Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Binay Tamang on Saturday said he had written to the President, Prime Minister and the chief ministers of states other than Bengal stating that the countrywide protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the NRC had become “the yardstick of people’s overwhelming sentiment”.

Tamang also said that the passing of the CAA in Parliament was an indicator of “brute majoritarianism” that goes against the letter and spirit “of our Constitution and the idea of India”.

Tamang said in a written statement to the media: “The CAA, passed in haste, is an indicator of brute majoritarianism which goes against the letter and spirit of our Constitution and the idea of India. It is a clear sign of the things to come and the hidden agenda of the BJP government.”

The Tamang faction of the Morcha, which organised protest rallies in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Mirik on Friday, has said that Gorkhas living across India are concerned over the CAA and the NRC.

“The letter also mentions how the Gorkhas living across India are concerned both over the CAA and the NRC, which have far-reaching adverse consequences. In the last week we saw some ignorant MPs and leaders saying that Gorkhas are ‘outsiders’, foreigners, intruders and ‘ghuspeties’. So to strengthen our cause and to prove that we are genuine citizens of India who came with the soil, we strongly oppose both the CAA and the NRC,” Tamang’s statement said.

The Morcha leader said he had raised the following points in his letter:

⚫ The withdrawal and repeal of the CAA as it is divisive. As the act proposes to confer citizenship to only certain religious communities, and not Muslim refugees, from three countries, it is discriminatory.

l The districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong (Gorkhakland Territorial Administration areas) should be exempted from the provisions of the CAA as has been done in the case of the Bodoland and Karbi Anglong Autonomous Councils.

⚫ The NRC has added to the worry of the Gorkhas as the NRC exercise in Assam has been a bitter experience for them. Over 1 lakh Gorkhas in Assam have been classified as “D” voters and their fate is undecided. The NRC exercise is to detect and deport illegal immigrants. “But we Gorkhas have always stressed on the fact that we came with the land. So if the government declares the Gorkhas as ‘original inhabitants’ and lists them as a ‘protected class’, the Gorkhas would be free of all the hardships.”

⚫The Morcha has demanded that the Inner-Line Permit be re- introduced for Siliguri, Darjeeling, Kalimpong and the Dooars as it will be a strong tool for checking infiltration and also be the ideal solution to protect the interests of the Gorkhas.

Tamang has mentioned in the letter that the Gorkhas have been a victim of “drastic demographic change” and highlighted that while the community had been in a majority in the Terai at one time, it had been reduced to a minority.

“So we fear that if the government of India forcefully implements the CAA, the refugees will be settled in the Gorkha-dominated areas of the (Darjeeling) hills, Terai and Dooars, making the Gorkhas a minority like in the case of the Terai region,” Tamang’s media statement said.