Gangtok: The BJP on Tuesday hit out at the Pawan
Kumar Chamling government for proposing to issue pink cards to
the Sikkimese people to preserve their exclusive identity,
which, it said, was against the tenets of the Constitution.
"The Chamling government is deliberately violating the
provisions of the Constitution by segregating the people on
basis of identity cards. The pink ones would go to locals
having Sikkim Subject Certificates and green cards to
non-locals. The process has already begun," Sikkim BJP
president Padam Bahadur Chettri told reporters here.
Describing the SDF's government's move as "dangerous" and
potential threat to unity and integrity of the country, he
urged the Centre to instruct the state government to withdraw
the proposal to issue different identity cards to different
people when all are citizens of India.
The state BJP president said the move has made the
non-locals residents of Sikkim "second class" citizens.
The Chamling government had decided last year to issue
pink identity cards to the local people in order to maintain
their distinct identity and awarded a Rs 98 lakh contract to a
firm for issuing the document to about 3.15 lakh people.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, March 09, 2010, 18:43