Memorandum submitted to Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal by Bangla O Bangla Bhasha Banchao Committee(BOBBBC)to press for deletion of names of foreign Nepalese from electoral register
January 31, 2011
January 31, 2011
Dated 31st January,2011
The Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal
21, N.S.Road, Kolkata-700001
Sir,
The Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal
21, N.S.Road, Kolkata-700001
Sir,
Subject: Prayer for Deletion of Names of Foreign Nepalese from Voter List
We the undersigned , on behalf of the BANGLA O BANGLA BHASA BANCHAO COMMITTEE , have the honour to draw your kind attention to the following for an urgent action.
We the undersigned , on behalf of the BANGLA O BANGLA BHASA BANCHAO COMMITTEE , have the honour to draw your kind attention to the following for an urgent action.
THAT more than half of the Nepalese/Gorkhas living in the district of Darjeeling and adjoining areas of Jalpaiguri district are not Indian citizens, as per Extra-Ordinary Gazette Notification issued by the Govt. of India on 23.08.1988. This was done specifically to clarify the question of citizenship of the Nepalees coming to India after 26.01 1945 in pursuance of the Agreement of 1988 forming Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council.
THAT taking advantage of open Indo-Nepal border and as beneficiaries of 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty there has been massive and incessant influx of foreign Nepalees from Nepal since 1950, rendering the non-Nepalee inhabitants especially the Bengalees to minority.
THAT in addition, about more than half of the 9 lakhs foreign Nepalees expelled by the Govt. of Bhutan settled in the district of Darjeeling and adjoining areas of Jalpaiguri.
THAT the Govt. of Nepal refused to accept these refugees expelled from Bhutan and consequently an International Refugee Camp was set up to give shelter to these refugees in Nepal.
THAT continuous and militant agitations by GNLF under Mr. Subhas Ghishing since 1980 and by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha under Mr. Bimal Gurung during the last 3years and their systematic and pre-planned process of forceful ejectment of majority denizens were being carried out by their militant cadres.
THAT a continuous and incessant infiltration of foreign Nepalees from Nepal in Darjeeling is an established fact. In this connection I would refer the observation of Prof. V.V.S.Kanskar of Tribhuban University of Nepal, a population Expert, operative portion of which reads as follows ”……in absence of employment opportunity outside agriculture, Nepalee Hill people migrated (?) infiltrated to India and India became the safety valve for the country s growing population”.
THAT thus a massive number of foreign Nepalees from Nepal and lakhs of Nepalees ousted from Bhutan settled in Darjeeling district and adjoining areas managed to enrol their names illegally in the Electoral Rolls for years after years.
THAT in this connection We have submitted Memorandum on 15.10.2006 and again in 2007 to the Hon ble Election Commission of India with the appeal to depute observers in Darjeeling district to oversee and verify relevant records of linkage on the basis of Electoral Rolls of 1950 in order to assess the authenticated figures of eligible Indian Nepalee Gorkha voters who have been residing in Darjeeling district prior to 26.01.1945 and their descendants as per proper linkage of Electoral Rolls 1950 and to take steps for deletion of other ineligible voters being foreigners Nepalees from the Electoral Rolls. We , in this respect, requested the Hon ble E.C.I. to defer / postpone election of all Assembly Constituencies of Darjeeling district till completion of correction of Electoral Rolls after deletion of names of foreign Nepalees.
THAT in support of our allegations I would like to adduce an example that the Darjeeling Youth Congress in a Memorandum to the SDO,Siliguri on 15.02.2006 alleged enrolment of names of 39 Nepalee foreigners in both Fansidewa L.A. Constituency of Darjeeling district and Mechinagar Municipal Board of Nepal. The District Youth Congress also alleged that the aforesaid 39 Nepalees being permanent residents of Mechinagar as Nepalee national casted their votes in Mechinagar.The Youth Congress demanded deletion of names of aforesaid 39 foreigner Nepalees from the Electoral Rolls and also asserted alleged enrolment of similar other hundreds of foreigners Nepalees in the Electoral Rolls. The names of whom would be furnished by them shortly (Ref.Uttar Banga Sambad,15.02.2006).
THAT in order to maintain free and faire election process and to safeguard the Worlds largest democracy in India, it is mandatory to debar the foreigner Nepalees of casting their votes in the ensuing Assembly Election of West Bengal due to be held in April-May 2011 and all those foreigner Nepalees de-franchised outright.
Under the circumstances We would request you to kindly direct the District Election Officers/ Electoral Registration Officers of Darjeeling to delete the names of ineligible voters being Foreigner Nepalees from the Electoral Rolls after detection on the basis of linkage of the Electoral Rolls of 1950 and other guidelines of ECI and also NOT to publish the Final Publication of Electoral Rolls until and unless the deletion process of such illegal voters is completed.
THAT taking advantage of open Indo-Nepal border and as beneficiaries of 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty there has been massive and incessant influx of foreign Nepalees from Nepal since 1950, rendering the non-Nepalee inhabitants especially the Bengalees to minority.
THAT in addition, about more than half of the 9 lakhs foreign Nepalees expelled by the Govt. of Bhutan settled in the district of Darjeeling and adjoining areas of Jalpaiguri.
THAT the Govt. of Nepal refused to accept these refugees expelled from Bhutan and consequently an International Refugee Camp was set up to give shelter to these refugees in Nepal.
THAT continuous and militant agitations by GNLF under Mr. Subhas Ghishing since 1980 and by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha under Mr. Bimal Gurung during the last 3years and their systematic and pre-planned process of forceful ejectment of majority denizens were being carried out by their militant cadres.
THAT a continuous and incessant infiltration of foreign Nepalees from Nepal in Darjeeling is an established fact. In this connection I would refer the observation of Prof. V.V.S.Kanskar of Tribhuban University of Nepal, a population Expert, operative portion of which reads as follows ”……in absence of employment opportunity outside agriculture, Nepalee Hill people migrated (?) infiltrated to India and India became the safety valve for the country s growing population”.
THAT thus a massive number of foreign Nepalees from Nepal and lakhs of Nepalees ousted from Bhutan settled in Darjeeling district and adjoining areas managed to enrol their names illegally in the Electoral Rolls for years after years.
THAT in this connection We have submitted Memorandum on 15.10.2006 and again in 2007 to the Hon ble Election Commission of India with the appeal to depute observers in Darjeeling district to oversee and verify relevant records of linkage on the basis of Electoral Rolls of 1950 in order to assess the authenticated figures of eligible Indian Nepalee Gorkha voters who have been residing in Darjeeling district prior to 26.01.1945 and their descendants as per proper linkage of Electoral Rolls 1950 and to take steps for deletion of other ineligible voters being foreigners Nepalees from the Electoral Rolls. We , in this respect, requested the Hon ble E.C.I. to defer / postpone election of all Assembly Constituencies of Darjeeling district till completion of correction of Electoral Rolls after deletion of names of foreign Nepalees.
THAT in support of our allegations I would like to adduce an example that the Darjeeling Youth Congress in a Memorandum to the SDO,Siliguri on 15.02.2006 alleged enrolment of names of 39 Nepalee foreigners in both Fansidewa L.A. Constituency of Darjeeling district and Mechinagar Municipal Board of Nepal. The District Youth Congress also alleged that the aforesaid 39 Nepalees being permanent residents of Mechinagar as Nepalee national casted their votes in Mechinagar.The Youth Congress demanded deletion of names of aforesaid 39 foreigner Nepalees from the Electoral Rolls and also asserted alleged enrolment of similar other hundreds of foreigners Nepalees in the Electoral Rolls. The names of whom would be furnished by them shortly (Ref.Uttar Banga Sambad,15.02.2006).
THAT in order to maintain free and faire election process and to safeguard the Worlds largest democracy in India, it is mandatory to debar the foreigner Nepalees of casting their votes in the ensuing Assembly Election of West Bengal due to be held in April-May 2011 and all those foreigner Nepalees de-franchised outright.
Under the circumstances We would request you to kindly direct the District Election Officers/ Electoral Registration Officers of Darjeeling to delete the names of ineligible voters being Foreigner Nepalees from the Electoral Rolls after detection on the basis of linkage of the Electoral Rolls of 1950 and other guidelines of ECI and also NOT to publish the Final Publication of Electoral Rolls until and unless the deletion process of such illegal voters is completed.
Yours faithfully,
Dr.Mukunda Majumdar(FRCS,London),President,
Dr.Mukunda Majumdar(FRCS,London),President,
(Bangla O Bangla Bhasa Banchao Committee & Bangla Bhasa Samiti, Regn.No.36133 )
Sri Balai Chandra Chakraborty,Retd.IAS Officer,President Kolkata Branch,
Prof, Dr.Rabi Ranjan Chattopadhyay,Retd ,Burdwan University, Member,
Prof. Pulak Narayan Dhar ,Retd,Moulana Azad College,Kolkata,Member,
Prof. Dr. Debkumar Mukherjee, Retd,SSKM Hospital,Kolkata,Member,
Sri Sandip Sengupta, Writer,Member,
Sri Birendra Kumar Bhowmik, Advocate ,Kolkata High Court,Member,
Sri Diptesh Augustin Sarkar,Secretary
Sri Balai Chandra Chakraborty,Retd.IAS Officer,President Kolkata Branch,
Prof, Dr.Rabi Ranjan Chattopadhyay,Retd ,Burdwan University, Member,
Prof. Pulak Narayan Dhar ,Retd,Moulana Azad College,Kolkata,Member,
Prof. Dr. Debkumar Mukherjee, Retd,SSKM Hospital,Kolkata,Member,
Sri Sandip Sengupta, Writer,Member,
Sri Birendra Kumar Bhowmik, Advocate ,Kolkata High Court,Member,
Sri Diptesh Augustin Sarkar,Secretary
2 comments:
Darjeeling sits nestled in the Himalayan foothills just East of present day Nepal. Sitting so close to the borders of Nepal, Sikkim, Bengal and Bhutan, its history has been characterised by successive waves of invasion and immigration by people from each of these regions. When the Shah Dynasty's Gorkha Raj (Empire) was at its height both Sikkim and Darjeeling were part of 'Greater Nepal', but prior to that, Darjeeling was mostly under the rule of either Sikkim or Bhutan. After the Anglo-Gorkha War, Sikkim was returned to the Sikkimese by the British, although it was later to become part of India under the British.
In 1828, officials from the British East India Company stopped over in Darjeeling en route to Sikkim and were impressed by its beautiful landscape and cool climate. In 1835 the Company negotiated the lease of Darjeeling with the Chogyal (Monarch) of Sikkim and began building a sanatorium there for British soldiers. In the 1830s and '40s roads connecting Darjeeling to the plains below and to military depots were built. In the 1850s British missionaries set up schools and welfare centres, and commercial tea cultivation also began. Darjeeling is of course now famous across the world for its tea. In 1881 the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway opened, further encouraging the town's development. The 'toy train' railway still operates to this day.
Although Darjeeling is part of the India state of West Bengal, the majority of its population is Nepali and for the past few decades there has been a growing political movement to establish a separate state called 'Gorkhaland'.
Please do refer to history of Darjeeling and Sikkim before 1950.....1835 when Sikkim was a country having a monarchy.
Post a Comment