3.5 lakh reside in the BTR, most of whom migrated to Assam during the British rule.

Nanda Kirati Dewan, spokesperson of the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisang, state unit said the 2003 cut-off year would ensure no “newcomers” could avail the benefit extended to the permanent residents of Assam by claiming to belong to the Gorkha community.

“It is a historic development. We have always demanded that we be treated as an indigenous community. It is a step in that direction. The setting up of the Gorkha Development Council in 2003 was the first baby step towards recognising Nepali/Gorkha language speakers as indigenous Gorkhas in Assam. We also request the Assam government to extend the same rule in the new belts and blocks to be created in the state,”Dewan said.

Some other cabinet decisions announced by Pegu and cabinet minister Pijush Hazarika in separate media interactions included:

n The cabinet has approved the placing of The Assam Cattle Preservation Bill, 2021, before the Assembly and repealing the existing The Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 1950.

n Renaming the post of gaonburha (village headman) as gaon pradhan and restricting the upper age limit of gaonburahs to 65 years. The minimum age required to become a gaonburah is 30.

n Unemployed youth can register themselves online through the employment portal instead of going to the employment exchange. The applicants who have already registered and their cards are still valid, will be given an option of entering their previous registration number to retain the date of their initial registration.

n The government will bear the complete cost of litigation faced by its personnel while protecting the state’s borders since most of the cases filed by the people of neighbouring states are “frivolous and instituted in a vindictive manner with a view to demoralising the government servant from taking a bold stand on border protection”.

News Source Via : The Telegraph

Over 500 people from Rajbanshi community protest statehood call

Under the banner of 'Punyabhumi Khalisamari Janapad Basi' (residents of the pious land of Khalisamari), the daylong demonstration was held at a local school ground

Over 500 people from the Rajbanshi community, including academics, intellectuals and Trinamul supporters, met at Khalisamari in Mathabhanga subdivision of Cooch Behar on Sunday to protest the separate statehood demand recently raised by a few BJP leaders like John Barla.

Khalisamari, a hamlet 55km off Cooch Behar town, is the birthplace of Panchanan Barma, the most revered statesman of the Rajbanshis.

Under the banner of “Punyabhumi Khalisamari Janapad Basi” (residents of the holy Khalisamari land)”, the protest was held at a school ground. “In 1905, Panchanan Barma fought the partition of Bengal decided by the British. We are his followers and we protest against any further division of the state,” Girindranath Barman, who lost as a Trinamul nominee this time, said. 

“Some BJP leaders are trying to foment tension in the region by raising the demand. We will fight together against it,” said Girindranath, the Trinamul candidate of Mathabhanga Assembly seat, who lost to BJP’s Sushil Barman.For the past few weeks, the demand for separate state or Union territory of north Bengal is being raised by BJP’s Alipurduar MP John Barla and others.

Though the state BJP leadership asserted that it is not the party’s stand, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh, during his recent visit to the region, remarked that elected representatives had voiced “peoples’ aspirations.”

To counter this narrative, Trinamul has taken the strategy to engage prominent figures of the Rajbanshi community against the demand. Sunday’s event was the first of its kind. “The protest at Khalisamari appear to be a strategy to stoke the sentiments of the Rajbanshis, who revere Panchanan Barma. There were a number of Trinamul leaders at the event. It is evident that Trinamul is trying to drive home the point that the saffron camp wants to divide the state, which can help erode the support base of the BJP,” said a political observer.

Protesters said that in Khalisamari, the Mamata Banerjee government was developing a second campus of the Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University and a museum of his memorabilia.

“The BJP is trying to halt such development work. Our movement against the demand to divide the state will continue,” said Girindranath.

[Rajbanshi community members protest at Khalisamari, Cooch Behar, on Sunday. pic

Main Uddin Chisti]

Via : The Telegraph