The Christian community of the hills and the Terai today submitted a
memorandum to state tribal affairs minister James Kajur, demanding a
separate development board for the Christians since they constitute the
largest minority group in the region.
Christians of all denominations had recently formed the All Christian
Minority Association to spearhead the campaign for the development
board. "We have come to know that the government is on the verge of
forming a development board for the minority communities in the hills.
We demand that a separate board be formed for the Christians since we
are the largest minority group in the region," said Jyotima Subba, the
co-ordinator of the association.
The association claims there are about three lakh Christians in the region.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee during her last visit to Kalimpong in
September last year had said her government was considering forming a
development board for the hill minorities and had in particular taken
the names of Bengalis, Muslims and Biharis. It is, however, not clear if
the state is mulling forming separate boards for different minority
communities or a single body for all of them.
The state government has formed 12 boards for different ethnic and
scheduled caste communities in the hills, but none on the basis of
religion.
Asked why the Christians were demanding a separate board, Subba said a
large number of Christians in the hills and the plains were a deprived
lot and the board was needed to uplift their condition. "Many Christians
have been deprived in many fields. If the government is forming boards
to uplift the condition of other communities, it should also do the same
for the Christians. We can do a lot to uplift the socio-economic
conditions of the deprived Christians through the board," she said.
Kujur, who was here to attend a Christian programme, evaded a direct
response when asked if he would take up the demand with the state
government. "They wanted some suggestions and we discussed them...they
will have to work their way through," he said.(TT)
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