Himalayan Times (1954)

May 23, 1954

lfiimaSntjau (Time*

Three

DARJEELING SHOULD REMAIN IN
WEST BENGAL

Darjeeling, May ' 17

The following letter has been
sent to us for publication by
General Secretaries'of the Lepcha
and Blnitia Associations Dar-
jeeling.

In view of the state-
ment issued hy Sri Deo
Prakasb Kai, Secretary,
Gorkba League Darjee-
ling District Committee,
published in the Hindus-
shan Standard, dated 10th
May '5-1 and Himalayan
Times, Kalimpong, we feel
it necessary to make the
following statements to re-
move certain misrepresen-
ta' ions & misnn lerstanding
created as a re-ult of Sri
Rai's statement

The Bhutias and Lep-
chas of Darjeeling, who
are the aboriginal.-, of this
district and to whom the
land originally belonged
had never during the so cal-
led "50 vear long struggle
of the Hill peoples of this
region to live as equal
citizens of India" clamou-
red for the creation of a
"separate state or for mor-
ging of this district with
Assam or with any other
area. We- feel that after
India had achieved inde-
pendence and after the
passing of the new Cons
titution of India and in-

troduction of adult fren-
chise all the citizens of
India are equal and the
so-called "50 year long
strustrle of the hill people
of this region to live as
equal citizens'' virtually
ended and. as such it is
no longer necessary to
continue the ' StuC'GG' -r".

Whatever agitations
were made by various
political parties and croups
in various places and from
time to time after 1947•
for creation of a separate
state of Darjeeling or tor
its merger with Assam or
with anv other state were
done without the consent
and approval of the I ep-
chas and Bhutias in gene-,
ral of Darjeeling.

Considering the pecu-
liar problems of the nor-
thern portion of the State
of West Bengal including
Darjeeling nod aho taking
into consideration the
interests of the Lepchas
and Bhutias of Darieel'ntr.
in particular, and that of
the Hill people in general,
we strongly f -el that for
the pr-^ent the District
of Dirjeeling shou'd con-
tinue to ramain within
the State of West Bengal

It oannot fa' iwover be

A GENEROUS
DONATION

Mrs. Bishnumaya-Pra-
dhan alias Mrs. -Perilpa
Hishey donated to Dukha
.\iwarak Sammelan, Kalim-
pqnff on 5-51 all that
piece and parcel of Khas-
mahal land , (of Do nigra.
Block) measuring about
Ai acres, bounded on the
north and east by Jho'ra,
South by.llhoteydha.ra and
W<-st by IX I. Fund land
together with a woodon
house with C. I. sheets
roofing standing thereon.

The formal transfer
of the land and House'
will be made to a Board
of Trustees consisting of
members duly selected by
her and^cn^bx/.vjution of
a trust "deed

The Dukha Niwarak
Sammelan Kalimpong has
been re-organised recently
under the Presidentship
of SriMuian Kumar fra-
dhan, B a ,i! :., assisted by
the Secretary Sri Tenzing
for rendering humanitarian
services to the needy and
helpless persons of an;'' ■
community. ■ ' ' ' ', •

denied that the hill peo-
ple of Darjeeling right!v
feel neglected in so far
a? their special -difficulties
and papulier pr ib'ems have
not received ' 'ad'et|'ta'te
attenti :n of tie Ceutral
an! the St i'.e" io .'er.tments
and that su;h grievances
should bo re Iressed as
early as possible.