Gorkhas in India: Are they being given their due?
Posted by barunroy on January 11, 2008
Pinky Pradhan , 11 January 2008, Friday: The racist treatment that Gorkhas or Nepalis born in India face, was an issue recently brought to the attention of the media because of the remarks passed by a radio jockey regarding the Indian Idol Prashant Tamang. The Gorkhas deserve much better.
THE ONCE silent hills of Darjeeling, has grabbed the attention of the central government and Indian Nepali diaspora. From being a sleepy tourist town, the towering hills are being ravaged by demands from two dissentious groups: the implementation of sixth schedule status versus a separate statehood - ‘Gorkhaland’. The angst however, is not limited within Darjeeling itself. Sizeable Indian Nepali populations from states like Delhi, Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim and others are closely taking part in it. Questions like –‘can the tag of being honest feed us? Can tourism be an year-long industry for feeding the people? And can the sixth schedule remove all barriers?’ mirror their anguish.
Posted in Have your Say? | Tagged: accent, assam, bpo, business process outsourcing, chowkidaar, delhi, gorkha, gorkha janmukti morcha, gorkhaland, guwahati, indian defence forces, indian idol, meghalaya, nepali, north bengal, prashant tamang, shaab jee, sikkim, sixth schedule, statehood | No Comments »
Jamling Tenzing Norgay was born on April 23, 1965, in Darjeeling, the fourth of six children. By age six, he had already shown a penchant for peaks, scaling mountains in Sikkim with his father, Tenzing Norgay, who with Sir Edmund Hillary, became the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Jamling quickly became his father’s right-hand man on climbs organized by the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. In 1985, Jamling moved to the U.S. to attend Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, where he studied business administration and graduated in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. While there, he worked as a black-belt instructor in karate and Tae Kwon Do. In 1986, Tenzing passed away, and Norgay began to think more seriously about Everest. In 1996, Jamling Tenzing Norgay summitted Everest, just two weeks after nine people died on Everest. Not only did Jamling Tenzing Norgay make it to the top of Everest—described by the Sherpa people as “The Mother Goddess of the World”—he also helped capture it all on film. As a star of Director David Breashears Imax film Everest, Norgay helped to portray not only the physical challenges of the Mountain, but also the mental and spiritual challenges faced by the climbers. Today Norgay runs his adventure travel company in Darjeeling and is often asked whether there are more big summits in his future. “I promised my wife that after Everest, I would never climb again,” says Norgay. “I will not break my word.” He lives in Darjeeling with his wife and daughter.
By Barun Roy - One of our readers, Salil Chettri surmises prudently when he writes, “too much [hope] too early [on the issue of State Reorganisation Commission could be stupidity].” The news that originated through CNN-IBN that the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is toying with an idea of forming the Second State Reorganisation Commission is based solely on the statement made by Veerappa Moily, a former Congress Chief Minister of Karnataka. (Inset: Veerappa Moily) Moily himself denies the assumption that he had indeed used the words “the Prime Minister is toying with the idea….” When asked to clarify by an Outlook scribe, Moily replied, “The UPA Government is considering of setting up of a State Reorganisation Commission to review demand of the states like Telengana and Vidharbaha.” About the similar demands for states like Gorkhaland, he equips that “they can send in their nominations to the SRC.” Now for the equations to be settled, Moily has his own agenda which is Telengana. A rise in the hope that Telengana could be a reality soon could well see Moily’s own career in the rise. So can this be a simple Veerappa Moily fabrication and not an issue in the AICC Central Committee Agenda – possibly. The Prime Minister is yet to comment on the idea that the nation have been told he is ‘toying’ with. Party spokesman, Shakeel Ahmed in a recent press conference said, “It would be difficult for creation of any new state without the formation of the commission [SRC],” making it clear that the Government has not taken any decision on the matter so far. Shakeel also said that the Congress was in favour of amicable resolution of such issues [demand for newer states] by consultations with all stakeholders [concerned states]. He further said that the Government was in consultation with the administrative reforms commission and would do what it thought is fit. About the demands and the agitations for carving out separate states including Telengana, Gorkhaland, Vidarbha, Harit Pradesh, the issue has been a politically ticklish one. Minister for External Affairs, Pranab Mukherjee, had after heading the UPA sub-committee on the issue made clear that the job was complex and not “like instant coffee”. Telengana Rashtriya Samiti, a partner of the UPA Government, has been maintaining that separate Telengana should be carved out of Andhra Pradesh. Moily’s reactions could well have been aimed at pleasing him and most importantly the Telengana people before the General Elections.
Gangtok, Jan. 10: A Kalimpong-based Lepcha organisation has alleged that its members were pelted with stones yesterday by supporters of the ruling 
New Delhi: It has been learnt that the UPA government is close to redrawing state boundaries. It is accepting recommedations of the 2nd state reorganisation commission. A reorganisation of states could mean the most populous state in the country is trifurcated into three separate states. So there may be no Uttar Pradesh any longer. Harit Pradesh from Western Uttar Pradesh, the Avadh area around Lucknow making up central Uttar Pradesh and Purvachal out of eastern Uttar Pradesh.
