The son of Ari Bahadur Gurung, who had represented the Gorkha
community in the Constituent Assembly, today said the family "will be
returning the citation" conferred on him posthumously by the GTA in
protest against Bimal Gurung's alleged disparaging remarks against the
veteran and refusal to tender an apology.
Bimal, the GTA chief executive and the president of the Gorkha
Janmukti Morcha, had allegedly cast aspersions on Damber Singh Gurung
and Ari Bahadur Gurung, both of whom had represented the Gorkhas in the
Constituent Assembly, at a public meeting in Kalimpong on March 30.
"I feel ashamed to call myself a Gurung. Had Ari
Bahadur Gurung and Damber Singh Gurung dedicated something to this land
for our sake, maybe, we wouldn't have been begging like this... I have
to make up for the mistake they made," he had said.
Yesterday, Bimal said his comments were misinterpreted by political rivals and he had always respect for the two veterans.
Udai Gurung, the son of Ari Bahadur and the spokesperson for the
families of both the Gorkha representatives in the Constituent Assembly,
today said in a written statement: "We were highly disappointed by the
stand taken by Bimal Gurung that he was misrepresented and didn't mean
what he said on 30th march 2017 in ward no 4 at Kalimpong."
Udai, a doctor by profession, added: " It is a paradox then that in
the past year Ari Bahadur Gurung has been felicitated twice, 16th
November 2015 and 26th January 2017, then his memory dragged through the
dust by GTA's Chief Executive, Bimal Gurung, twice, first in his
disparaging remarks on the 30th of March and then again on the 5th of
April when he failed to apologise for the hurt he had caused to the
family and supporters of the late Damber Singh Gurung and Ari bahadur
Gurung."
Ari Bahadur's family had been given a citation and a memento on
November 26 last year (Constitution Day) by the GTA in honour of his
contributions.
Udai said the family would return the citation to the GTA.
"In view of his speech and the statement thereafter issued by Bimal
Gurung, the citation given to the Family of Late Ari Bahadur Gurung in
honour of his achievements holds no meaning and value for us. It only
demeans his memory and as a mark of our protest we will be returning the
citation to the GTA," he said.
The families said they would want no further controversy in the
leaders' names. "Let the dead be honoured and allowed to rest in peace,"
Udai added.(TT)
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