GANGTOK: Sikkim health minister Mani Kumar Sharma, on Thursday (February 2), resigned from the state cabinet.
MK Sharma submitted his resignation to Sikkim chief minister PS Tamang.
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Sharma, in his resignation letter, cited ‘inaction’ on part of the current Sikkim government to address the “sentiments of the Sikkimese people seriously” in regards to the “foreigner tag” observation by Supreme Court on judgement dated January 13 this year.
“In view of the honourable Supreme Court’s verdict, the state government has not taken the sentiments of the Sikkimese people seriously and I feel it is not necessary to remain in the state cabinet further,” MK Sharma stated in his resignation letter.
MK Sharma resigned from the post as Sikkim minister for health and family welfare cum information technology.
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Notably, Sikkim witnessed many protests across the state after the Supreme Court, while hearing a case, observed that Sikkimese Nepalis were people of foreign origin.
On January 13, while delivering its verdict on the petition filed by Association of Old Settlers of Sikkim (AOSS), demanding exemption of income tax for the old settlers who had settled in Sikkim before its merger with India on April 26 1975, the apex court had observed that Sikkimese Nepalis were people of foreign origin.
The apex court’s observation terming Sikkimese Nepalis as people of foreign origin triggered an unrest with political parties and several organisations taking out protest rallies.
Meanwhile, the AOSS has stated that it will file a petition in the Supreme Court to expunge words like ‘foreigners’ and ‘migrants’, which were used to describe Sikkimese Nepalis, from the “observation part” of its recent judgement that granted Income Tax exemption to the Sikkimese of Indian origin.