The Assam government has taken a cabinet decision to notify Nepali graziers and cultivators in Assam Land and Revenue Regulation Act 1886 as ‘indigenous Gorkha community’ in Tribal Belt and blocks of BTR.

Several Gorkha Civil Society Organisation in the Assam, including the state unit of the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh (BGP), has welcomed the cabinet decision and thanked chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Speaking on the decision, Assam BGP secretary & spokesperson Nanda Kirati Dewan said: “Change of Nepali nomenclature in Assam to Gorkha with respect to indigenous Gorkhas was a long-pending demand spearheaded by All Assam Gorkha Students Union (AAGSU) and Gorkha Autonomous Council Demand Committee (GACDC) since 2003 with the demand of creation of satellite Gorkha Autonomous Council. The BGP welcomes the cabinet decision to notify Nepali graziers and cultivators of Assam Land and Revenue Regulation Act 1886 as indigenous Gorkha community in respect to Tribal Belt and Block of BTR.”

Assam minister for welfare of the plain tribes (excluding BTC), Ranoj Pegu, said that it would be notified for Sadiya and also will include the other indigenous communities namely Tai-Ahom, Moran, Matak, Chutia and Gorkha.

“On behalf of the Gorkhas of the state and the nation, Parisangh expresses gratitude and thanks Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Government of Assam for this historic decision. We place it on record that this notification should be extended to other existing tribal belts and blocks being reviewed by the government and also to those which the government is proposing to create like one in Majuli other one in Dhakuwakhana,” Dewan, who is also the president of BGP’s youth wing Bharatiya Gorkha Yuva Parisangh (BhaGoYuP), added.

The Gorkha leader further added that it is historic for Gorkhas battling identity crisis being labelled as foreigner for using Nepali as community nomenclature since ages though vide Gazetted Notification of August 23, 1988, the Government of India had cleared such misconceptions.

Dewan further asserted that by the creation of Gorkha Development Council (GDC) in 2010 under the Welfare of the Plain Tribes (WPT) department, Government of Assam took the “first baby step” to recognize the Nepali/Gorkha Bhasa speaking community as indigenous Gorkhas in Assam. “The present Government of Assam under the dynamic leadership of Himanta Biswa Sarma is taking right decisions on time and giving positive vibes to various indigenous communities of Assam. We look forward to amicably resolve various long pending issues of Gorkhas over the time,” he added.

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