RESOLUTUION ON GORKHALAND IN PARLIAMENT

Text of Private Members Resolution to be moved by Rudy tomorrow ie March 12 in the
Rajya Sabha

SHRI RAJIV PRATAP RUDY to move the following Resolution:—

“Having regard to the fact that—

(i) the State of Andhra Pradesh was formed in the year 1956 after amalgamating Telugu speaking areas and due to wrong policies, some areas remained neglected in the fields of education, employment, irrigation, development, etc.; neglect and backwardness have led to an acute feeling of alienation among the people of the Telangana region, who have been demanding a separate state since 1969;

(ii) Telangana consists of ten districts of Andhra Pradesh, namely, Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Mahboobnagar, Medak, Nalonda, Khammam, Warangal, Karimnagar, Adilabad and Nizamabad, out of which nine districts have been recognized by the Government of India as backward despite the fact that this region houses many natural resources, the benefits of which have failed to reach its people;

(iii) the proposed Gorkhaland area in West Bangal, i.e. Darjeeling District and the adjoining Dooars area which are under Jalpaiguri District were parts of two kingdoms of Sikkim and Bhutan before the advent of the British;

(iv) the Government of India Act, 1919 constituted a Legislative Council for Bengal but Darjeeling had no representation, as it was declared an Excluded Area and outside the purview of the Legislature of the Bengal Presidency;

(v) post Independence, Darjeeling and the Dooars became part of West Bengal as the State Re-organization Commission in 1956 recommended creation of 14 states on linguistic lines;

(vi) the census of 1951 for Darjeeling District projected the Nepali speaking population as a miniscule minority by showing Nepali speaking population only 17% which was actually 66% and thereby denied them a separate state on linguistic lines;

(vii) the Indian Gorkhas having a distinct socio-cultural entity and concentrated in contiguous districts of North Bengal are fighting for the formation of a separate state within the Indian Union in order to preserve, protect and promote their distinct identity;

(viii) the Gorkhas, Bhutias and the Lepchas have a social, cultural and linguistic affinity with the tribals of the Dooras region, i.e. Santhals, Uraons, Mundas, Totas, Rabhas, Mechey and Raj Bangshis and Nepali is their lingua franca and is spoken throughout the region of Dooars;

(ix) the demand, when fulfilled, will ensure the protection of the Gorkha’s distinct socio-cultural identity and will bring them into the mainstream and inculcate a sense of belonging;

(x) the experience of creation of smaller states has been good as in these states administration is smoother and efficient coupled with higher development of the areas that have been neglected, giving the people more access to the Government and reducing the disparity levels between the developed and non-developed areas; and

(xi) there is merit in the demand for separate states of Telangana as well as Gorkhaland as it serves the cause of geographical continuity, conomic viability and administrative convenience, this house, therefore, urges upon the Government to create separate States of Telangana and Gorkhaland with a separate Legislature, Executive and Judiciary in accordance with the Constitution of India.”