PLEASE SHARE Hillman’s response to the Lok Sabha proceedings, List of Questions for ORAL ANSWERS on August 27, 2103/Bhadrapada 5, 1935 (Saka) tabled by Shri Sansuma Khunggur Bwiswmuthiary and Shri R. Thamaraiselvan. Will the Ministry of Home Affairs be pleased to state: (a). Whether the govt. proposes to create more states like Bodoland, Gorkhaland,Vidarbha, Bundelkhand etc on the lines of the proposed creation of Telangana state Hillman’s Ans: Except Gorkhaland and Telangana the other demands have no legal standing in the current context ( on the lines of the proposed creation of Telangana state). The Act of 1935 has determined the areas within the meaning of the Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas which incorporated in the Constitution of India as a provision of the Sixth and Fifth Schedules respectively. This is the constitutional guarantee required for new state formation. Telangana and Gorkhaland is legally provided with the implication of the Fifth Schedule (Scheduled Tribes & Scheduled Area), both of which Telangana already is provided. While in the case of Gorkhaland only Scheduled Tribes (Tribes Advisory Council, of the Fifth Schedule) is applicable, however the second provision Scheduled Area which forms the legal basis of statehood demand is in process of being completed by the impacts of the Roy Burman Commission (CRESP) Report 2008 Sikkim which duly requires to be forwarded in Census 2011for implementation. (b). if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor Hillman’s Ans: Both Telangana and Gorkhaland are based on the constitutional legality provided by the Scheduled Area aspects of the Fifth Schedule. Telangana demand was announced, however Gorkhaland is pending due recognition as Scheduled Area (Census 2011). Only after which it confirms the right to the demand and formal press statement in time. However the demand of Darjeeling District for creating Gorkhaland is also a certainty. (c). whether there is any proposal to set up a new State Reorganisation Commission to deal with the said issues, Hillman’s Ans: Setting up an SRC for Telangana does not seem a necessity as the area is already delineated with clear geophysical boundaries with the remaining Andhra Pradesh. However an SRC seems a requisite considering the fact that Darjeeling District boundary is incomplete without the inclusion of the subdivision of Siliguri which is presently outside the boundary of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). Therefore to set the District boundaries pre 1988 when only the three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong were included in DGHC area. This alienation of Darjeeling District, removing Siliguri subdivision outside DGHC was a ploy by the then Govt. at the time to bifurcate the District at its will, though this is not possible legally as the territory of Darjeeling District is constitutionally not negotiable nor transferable from the point of view of legal implications which is equally to be departed at the court of law. The State cannot deny this inevitability. The inclusion of Siliguri subdivision is a legality which the SRC requires to account for in consideration of the fact that the political unit spearheading the democratic agitation for the demand has in no uncertain terms implied the inclusion of 396 mouzas of the Terai and the Dooars in the draft memorandum submitted to the Centre in demanding a State invoking Article 3. Citing this article alone is sufficient without providing the legality (which of course is the Fifth Schedule) already understood by the Centre and frankly speaking no doubt by the State as well. The latter has been debunking the rights of the Darjeeling hill peoples since long and which is now exposed by the Centre on its own to preserve the dignity of the President who intends to uphold the Constitution to its legal end – by creating a separate state out of the District of Darjeeling in West Bengal. (d). if so, the details thereof ? Hillman’s Ans: The SRC implication arises out of the consideration of the delineation of Darjeeling District into two territorial units which once again require to be reverted back to the territory of Darjeeling District as a whole without an inch to spare. On the contrary there is a distinct possibility, Siliguri town which originally part of Jalpaiguri District may also be attached to Darjeeling District (Gorkhaland or whatever name suitable at the time) as a matter of convenience then legality. The SRC has to legally confirm the territorial boundaries of Gorkhaland. III.Response to “Government rules out creation of more states ’ – The Hindu PTS/27 August 2013. This writer begs to differ from the point of view wherein the Minister of State for Home R.P.N.Singh informing the Lok Sabha said no such proposal (to create new states like Bodoland, Gorkhaland Vidarbha or Bundelkhand on the lines of the proposed Telangana state) are under consideration. Although the statement is more political then defining legal limitations, it might be true in account of Bodoland, Vidarbha and Bundelkhand which do not possess any legal background to their statehood demand. However the demand for Gorkhaland is genuine and legally based (Scheduled Area aspect of the Fifth Schedule) that is pending confirmation of being declared as a Scheduled Area vide the application of Sikkim State to confer Scheduled Tribes listing to a constellation of hill communities who were left out in Census 1941-2001. These left out tribes(Census 1931) is necessarily projected to be included in Census 2011 which is based exactly on the same criteria in identifying the population as in 1931 – on ethnology. This is the understanding which relates to the fact that with the inclusion of the new list of ST, Darjeeling District will be provided the right to be declared as a Scheduled Area. The rest is simple deduction. The Scheduled Area will provide the legality of the District to demand placing their right for effective implementation – statehood or its lieu (UT). IV: Response to GJMM chief might be toying with ides of hills’ merger with Sikkim posted by kalimpongnews.net on August 28, 2013. The statement “something else other than Gorkhaland” by Bimal Gurung may have been made account of the exasperation accounted by the arrest of 10 GTA Sabha members besides 800 GJM activists, no doubt psychologically inflicting on the mind, hence the outburst. Therefore the suggestion of merger with greater Nepal is preposterous and already denied in the writing itself.Even the idea of merger with Sikkim is no doubt a conceptual imagination for the ordinary thinking mind but this is contrary to the belief that it holds no water at this moment of time. As Darjeeling District is provided the legal guarantee to demand a State within the provisions of the Fifth Schedule subject to acquiring the Scheduled Area aspect which already explained above is now on the pending list awaiting implementation. Therefore both the suggestions, implication of greater Nepal or with Sikkim is highly improbable, as all aspects of statehood demand is required to fulfill the legal bounds and not figments of wild imaginations. author: hillmantheanalyst@gmail
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 13:34:00 +0000
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