Collective efforts pitched for tribal status of left-out communities

DARJEELING,: Sikkim Legislative Assembly Deputy Speaker Raj Kumari Thapa on Sunday said that if Sikkim and the people living in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration area worked together then their demand for tribal status for the different communities would become a possibility.

Thapa was addressing the Mangar Maha Adhiveshan held here by the Mangar Sangh Bharat at Gorkha Ranga Manch in Darjeeling.

“Today I felt that being a daughter of a Mangar I should also feel proud of it which I do. It is also my responsibility to promote and preserve my language and culture. I am a daughter of a Mangar and got married in the Gurung community and there are a lot of things that are similar between the two,” said the Deputy Speaker.

“I have come from Sikkim today and we have a difference in the political scenario and ideologies of the two places. We do not intervene in it as it is of two different areas, but we are neighbors with some of my family also living in Darjeeling. We have a relationship with each other along with respect,” she said. She added that it was the people of Darjeeling and Sikkim together with other Nepali speaking people in the country that had fought for the Constitutional recognition of Nepali language.

Thapa also highlighted the recent step taken by the Sikkim government for using Nepali language also in official communication in the State and lauded the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration’s initiative to do the same in their area.

“We had worked together for the recognition of Nepali language and it became a reality. We might come from different sides of the border but now one of the main demands we should raise together is that of tribal status of 11 communities. In Sikkim we have a demand of tribal status for 12 communities for which our Sikkim CM is serious and is working towards it,” said Thapa. She maintained that the Sikkim Chief Minister has also given directions to hold a meeting with the Darjeeling side to come out with points and work together on this matter.

“We feel that if we work together for the demand of tribal status it will be a possibility. During the time when tribal status was given to the Limbu and Tamang community we had also worked together and it turned into a reality,” she added.

Thapa mentioned that there were several Mangar language teachers in Sikkim at present and if the community here wanted such teachers to teach Mangar language to children then the Sikkim government was ready to provide help in this.

Today a rally was also held in Darjeeling with a cultural program also performed there as part of the Maha Adhiveshan.