Sikkim BJP Prez to hold meeting with centre over Sikkimese identity row

Guwahati: BJP President DR Thapa will meet with the government at large to discuss the newly passed Finance Bill and its distorting of Sikkimese identity.

He is optimistic that the Central government would address the issue of Sikkimese identity, which is being weakened in a new Finance Act, in the same manner that it has eliminated the label of Nepali immigrants.

State BJP president DR Thapa has the addition of two more groups to the Sikkimese category for income tax exemption in the Budget Act 2023 was in accordance with the Supreme Court’s ruling on the AOSS petition.

Addressing to the media on April 4, Thapa said that this expansion does distort the Sikkimese meaning and weaken Article 371F, and as a result, this issue requires a united front from all political parties.

He asserted that the State BJP will raise the matter with the federal government and the party’s national leadership, and he expressed confidence that a political and legal strategy will lead to a resolution.

The recently approved Finance Bill 2023, which became an Act on March 31, 2023, after being signed by the President of India and published in the Indian Gazette, significantly reduced Sikkim’s safety net.

The leader of the Hamro Sikkim Party (HSP) expressed grave concerns in a press release on the weakening of Article 371F, which safeguards Sikkim’s unique identity.

The HSP claims that the modification fully eliminates Sikkimese’s unique identity by adding two new categories to the definition of the language. A leader of the HSP has charged that the double-engine government’s two parties, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are equally to blame for the weakening of Article 371F.

The SKM MP did not file an application to hang on to this specific provision, the HSP leader claimed, and the BJP Finance Minister allegedly rushed the Finance Bill through Parliament without any discussion.