Guwahati, November 14: Four prominent Assam Gorkha organizations have joined hands to pursue constitutional rights, political representation and community protection following a joint meeting involving representatives of 26 ethnic communities at Manikumar Subba Bhavan in Paltanbazar, Guwahati, on Friday.
The initiative aims to bring Gorkha organizations together on long-standing community demands. The meeting was jointly organized by the Assam Gorkha Sammelan, All Assam Gorkha Students' Union and Assam Nepali Sahitya Sabha, following a joint call by four organizations, including the Gorkha Parishad.
Representatives of various ethnic and community organizations participated in the discussions, which focused on constitutional issues affecting Gorkhas and the need for collective action to secure their rights in Assam.
Participants stressed the importance of establishing a common platform to pursue long-standing demands and strengthen coordination among different organizations.
The meeting discussed demands for autonomous councils and recognition of the Gorkha community under the Scheduled Tribe (ST), Scheduled Caste (SC) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) categories.
Protection of land and other rights in areas covered under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution also featured prominently in the deliberations.
The meeting adopted resolutions seeking the inclusion of the community in the ST, SC and OBC categories. Participants also called for joint efforts to secure constitutional safeguards and protect the land rights of Gorkhas residing in Sixth Schedule areas.
Assam Gorkha Sammelan Central President Krishna Bhujel said the community continued to face several challenges despite some improvements in its position in recent years.
"We Gorkhas in Assam are indeed a very backward community. Even now, under the chief minister ship of Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, while the outlook towards Gorkhas has changed and we have received certain rights, an environment for us to move forward in an organized manner has still not been created," Bhujel said.
He also expressed concern over the community's limited participation in the state's political structure, particularly the lack of ministerial and parliamentary representation.
"Politically as well, regarding our participation, we haven't received a ministerial berth; we had MPs earlier, but we are being deprived of MPs now such issues certainly exist. At the same time, despite being a protected community, the situation still remains where we have to continuously fight for our rights," he said.
Bhujel said the joint initiative was intended to bring different Gorkha organizations and ethnic communities together to address constitutional and political concerns. He added that the organizations planned to continue engaging with the government and work collectively to pursue their demands.
The participating organizations also expressed their intention to cooperate with the government to ensure that the concerns of the Gorkha community receive due attention.
The meeting marked a collective effort by the participating bodies to advance demands concerning political representation, constitutional recognition, autonomous councils and land protection through a common platform.