People's Democracy

THOUSANDS of Gorkhas who are domiciled in Uttaranchal and particularly in Doon valley, recently staged a big demonstration in state capital Dehradun, at the initiative of the Dehradun committee of CPI(M). The question of threats posed to the Gorkhas by the policies of the BJP government was discussed at the recently held conference of the district unit.

Soon after the recent take-over by the new chief minister, the Uttaranchal government decided that only those Gorkhas would be entitled to a domicile certificate who were born before January 26, 1950 or those whose parents were living in India before 1945. At one stroke, thus, the BJP government put in jeopardy the rights of about 1,00,000 Gorkhas to seek jobs, including recruitment in the army. This happened despite of the fact that thousands of Gorkhas are presently serving in the Indian army and thousands of others are leading a retired life in this state. The BJP government has thus put a question mark on the rights of the very citizens who have given their best, including the lives of their near and dear ones, for the defence of this country.

Here is thus a situation in which people living in Uttaranchal for over two centuries will have to prove their Indian citizenship. It is known that the first group of Gorkhas entered the region in the late 18th century and their regular settlement began since 1815. They proved themselves not merely expert soldiers but expert farmers in the difficult hilly terrain, and today many a farm in Uttaranchal thrives on the labour of these hardy men and women. They are part and parcel of the Uttaranchal society as soldiers, peasants, professionals and working people. Their ancestors colonised the Doon valley and made it habitable at a time it was full of swamps, malaria mosquitoes and wild animals, much before the present ruling elite of the BJP came to settle in the state.

It is indeed an irony that a Haryana-born BJP man could become the first chief minister of the state, while ordinary Gorkha men and women have to prove their nationality, establish their citizenship and prove their right to domicile even after having toiled and sacrificed their all for this country. The CPI(M) leadership has taken up their cause in right earnest and the recent demonstration in support of the Gorkha brothers, in which the Kisan Sabha, DYFI, SFI, JMS and CITU took part, commits the progressive sections of the Uttaranchal society to their just cause. The demonstration showed the CPI(M)’s determination to combat the nefarious designs of the BJP to disrupt the social harmony and people’s brotherhood. The meeting held at the Collectorate was addressed by Narayan Thakur, Anant Akash, Jyoti Thakur, Rama Thapa, Ganga Thapa, Raj Kumar Basnet, Mala Gurung, Dumber Bahadur, Amar Bahadur, Bhandari, Deoli, Purohit, Indu, Sajwan, Master Sher Singh and Lekhraj.

Two months ago, a similar but much more threatening situation was created for the Bengali settlers in Udham Singh Nagar district of the state where they number about 2,00,000. Even the eligible men from the community were denied entry into the police force of the state when the Uttaranchal government started recruitment to the police services of the state. These children of the settlers who were rehabilitated in the state at the time of partition of the country and before 1971, were suddenly told to establish their citizenship and the government denied them domicile certificates. The scheduled castes (SCs) among them were not even considered, and were thus denied yet another affirmative benefit that is ordinarily available to other SCs. By this act, the BJP has created a tremendous sense of insecurity among a very vulnerable section of the population, especially in a district where people had earlier agitated for delinking the district from the state.

The initiative shown by the Rudrapur unit of the SFI in support of the Bengali community, though modest, was commendable. A joint team of the district units of the CPI and CPI(M) visited some sections of the community at Dineshpur, Shakti Farm and Sitarganj. The state units of the two parties condemned the BJP government’s policy and submitted a memorandum to the chief minister. The CPI(M) is committed to defend the Bengali settlers’ citizenship and right to domicile, and award of SC status for those who deserve it.

These attacks on national and linguistic minorities are coming over and above the divisive agenda of the BJP, creating a rift between the hills and the plains people. The police firing on the agitators who were demanding separation of Haridwar from the state, resulting in the death of two persons, reminds one of the brutal and undemocratic nature of the regime. The BJP government and its functionaries have made it a routine to visit RSS programmes, and are allowing the RSS to use government facilities, schools, etc, for its programmes. The appointment of B S Rajput as the vice chancellor of Kumaun University for the third term, ignoring the charges of corruption against him his communal outlook, is violative of the liberal and tolerant traditions of the state. The recent move by a minister to construct a temple on Gun Hills, a famous tourist spot of Mussourie, threatens religious harmony in the state.

Attacks on Christians in remote districts by Hindu Jagaran Manch and VHP are causes for concern; most of the victims are Dalits converted to Christianity. A recent fatwa-type announcement by the VHP, asking the Hindu women to stop using the services of Muslim tailors, etc, are highly condemnable. Having failed to convince the people of the state about its credentials, the BJP is trying to use every divisive card in the ensuing state assembly elections. The failure to respect the sensitivities of the people regarding the name of the state and in deciding the place for its capital, no scheme worth its name for development, failure to settle the issues relating to assets and liabilities with the UP government, venal corruption, repression of teachers and other employees, dismantling of the HMT and IDPL that are the only major public sector units in the state --- all these are creating a situation which only suggests that the countdown for the BJP has begun in Uttaranchal as well.

Not sure of its communal agenda alone, the BJP has now expanded the scope of its divisive game against the religious, linguistic and ethnic minorities in the state. It is seeking to pit the hillmen against the plains people and the Kumaunis against the Garhwalis. Similar divisive slogans are being churned out day in and day out, against many other groups that have been living here. Today they are harassing the Bengalis and Gorkhas; but what will follow next is only a matter of guess. The state committee of the CPI(M) discussed these and other issues recently and will come out with a blueprint of actions soon, at its state conference scheduled to be held on January 1 and 2. The party is in the thick of a struggle to forge a secular and democratic alternative. The pity, however, is that the Congress and some regional formations have completely ignored these issues.