New Delhi (Christian Today) - Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh organized a national council meet and convention, December 18-20, at LTG Auditorium, New Delhi, urging the Indian Government to recognize their contribution towards nation builing and take measures to socially, culturally and intellectually empower the 10 million-strong Gorkha community in India.
Chief Minister of Delhi, Ms.Sheila Dikshit was the chief guest at the convention.Union Minister for Heavy Industries, Santosh Mohan Dev, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs and Northeast Affairs, P.R. Kyndiah and Union Minister for Labour, Oscar Fernandes were amongst those who spoke on the occasion.
Tanka Bahadur Rai, Speaker, Assam Legislative Assembly, inaugurated the convention.
Several academicians and intellectuals spoke on the occasion recognizing the conribution of the Gorkhas towards nation building and supported their claim.
About the Gorkhas in India
Contrary to popular perceptions that the Gorkhas are citizens of Nepal residing in India, Indian Gorkhas have lived for generations in India, the areas which they inhabited having been ceded to the British by regimes in parts of Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim in pre-Independence eras. The Gorkha community, which came with the land and culture, accepted India as the motherland and added to the country's rich diversity. Gorkhas played citizens' role in the Independence movement, with many of them being martyred during the years India fought to free itself from colonial yoke.
