Apex committee want 12 BL MLAs to respond to the September 19 letter
GANGTOK, November 02: The Sikkim Bhutia Lepcha Apex Committee (SIBLAC) has expressed felicitations and gratitude to all its supporters for their participation in the recently concluded Panchayat poll.
Terming the supporter’s participation as “under protest”, the apex committee in a recently issued press release has stated that the protest was called on the eve of the poll as a protest against the “State Government’s gross failure to provide seat reservation to the Bhutia Lepchas (BL) in the Panchayat body despite existing constitutional provisions under Article 371 F, its repeated submissions, representations and memorandums to the State Government.”
The release has also expressed shock over the “studded silence maintained by the 12 ruling insensible BL MLAs over the BL seat reservation in both the Panchayat and Municipalities in the State” and has at the same time reiterated that the 12 ruling BL MLAs should respond to the SIBLAC’s September 19 letter by sustaining their clarification on the issue in the most responsible manner without any delay.”
Stressing that the issue addressed in the said letter is rather grave and concerns the political existence and political identity, rights and protection of BLs of Sikkimese origin, the organisation has said that the 12 BL MLAs cannot evade their responsibility by simply ignoring the letter as a mere “hide and seek game”.
Though the Panchayat poll is over, the issue pertaining to the BL seat reservation in the local bodies according to a SIBLAC release is not over and is closely watched by the BL mass. It further says that the BL mass are waiting for the response of the 12 ruling BL MLAs to the SIBLAC’s September 19 letter.
