A number of eminent intellectuals from
Siliguri have demanded the abrogation of the 1950 Indo-Nepal
Friendship Treaty as a means of restricting border movement
from neighbouring Nepal into Darjeeling and Siliguri. “Passport-visa
system should be introduced and the citizenship rights should
be bestowed upon the genuine Indian Nepalis who had come into
India prior to the signing of the treaty in 1950,” they
demanded. They also expressed apprehension that if the movement
along the border was not regularised through passport-visa
system, the settlers might outnumber the original inhabitants
posing a serious law and order threat in near future for the
hills and the plains in Darjeeling district.
Mr Ashru Kumar Sikdar, an academician and writer, said today
that it was queer that the border between two countries remained
open for years. “It is being used by people from the
neighbouring country to settle in several areas of Darjeeling
district, particularly Siliguri,” he observed.
“The only way to control this problem is to abrogate
the Indo-Nepal Friendship Treaty immediately. The Maoist leader
Prachanda has already demanded revising the treaty in the
changed political context. We cannot understand why the Government
of India is not yet serious about the issue,” Mr Sikdar
wondered.
Incidentally, the external affairs minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee,
who was in Kalimpong to inaugurate a water project recently,
had said in response to Prachanda's demand that India was
open to talks with Nepal.
Another academician from Siliguri Mr Haren Ghosh today said
that if the Centre was not serious about restraining trans-border
movement, law and order problem in the Darjeeling hills as
well as in Siliguri would get aggravated. “The genuine
Indian Nepalis and the settlers after 1950 should be differentiated
and passport-visa system should be introduced along the Nepal
border to check the trans-border movement continuing unabated
for years,” Mr Ghosh stated.
Mr Asoke Hore, the secretary of the newly formed apolitical
platform, Jana Jagaran Mancha, said that Siliguri was fast
becoming a den for the ‘Bhupalis,’ (Bhutanis of
Nepal origin) who had been deported from Bhutan.
“There is evidence that a section of the ‘Bhupalis’
is involved in subversive activities recently unearthed in
Siliguri. We are apprehensive that if the Indo-Nepal Treaty
is not abrogated and human movement across the border is not
subjected to a passport-visa system a much graver law and
order problem may engulf the region,” Mr Hore warned.
Courtesy: The Statesman |
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