Response to Nayan Thapa top commentator scholar at St. Joseph’s College. From darjeelingtimes/main-news/general/5902-gorkha-central-force-job-confusion.html It should be interesting for Nayan Thapa to know that Hillman is also an alumni of St. Joseph’s College (1961-65). Hillman acknowledges many thanks to late Rev. Father Pew, who not only taught history but amplified its implication to understanding the human race whose nature, according to him yet unchanged. Therefore the race is still gregarious fundamentally. This information according to his lectures is based on the fact that the two world wars would eventually be followed by the third. He however interjected that it would not be during his time, but in our times or the generation next. That was how interesting his 45 minutes lectures passed away. However Fr. Pew had a profound impression in my mind. Not only that most of his predictions like the ‘ABC’ warfare brevity for atomic, bacterial and chemical is now the norm than an exception. By the way he also referred to the ultimate destruction of the world by the lithium bomb – which radioactive chain reaction would afflict the entire atmosphere. Whether this could be true or not only future events will tell. Anyway that’s so much as a alumini to an alumini. Now getting into explaining your perception why new ‘sub castes’ (which itself is a wrong reference) as the matter on discussion is about ‘tribes’, which is markedly different to the former. The caste is normally referred in context to the Hindu (religio-cultural) hierarchical classification. Nonetheless, once upon a time, the word caste (which linguistic is a Portuguese word pointing the finger at the ‘other’ person) – meant an Indian who were met on their arrival into Indian sub continent. Prior to this context the other foreign invaders discriminated the native people (tribes) who were normally a dark race of people (Hindu is a word for black in Persian). So with the coming of the white invaders the two groups of people were discriminated by ‘Varna’ (colour i.e. the colour of the people – generally meaning the native Indians – the tribes). Though it is said earlier that caste and tribes are different perceptions of the native Indians, it could very well be derived that the castes which name originated from Varna were infact the tribes or truly speaking the indigenous people. However it requires to be understood that even the definition of the general understanding of tribes has two sides to the story. Although the word tribes is yet undifferentiated in India it requires to be recalled that according to the UN recognition, the general word tribe does not necessary include the indigenous people – the autochthones, “who were residing in the land when the invaders came, and were there when the invaders left”. As per the UNO recognition, ‘Adhivasi ‘ ( the collective term for many indigenous people in India ) – is the common word referring to the latter group of people. It is on the basis of this UNO observation and declaration that only the indigenous people of the world have the right to demand self rule i.e., either an internal State within a country as well as an external one outside. These aspects are intentionally mentioned here as a precursor in understanding the relevant question under dispute. That is, there is a marked difference, as a socio-political aspect in identifying the native Gorkhas of Darjeeling District in contrast to the rest of India/Nepal/Britain. Without going into the general discussion as to why the differences exist, it requires to be pointed out that the issue of statehood demand (even Gorkhaland) require to be constructed on legal benchmarks without which the issue is non cognizable. The GTA by the way is a constitutional body unlike the DGHC which was only a fiscal solution without any administrative teeth. The latter therefore required a constitutional amendment in order to establish it. In other words, the DGHC was an unconstitutional body implanted on a constitutional body Darjeeling District with safeguards within the Fifth Schedule (as a Partially Excluded Area). That Darjeeling District is provided safeguard mechanism of the Fifth Schedule in the Constitution is usually unknown to the people and therefore the misunderstanding between the fact and fiction. The entire hill people of Darjeeling District have been allocated special political safeguard since time immemorial i.e. the District was formed in 1866/67 by joining Sikkimese and Bhutanese territory as a distinct administrative unit – in early history of the area referred to as backward areas. This reference in time was enlarged to the constitutional meaning of Backward Tracts since 1870 onwards. Finally in 1935 the Backward Tracts were re-designated as Excluded Areas with implied legal meaning under the 1935 Act as Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas. This is to infer that the people of the District were different from the rest of India as former natives of Sikkim and Bhutan who finally came under the rule of the British Govt. in England and not British India. It is this historical context which differentiates Darjeeling District with rest of India as provided in the Fifth Schedule (i.e. the first part which provides a Tribes Advisory Council-TAC) on basis of which the District was administered under its ambit. It is the TAC safeguard which is now translated as GTA and therefore its constitutional application. It must be remembered however the more important safeguard mechanism ‘Scheduled Area’ is at the moment not applied. This process is currently under formulation as part of the proceedings of the new Census 2011. In which it is anticipated new hill tribes (commonly referred to as Gorkhas) is expected to be listed as Scheduled Tribes under Article 342(1) as specified by the President and Article 342(2) empowering Parliament to make the change. This seems provisional as part of the Report of the Burman Roy Commission (CRESP) 2008 Sikkim, which conditions when applied to Darjeeling District (conferring Scheduled Tribes listing to the hill communities) would eventually allow the District to become a Scheduled Area – the much required criteria for demanding a UT/State which eventually will come about in time – in the very near future, probably along with the time Telangana is created, simultaneously. So the matter is not under the consideration of the general public but directly under the hands of the President of India who is unswervingly responsible for all the areas within the provisions of the Fifth and Sixth Schedules. The conclusion to be arrived is that the political status of the people of Darjeeling District whether Gorkhas or otherwise different to rest of India. That is why it is more akin to the areas of the Northeast people who are provided safeguard within the Sixth Schedule. One must be reminded that Gorkhas as a word was constitutionally accepted only in 1988 in reference to the Gorkhaland Accord after which a Notification was issued by the Govt. of India detailing who is an Indian Gorkha i.e. more as a question of citizen issue then ethnicity. It might be interesting to reproduce a part of an article ref. Darjeelingtimes - post Tuesday 02 October 2012, 11:27. Written by PNS/Dehradun. Quote fifth para “As per a Government of Uttarakhand notification of 2003 the Gorkha Samudai of Uttarakhand was granted OBC status within the State. This was superseded by a Indian Government notification in June 2011 of entry number two in the central list of OBC as stated by Minister of Social Welfare and Empowerment D Napoleon to a question in Rajya Sabha for Uttarakhand. This notification in short States that Gorkhas less Brahmin and Kshatriya are not legible for this empowerment, thus dividing the community. He also added that no advice regarding inclusion of Brahmin and Khatris under Gorkha community from Uttarakhand had been received. Although the entire community suffers from the same infirmities but they have been divided in the classic case of divide and rule”. If according to the above notification the “Gorkhas less Brahmin and Kshatriya” seem to be allocated OBC designation. So the question arises in Darjeeling District if some of the Gorkhas are designated Scheduled Tribes as demanded by GJM to the Centre, (besides the demand for 396 mouzas in the Dooars and Terai) is it possible, if the Uttarkhand scheme is applied then will the Brahmin and Kshatriya be left out from the ST list? This would follow the suit applied in Sikkim where the two communities are in the OBC list including Newar/Pradhan. So with all these different implications go to show that the term Gorkha is still relevant to certain descriptions and therefore does not seem to apply as a generally accepted norm. It is seen in Sikkim that the major hill communities, are not addressed as Gorkhas but as Sikkimese, although categorized into three major divisions for application of social, economical and political status viz. Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes and OBC. It is possible the same yardstick might prevail in Darjeeling District which area formally formed part of Sikkim notwithstanding Kalimpong subdivision was part of Bhutan. It is in this wider frame of constituencies that the term Gorkha require to be applied for general understanding. The Gorkha term maybe used for general application for a socio-cultural, linguistic and economic identification and not for a political namesake as this would involve another perspective i.e. the question of citizenship. In regard to this issue it might be pertinent to point out that the Tripartite Agreement of 1949 signed by Britain, Nepal and India specifically spell out that the Gorkhas as a general rule are committed to the statement, are (i). citizens of Nepal at the time of joining the Gorkha Brigade (ii) during the service period and (iii) after discharge from the services. All these aspects require being fully discussed and transparently placed in order to come to any conclusive regarding the Gorkha specifics. Otherwise many differences such as the present standing one regarding rules concerning relaxation of physical measurements for qualification of the Gorkhas into the Central services regime. 2. In response to Jan Manch, it may be said that the above contents are also in reply to some of his queries. However it would be purposeful to explain that the Northeast is recognised as a tribal area whose rights are safeguarded within the meaning of the Sixth Schedule. Similarly if one realises Darjeeling is in the Fifth Schedule [Article 244(1)] and not the Sixth Schedule [Articles 244(2) & 275(1)] as claimed by none other than the GNLF supremo Subhas Ghissing. The provision of the Fifth Schedule is for the “control and administration of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Areas”. It has already been discussed earlier though Darjeeling District is in the Fifth Schedule, the Schedule Area provision is unmentioned. It is acquiring this important aspect which will eventually confirm the legal right for the District to become a UT/State. It is believed that the GJM demand for ST status for the Gorkhas of Darjeeling District is implied to achieve this goal – the status of a Scheduled Area. It must be realised at the moment, without a Scheduled Area identity the demand for a State is inapplicable and therefore not feasible. This is why the GTA agreement was signed by an office bearer of a political unit, Roshan Giri. However whenever the Scheduled Area criteria is formalised which should then trigger the statehood demand and which thus requires to be signed by the elected representatives of District in the West Bengal Assembly – to confirm the democratic nature of the legal demand. There is a misperception of the GTA by Jan Manch. It is pointed out here, whether one believes it or not, GTA is infact a substitute of the Tribes Advisory Council (TAC) under which Darjeeling District was already confirmed in 1952-54. That is why GTA is an autonomous body under the Constitution, while DGHC was not and therefore the latter required a constitutional amendment in order to establish it within the provisions of the Fifth Schedule. Had GTA been accepted instead of DGHC in 1988, the District could have been a UT/State long time back. However this was not to be for over two decades under the connivance by the past political dispensation of the State with ensured support from the GNLF in the District. However now everything seems to be on track under the GJM who frequently assures that statehood demand is ever present – meaning that whenever the Scheduled Area is granted, the statehood demand would be finally put forward to achieve the goal –UT/State. The fact that Siliguri subdivision has been divided under the IG North Bengal and the Commissioner of Police indicates that territorially Siliguri is divided into two ranges. Infact Siliguri subdivision historically forms with the major part composing territory of Sikkim and a small bulging portion (Siliguri township) of Jalpaiguri District. It is these two areas which are relocated to its former parts to indicate the Sikkimese Terai (Siliguri subdivision) probably is under the Commissionerate (Divisional Commissioner) and not necessarily a Police Commissioner who however may act on behalf of the Divisional Commissioner. The other smaller area of the Siliguri township (formally Jalpaiguri district) is probably under the IG North Bengal. These are however perceptions and therefore require to be discussed and deliberated to its final state. Normally in the Fifth Schedule Areas with Scheduled Areas, Panchayats cannot be introduced unless the Constitution is amended. This was done in 1996 in introducing Panchayats in Fifth Schedule under Panchayat Extension in Scheduled Areas (PESA). However according to various studies PESA too proved to be unsuccessful as a measure of development. It was observed that the States rather extended the hegemony under the Act then delivered the tribals from their predicament. It is often alleged that extreme political activism under the CPM (Maoists) is a result from the non deliverance of the people from social, economical and political liberalism. Similarly in Darjeeling District within the Fifth Schedule but without Scheduled Area, the State Govt. had been playing politics with TAC aspects of the Fifth Schedule without any proper delivery which reached such a focal point – becoming the advent of GNLF as well as GJM political agitations. The latter however till now seems to be in proper footing, and should deliver the goal eventually after the District becoming a Scheduled Area. Jan Manch if believed to be working in tandem with the fulfillment of the peoples dream require to answer this question. Now that the Panchayat elections in West Bengal is about to take place in July, why the Panchayat elections are being withheld in Siliguri subdivision? This is a very pertinent question but a very simple one at that provided one understands the constitutional history of Darjeeling District as a Partially Excluded Area which was extended to the Constitution of India in the Fifth Schedule. 3. Once again replying to Nayan Thapa to his second question it may be realised that no amendments are required either to repeal the DGHC act or the Mahakuma Parishad once the constitutional event (Fifth Schedule) is directly applied. In fact it is when the Fifth Schedule aspect is to be tinkered with scheme outside its considerations, only then a constitutional amendment is required. This is similar instance as the last Article 395 of the Constitution -Repeals.; which automatically close the chapters on various Acts passed before 1947 and more particularly the Act of 1935 which was the groundswell of the foundations of the Constitution of India. The GTA Act is practically a copy of the Seventh Schedule on basis of which features the basic subject blocks constituting a UT/State which should be forthcoming to Darjeeling District soon as discussed earlier. It is on basis of this consideration that in the GTA act there is the provision of the three tier Panchayat system. However as the State is yet to come about this provision is inapplicable for the time being. This inclusion of the three tier Panchayat in the GTA act is self evident to declare that Darjeeling District would soon become a self determined administration under UT/State.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 16:37:29 +0000
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