Apropos Parties oppose Terai, Dooars inclusion in Sixth Schedule

 
Just like the political parties of Bengal are not in favour of anything that glimmers of statehood demand for Darjeeling District, a similar instance is being replayed in the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad (ABAVP) demand of Sixth Schedule, advising the latter, that the Sixth Schedule provides self control to a particular community and does not serve the interest of all communities is the spoken words of RSP Jalpaiguri District Secretary, Sunil Banik. The same note was reconfirmed by the statement of CPM Jalpaiguri District Secretary Manik Sanyal advising the Centre’s application of the Sixth Schedule in the North East has not paid much dividend. Forward Bloc State Committee member Prabal Raha and CPI District Secretary Pabitra Bhattacharya toed the same line.  

Last but not the least the Congress District President Biswaranjan Sarkar has addressed out of turn claiming Sixth Schedule maybe the solution of Darjeeling hills but not applicable to the Dooars and Terai, is ambiguous to the point of actually speaking the truth. That is, Darjeeling is provided by the Constitution in featuring statehood in a particular timeframe after the independence probated in 1947 as per the Govt. of India 1935 Act and 1936 Order wherein the right was provided in the provision of the Constitution in 1950 incorporating certain formalities such as the Fifth and Sixth Schedule, Centrally Administered Area (CAA), Union Territory and statehood, and which is in process of implementation in the present period of time pending the outcome of the Fifth Tripartite talks itemized to state formation at the political level., sounds as if Darjeeling people are already there.

However in relation to Dooars Terai the matter is complex in the sense that the area involves Jalpaiguri District which coincidently was following the same path of Darjeeling District included in the Partially Excluded Area in the 1935 Act  and 1936 Order. However this regional identity was withdrawn from Jalpaiguri District denying the entire composed area from application of Partial Exclusion which withdrawal denied the area from future participating in the Constitutional provisions provided for state formation viz.  Sixth Schedule, CAA, Union Territory. This does not mina the matter is closed. In order to effect its former status akin to that applied to Darjeeling District it requires certain population adjustments to raise the number of regional minorities to its former status pre 1935 by re-listing some de-listed tribes to its original significance. It is discovered that denying the Koche, Tibeto-Burman speaking Mongoloid people by converting the designation to caste of the Hindu society is perceived intentional than otherwise considering the incidental effect was Jalpaiguri District as a whole was disabled from the Partially Excluded Area nomenclature. That is the ABVAP is advised to undertake the same route that President GNLF is endeavoring to address the statehood demand by appealing to the Centre to revert back to the 1931 Census when the entire population of the District was considered as All Tribes. The story of how All Tribes, or most of whom were de-listed to non tribes is a issue that requires to be deliberated by both the peoples from the two Districts.

Considering the above circumstances pertaining to 1935 Act and 1936 Order, ABAVP need club their interest with the mutual interest of all the plain based hill peoples (Nepali/Gorkha) to spearhead a joint movement which is seen to be jeopardized by disunity of the two peoples to the advantage of the state. If looked at it from a wider perspection it is in the interest of both the ABAVP and GJMM to close in ranks for a more sustained agitation towards achieving the common goal whether the Sixth Schedule, CAA, Union Territory or even a state provided able to fulfill the Constitutional conditionalities by virtue of amending the other group of populations into the regional minority list.        

Hillman-the Analyst.