#GORKHALAND AND MY DESIRE TO LIVE WITH DIGNITY - Is it too much to ask?

#GORKHALAND AND MY DESIRE TO LIVE WITH DIGNITY - Is it too much to ask?

Writes: Laxmi Sah Thakuri

As I grew up, I have learned more from life. I have seen and experienced from each day that passed. I always thought this “world is mine” and that we all are members of this larger community, But with each day I lived, I came to know how different people are, how people distinguish themselves based on the colour of their skin, how people have different way of living… Some are called Tribes, some are called Dravidians, Aryans and some are called Mongoloids...

But no one seems to feel that we are all a “creation of God”.

Today I see the indifference among the people; I see the boundaries in the world. The whole world is divided into small parts where people live, But are known to be different. Different places, Different habits and even difference in the language they speak - Americans, Australians, Chinese, Japanese, Indian etc…

In that one small part of the globe I live, and that small part is known as "India". It is my country as I have known, but still I don't find a place where I can feel free because people are further divided by the appearance and the language they speak...

Someone is called a Marathi as he lives in Maharashtra. Someone is called a Bihari as he lives in Bihar. Someone is called a Manipuri, he lives in Manipur and so on.

So many places, So many different names but why?

I live in India, and I have a voters card which every adult Indian citizen has, I have an Aadhar card which every Indian citizen has, I have a ration card and I get the same facilities from the government of India which every citizen of India gets

But I am not free…

Why?

My mother tongue is Nepali and it got appreciated by the constitution of India on 20th August 1992, but I don't have a state of my own, I ask why?

When every state in India belongs to the people of different language, different tradition, why not me?

Why is it that, I have no state of my own to live? When I also have a different language, when I have a different tradition, why I am considered to be from Nepal? Why are the people who share my tradition, my culture are suppressed and labeled as being from Nepal?

We all know that Nepal is a different country, we all are aware of the fact that people of Nepal are called Nepalese so why I am considered to be a Nepali and not an Indian? When I have no relation to that foreign land, other than our linguistic and cultural ties? Ask me how it feels when people call me a Nepali – from Nepal? I feel like an alien, I feel so sad, so helpless...

I have a certificate from the west Bengal government stating that I belong to the “Gorkha Community"

But why do people call me Nepali, every time I ask for my rights?

Ask how it feels if you call a person from Muslim community as Pakistani?

Will it make any sense?

No, because that person will be hurt. Will it make you feel comfortable to hurt someone’s sentiments?

No, because every individual has his or her own dignity, there is no happiness, no joy in hurting someone else's sentiments.

Maharashtra and Gujarat used to be a single state, it split into two different states on 1st of May 1960, because of the two different languages that people speak 1. Gujarati 2. Marathi.

I live in west Bengal and people here speak in “Bengali” and I speak in “Nepali” But why haven't I yet got a state of my own? Is my demand a wrong desire?? Or is my demand right?? Because whatever I saw and learnt is people are distinguished and differentiated on the basis of the language they speak, when people who speak different language have their own state why can't I?

When Mary Kom from Manipur wins gold medal for India in Olympic,s every single person from all the 29 state celebrated with joy from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Gujarat to Shilong each and every citizen of India was happy and proud of her. When Indian cricket team wins world cup each and every person from all over the country comes together to celebrate and gets the feeling of united “we the Indians”, No one says I am a Marathi, No one says I am a Punjabi, No one says I am a Gujarati, But everyone says I am an Indian and everyone has the same feeling of patriotism.

When a rape case occurs in Delhi, every citizen of India prays for the victim and when Kashmir faces problems, there is not a single person who isn’t worried about it, all over the country from all different state people demonstrate their emotions and support through candle march etc...

So why don’t I get my freedom? When dividing into different state does not affect anyone's identity, when division of being in different state, speaking different language cannot affect our sentiments, why can't I desire to be free?

I am a Gorkha, I have my own language, and I have my own tradition, WHY am I labeled as being from Nepal every time I ask for a state of my own?

Let me give you an example - we have our another neighbor country “Bangladesh”, and they are called Bangladeshi and their national language is Bengali, Even people of my state “west Bengal” speak “Bengali”, so why don’t we call them Bangladeshi? When you all can call me Nepali?

If you want me to live free, then erase all the lines of divisions, erase all the social circumstances that has divided you and me, erase the feeling of you and me and let's build a better India where we can live in harmony

And that won’t be possible unless you grant me my basic right… a state of our own to govern and prosper in.