Damber Singh Gurung
Damber Singh Gurung Indian Gorkha in Constituent Assembly
Damber Singh Gurung (डम्बर सिंह गुरुङ) the founder of Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League was a lawyer and a social worker from the Indian Gorkha Community. Born on 23rd January 1900 Babu Damber Singh Gurung revived All India Gorkha League on 15th May 1943 at the then Rink Cinema Hall, Darjeeling under the Presidentship of Rai Saheb Hanjit Dewan. Babu Damber Singh Gurung unanimously elected the President of All India Gorkha League. He is known for representing Indian Gorkha community in the Constituent Assembly of India till his death in 1948. In 1937 he was elected to Bengal Assembly and again with the support of other Congress Legislatures he became the member of Constituent Assembly. He was actively involved in politics for 11 years only but worked hard for the Gorkhas of India. He had very short life. He died of Tuberculosis of 7th April 1948.
Damber Singh Gurung was the only Gorkha in the nation’s Constituent Assembly, which was setup to draft the Constitution of Independent India. Damber Singh Gurung gave numerous speeches on the floor of the Constituent Assembly expressing the problems and aspirations of the Gorkhas all over the nation besides taking active part in the formulation of the Constitution of our motherland. His speeches are of great historic value today and hence, one of his speeches has been reproduced here.
Thursday, the 19th December 1946: The Constituent Assembly of India met in the Constitution Hall, New Delhi, at eleven of the Clock, Mr. Chairman (The Honourable Dr. Rajendra Prasad) in the Chair.
Damber Singh Gurung (Bengal: General): Mr. Chairman, Sir, I stand here today as the only representative of 30 lakhs of Gorkhas permanently domiciled in India. It is 30 lakhs, near about the population of the Sikhs; still I am the solitary representative here in this House. I need not give any introduction as to who these Gorkhas are. They have made themselves sufficiently known to the world by their excellent fighting qualities. It has been proved to the hilt during the last World War No. I and No. II that they are the greatest fighting race in the World.
It is on behalf of these valiant Gorkhas that I, as the President of the All India Gurkha League, wholeheartedly support the Resolution moved by Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru. It is high time that we should take such a strong step. If we adopt the policy of wait and see as has been advocated by Dr. Jayakar and supported by Ambedkar, we will never reach our goal. The Interim Government which is functioning today would not have come into existence if we had adopted that policy. Fortunately these two Doctors are not Doctors in Medicine; otherwise they would have killed the patient by delaying the operation (Laughter). We have waited too long and we should not wait any longer. It will be simply our weakness.
Sir, it has been very often said that the Gorkhas have been the stumbling block on the path to freedom. It may be true if it is viewed from that angle of vision but it must always be remembered that, especially in the Military Department, duty first and duty last, and the discipline is the most essential thing without which no nation can rule. Now in Free India you will ask us to do the same thing as we were asked to do under the British Government, if there be any disrupter of the constitutionally established Government, and you will praise them for maintaining that discipline.
First day (9 December 1946) of the Constituent Assembly.
Sir, the problem of the Gorkhas is quite different. They are scattered throughout India. It is only in the district of Darjeeling and the Province ofAssam that they are concentrated to a certain extent. Their number in these two areas is about 14 lakhs and the rest are scattered throughoutIndia. They are very very backward educationally and economically. Though we were made to do the dirtiest work in India for which we have been even called butchers by Indians; (and) though hundreds and thousand of Gorkha lives were sacrificed to keep the British rule in India and elsewhere, nothing has been done by the British Government so far for the uplift of the Gorkhas. We have been very sadly neglected. Only at the time of war they remember the Gorkhas. It has always been the policy of the British Government to keep us backward and ignorant so that we may be sacrificed any time, anywhere they liked.
The Gorkhas are apprehending (apprehensive) whether the same policy will be followed by the Congress too. There is strong ground for this apprehension. Before the election of Members to the Constituent Assembly, the All India Gurkha League approached the Congress High Command to give adequate representation to the Gorkhas too in the Constitution Assembly but our claim was totally ignored and not a single seat was given for 30 lakhs of Gorkhas, whereas as many as 3 seats were given to the Anglo-Indian whose population is only 1 lakh 42 thousand in India. I do not think that Gorkhas will, any more, tolerate this kind of injustice. I have, very recently been to Nepal, leading a delegation of the All India Gurkha League to His Highness the Maharaja of Nepal and I hope Nepal will not allow any such exploitation of the Gorkhas. Sir, the demand of the Gorkhas is that they must be recognized as a minority community and that they must have adequate representation in the Advisory Committee that is going to be formed. When the Anglo-Indians with only 1 lakh 42 thousand population have been recognized as a minority community, and Scheduled Castes among the Hindus have been recognized as a separate community, I do not see any reason why Gorkhas with 30 lakhs population should not be recognized as such. The Gorkhas whose total population including Nepal is 15 millions shall have to play a very important part in Free India. I request the leaders to consider this very seriously.
Lastly, I would like to say a word, Sir. If Mr. Jinnah thinks himself to be an Indian, I would request him to come to India and settle the differences here, as this is our domestic quarrel. Why should he seek the help of those who kept us in slavery for centuries? I would think that a kick from a brother is more palatable than a hypocrite pat from an outsider. If the major party does not do any justice to the cause of the minorities, we will combine together and revolt and make India a hot bed and I am afraid, the ancient history of India may be repeated. But I must make one point clear, that no minority will support the fantastic claim for Pakistan of Mr. Jinnah. We stand for a United India.
In spite of all this, if Mr. Jinnah goes on throwing the challenge of civil war, I ask the country-men to accept that challenge and let us fight it out. As for the Gorkhas, we will fight along with those who want one India and oppose those who want to divide it
A Letter to Damber Singh Gurung by Netaji Subash Chandra Bose
ALL INDIA CONGRESS COMMITTEE
38/2 Elgin Road, Calcutta
8th August 1938
Dear Mr. Gurung,
I was very glad to have discussions with you regarding the grievances of the Hill people of the District of Darjeeling. The grievances as jotted down by you are just and legitimate, and I think it is the duty of the Government to remedy them. So far as the Congress Party is concerned, I can assure you that we will do our very best to remove these grievances as early as possible. As you are aware Congress Party represents the opinion of the masses. It is therefore, our duty to serve the masses and to redress their just and legitimate grievances. Most the grievances you mentioned are common to the masses in the rest of Bengal. It is our firm belief that not only should these grievances be redressed but we should aslo give special attion to Hillmen in the District of Darjeeling, who from a small minority in the province and who have been suffering from various disabilities and unfortunately are backward in many ways. When the Congress Party is in a position to remedy the above grievances, not only will it undertake that work as speedily as possible but will also see that a special Committee is appointed to investigate the special problems of the Hillmen and report as to how these problems should be solved. In the light of the above remarks, I hope you will have no difficulty in appreciating the attitude of the Congress towards the special problems and grievances of the Hillmen in your District.
Yours sincerely,
Subash Chandra Bose
Ari Bahadur Gurung
Ari Bahadur Gurung - Gorkha who signed the constitution of India
Late Ari Bahadur Gurung, a gorkha who signed the approved copy of the Indian Constitution when it was adopted, hailed from Kalimpong he was the first barrister of Darjeeling hills.Two members of Gorkha community were present in the Constituent Assembly namely Damber Singh Gurung (Bengal:General) and after his death Ari Bahadur Gurung (West Bengal: General). Damber Singh Gurung and Ari Bahadur Gurung were among the founding fathers of the Indian Constitution. They were active participants in the debates of the Constituent Assembly of India. Ari Bahadur, Bar- at-Law from Darjeeling, was one of the signatories during the introduction of the Indian Constitution enumerated by Dr. Baba Sahib Bhim Rao Ambedkar. He was present to sign in the Book of Constitution when it was adopted on 26 November 1949.
On wednesday, the 23rd November 1949 when The Constituent Assembly of India met in the Constitution Hall, New Delhi at Ten of the Clock, Ari Bahadur Gurung said
"With regard to article 3 and 4 read with article 391 of this Constitution, I have some observations to make on West Bengal. As you know, Sir, after the Radcliffe Award the two Districts of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri have been entirely cut off from West Bengal. In view of the defence of the northern frontier of India, this is a matter taht calls for immediate attention of the Government of India. With the imminent fall of the Kuomintang Government in China, Tibet, the next-door neighbour of India, is according to reports, becoming the scene of Communist intrigues. The State of Sikhism and the District of Darjeeling connect Tibet with the Indian Union, and Assam, the eastern-most frontier of the Indian Union, is linked with the rest of India by a narrow strip of land consisting of portions of Darjeeling district and Jalpaiguri. These areas as also the State of Cooch Bihar, in view of their strategic importance need to be strengthened and consolidated.
The Districts of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri which are the northern-most districts of West Bengal have no contiguity with the rest of West Bengal, East Pakistan having come in between. This circumstances gives rise to many administrative inconveniences in ordinary times and more so during a period of emergency. Being a Frontier region such inconveniences if allowed to continue longer are fraught with grave dangers. My object in making this observation with regard to these two districts of West Bengal is this that if we look at the map of India, we find that there is only a narrow strip of land, connecting Bihar with Assam, that is the districts of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri. Pakistan points like a sword towards the heart of India. If there is to be any trouble, unfortunately, God forbid, especially between Pakistan and India, Assam can be isolated within a very short period, the northern parts of Himalayas being inaccessible; and these are the territories that need the immediate attention of the Government."
When Clause three came up for the general discussion the use of the word "backward" led to controversary as the scope of the term had not been adequately defined.Thus, Ari Bahadur Gurung (West Bengal: General) raised the question as to whether the term backward classes" included the three categories of people, namely ST Scheduled Castes and Tribes and one particular class which is not included so far, under the term "backward".
In his opinion it was not desirable that any special provisions granting protection to communities should operate indefinitely and the term backward in the constitution should be defined by the house to avoid future disputes.
Recently "BJP government will set up Ari Bahadur Gurung’s statue in Delhi and Darjeeling" said BJP candidate SS SS Ahluwalia while campaigning for 16th Lok Sabha election in Darjeeling.