NRC: Gorkhas excluded from final list will not appear before Foreigners’ Tribunals

September 22: In a significant development, the Gorkhas residing in Assam who were excluded from the final NRC declared on 31 August, 2019 will not be appearing before the Foreigners’ Tribunals to prove their citizenship as per the NRC guidelines. While addressing a press conference in Guwahati on Sunday, this was declared by Sukhman Muktan, National President of Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangha (BGP).

Addressing newsmen, Sukhman Muktan said that it is an insult for the Gorkhas to be tried in the Foreigners’ Tribunals. He also threatened to file defamation against the system for challenging Gorkhas’ citizenship and Nepali-speaking population being taken to the Tribunals. The Gorkha organization claimed that over 1 lakh people of the community have been excluded from the final NRC.

Nanda Kirati Dewan, BGP National Secretary and Nirmal Kumar Pun, BGP Secretary General said that no Indian Gorkhas should be left out of the NRC. They suggested the state government to form empowered committee to dispose off the cases of Gorkhas excluded from NRC.

The leaders of BGP said that as per the historical and mythological records available with them, they are the original inhabitants of the land and to exclude them from NRC or to send them to Foreigners’ Tribunals to prove their citizenship is an insult to them. Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangha (BGP) is the only registered national organisation of Indian Gorkhas representing around 10.5 millions of Gorkhas with 22 states units and 5 zones including the Northeast zone.

The final NRC list of Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published on 31 August, 2019. Out of a total number of 3,30,27,661 applicants, the names of 3,11,21,004 were included in the final NRC. That means a total of 19,06,657 persons were excluded from the NRC.