The Assam cabinet has decided to not prosecute any Gurkha member under the Citizenship Act, 1955. All the pending cases relating to Gurkhas will also be withdrawn from the Foreigners Tribunal (FTs).
- It will also remove the illegal immigrants or foreigners tag for the Gurkhas who are original inhabitants of Assam and are bona fide Indian citizens.
- The Assam cabinet has also included Gurkhas & 4 other indigenous communities – Ahoms, Morons, Motoks and Chutias as ‘protected classes of persons’ in Sadiya tribal belt of the state.
Issues Faced by Gurkhas
i.Nearly 22,000 Gurkhas in Assam have been marked as D-Voters (Doubtful Voters) in the electoral rolls since 1997.
ii.The members of the Gurkha community were issued summons to appear before FT to prove citizenship, and some members were put in detention centres meant for illegal immigrants under the citizenship law.
iii.The National Register of Citizens (NRC) (list of Indian citizens) taken up in Assam excluded 19.06 lakh persons from the final NRC draft, which included around 1 lakh Gurkhas.
Steps Taken by Government to Sort the Issue
In 2018, MHA stated that the Gurkhas who were Indian citizens at the time of commencement of the Constitution or those who are Indian citizens by birth, or those who have acquired Indian citizenship by registration or Naturalisation in accordance with the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 are not “foreigners”
and therefore, such cases will not be referred to the FTs.
- In July 2021, Assam cabinet notified the Nepali Graziers and Cultivators mentioned in the (Assam Land and Revenue Regulation,1886) as Gorkha Community in Bodoland Territorial Region.
Recent Related News:
i.On May 10, 2021, Himanta Biswa Sarma was sworn in as the 15th Chief Minister of Assam. He replaced Sarbananda Sonowal.
ii.On December 22, 2020, Assam Cabinet headed by Former Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal approved the ‘Assam Official Language Amendment Bill’ for making Bodo (Devanagari script) also known as Boro as an associate official language of the state.
About Assam
Governor – Jagdish Mukhi
National Parks – Manas, Nameri
Wildlife Sanctuaries – Amchang, Barail
