Sikkim Health Minister Sharma resigned; Foreigner tag row

Gangtok: Sikkim Health Minister Mani Kumar Sharma resigned from the state cabinet on Thursday (February 2).

MK Sharma submitted his resignation to Sikkim Chief Minister PS Tamang.
In his resignation letter, Sharma cited the ‘inaction’ of the present Sikkim government to “seriously address the sentiments of the people of Sikkim” regarding the observation of the “foreigner tag” on the Supreme Court’s judgment on January 13 this year. ‘ referred to.
“In view of the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, the state government has not taken the sentiments of the people of Sikkim seriously and I feel it is not necessary to continue in the state cabinet,” MK Sharma said in his resignation letter.
MK Sharma resigned from the post of Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Information Technology of Sikkim.

Notably, Sikkim saw several protests across the state when the Supreme Court, while hearing a case, said that Sikkimese Nepalis were people of foreign origin.
On 13 January, delivering its judgment on a petition filed by the Association of Old Settlers of Sikkim (AOSS), exemption from income tax for old settlers who settled in Sikkim before its merger with India on 26 April 1975. While demanding, the Supreme Court had observed that the Sikkimese Nepalis were people of foreign origin.
The Supreme Court’s observation, declaring the Sikkimese Nepalis as people of foreign origin, sparked unrest with political parties and several organizations taking out protest rallies.

Meanwhile, the AOSS has said it will file a petition in the Supreme Court to exclude words like ‘foreigner’ and ‘refugee’, which were used for Sikkimese Nepalis, in its recent judgment. from the “Observed Section” of, which sanctioned the Income-tax. Exemption to Sikkimese of Indian origin.