Mukesh Sharma

Kalimpong, 17th Jan

The coming of CM to Darjeeling hills has ignited a new feeling to the tribe who were asking for the Development Board similar to that of Lepcha which was formed Last August. After her last visit and the ending of Third phase of Gorkhaland Agitation The politically acclimatized hills had a new issue to catch the eyes of the people. After Tamangs Limbu Sherpa Last wont only the Bhutia community raised the demand of a development council on the similar lines to the Lepcha Development council (LDC).

Kalimpong which has been the centre point for all the tribe to raise Council Demand excluding the Sherpa’s. Just a few days left for the Tamangs convention at Mirik in which CM is taking part the hill tribe are sending a message to the Government for their demand. Yesterday Rai community hit the streets demanding ST statutes and today a round 500 Bhutia from Different parts of Kalimpong, under the ambit of Bhutia Welfare Joint Action Forum today submitted a memorandum to the Kalimpong SDO demanding a similar independent Board. The community today took out rally in Kalimpong town which started from the Mela ground, encircled the town with Slogan of ‘ We want B.D.C (Bhutia  Development Board) and ended
at the SDO office submitting the Memorandum to the CM Mamata Banerjee through SDO Kalimpong .

 “Like Lepchas we are also the oldest tribal community and natives tribes in the hills. When Lepchas and Bhutia was granted the status of ST in 1950 together Lepcha were given the privilege, why not we get
the same privilege at par,” said Sonam Wangdi Bhutia advisor of the Forum. Adding He said that the community is also reeling under tremendous footfall in terms of socio economic and even political
development and upliftment.Wangdi told that we are the original inhabitants but the Last D.G.H.C
and G.T.A administration has neglected our political Rights in hills.

Sonam T bhutia Secretary of the forum claimed that they had been demanding the formation of the board since 2008. The Bhutia community leader have met the Cm with this demand last October in Kolkatta and Submitted a memorandum in demand of the council after which we got a positive response from her added Bhutia who informed that again this time we have applied for a appointment with the CM to keep our demand.He claimed that over 1.5 lakh Bhutias reside in the hills and their culture, tradition and language are different from the others.

In the Memorandum Forum has mention that the Native tribes of Darjeeling are bhutia and lepchas who were in majority till the time of British Era but after the signing of Indo – Nepal Treaty in 1950 and India’s Open Border Policy with Nepal, the native tribes were reduced to negligible mionority. Further it read that the Indian Constitution,190, Article 366,24and 25 dated 10.8.1950 had granted ST status ot only 2 tribe of Darjeeling Hills i,e The Bhutia and Lepchas.
Out of 40 S/T tribes in the entire state only 9 communities population jointly share to little more than 90% of the total St population out of which Bhutia is one which proves that the Bhutia community is one
of the major Tribal community of the State. They have also mention that over 80% of the bhutia community are farmers who lives in remote villages and most of them being illiterate.

The formation of Lepcha Development Council (LDC) last February has already seen a tug of war between the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and the Bengal chief minister Mamata Bannerjee. While the Morcha wanted such council under GTA despite Bimal Gurung, the GJM supremo sketching the formation as a ploy to ‘divide and rule’ the Gorkha community in the larger interest to baffle the Gorkhaland agitation, Mamata had formed the council under the state backward class department. The GJM however has chosen to remain tighlip over the issue and has issued no official comments in this regard. Instead the party has demanded a
tribe status for all the Gorkha communities minus the scheduled caste community of the hills during the Last tripartite meet.