GNLF Cadres Arrested for Arson

Kurseong: Five bandh supporters were arrested last night for setting a car on fire on Monday.

Dhiraj Thapa (44), Gautam Lama (40), Kishore Thapa (49), Ranjit Thapa (20) and Mahendra Chettri (24) were produced in the court of the Kurseong subdivisional judicial magistrate and remanded in jail custody.

All five are GNLF supporters and were picked up from Chilauna Dura, below Makaiari Tea Estate, 3km from here. They have been booked under Sections 147, 148 and 307 of the IPC for rioting and attempt to murder. The sections are non-bailable and if proven guilty, the accused may have to serve a sentence of two to 10 years.

The group had also heckled the block development officer (BDO) of Kurseong, Manish Verma, the same day.

People Find Voice

Darjeeling, Nov. 28: Five days of GNLF bandh had crippled the hills but the unrest seems to have stirred the people, who are now ready to come out into the forefront to mobilise public opinion on several issues.

Riding high on the response of over 7,000 residents who turned out for the “peace rally” here yesterday, a group of senior citizens today convened a meeting at Darjeeling Gymkhana Club to concretise the movement.

Students injured in freak car accident

 

Darjeeling: Four students were severely injured today when a Ghoom Jorebungalow Motor Syndicate Taxi they had boarded fell into a ditch near Batasia. The students were returning home after attending the peace rally organized by the citizens of Darjeeling. An elderly lady and five men from Ghoom were among those injured. The injured were immediately rushed to the District Hospital at Darjeeling by local Samaritans and attended upon by the emergency staff. According to Dikchin Lamu a student from St. Joseph’s College, who was the first to be brought to the hospital, the driver while fiddling for coins lost control and inadvertently led the car into a ditch. No charges have been so far made against the driver so far.

Samaritan Anand Pradhan and Rupen Biswakarma who rushed the injured to the Hospital.

Six hrs of relaxation – passes unobserved

Darjeeling: Six hours of relaxation was announced by the GNLF today in order to allow the people to prepare themselves for a long strike ahead. The relaxation that was scheduled from 10 am however, passed unobserved as the market remained closed and the people chose to stay at home. No communication from the Administration was also forthcoming on the suspension of the Section 144.

The strike had been called to demand the arrest of the assailants who attacked and wounded K. B. Gurung, a former DGHC Councillor and GNLF leader.

GNLF ‘party office’ taken over - Ushering in the GJM?

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) today took over a room at Chowk Bazar here that used to be the GNLF’s party office for the Sadar-II constituency till a few months back.

Dinesh Gurung, the president of the GJM’s Sadar town committee, said: “We needed an office for the town committee and today in the presence of central committee leaders we inaugurated this office.”

Bolder than ever

Are we going for a Playboy in Nepalese Language, hopefully not? But all indicators in the industry points out to some thing closer. Adniti Rai, the 21 year old Korean girl fathered by a former Gorkha Brigadier, is set to break all barriers by being the first Nepalese girl to bare it all in the Playboy. “It is prestigious,” says Juan Philmore, Adniti’s agent. “Playboy opens up everything. She is already being approached for movie deals.” When asked, “what should be made of all these?” – Modelling pundits in Nepal lashes out saying, “Adniti is more of a porn actresses then a model. More so she has had no links with modeling in Nepal and being a Korean born it would be interesting to find out whether she even understands how to speak in Nepali.” Ajnish Shrestha seems more defiant in his views. “We want to win the Miss Universe, Miss World titles. We want to work in Hollywood and when someone from our community reaches somewhere near that goal we cry foul. She is a porn actress so on and so forth. When Manisha Koirala went to Bollywood and played in some B-Grade films everyone said that she had sold out. This only shows double standards in our society. I think, if she is cool with what she is doing, then I am all in favour of her.”

The twenty-first century is surely on to us and whether we approve it or not, Nepalese girls are all set to rule and prove themselves. Go, Girls… Go!

Cong support for Gorkhaland

The Telegraph, Darjeeling, Nov. 8: The Darjeeling District (Hill) Congress Committee today made it clear that they would support “regional sentiments” irrespective of the party’s central stand.

This became apparent following a meeting convened today by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and attended by parties opposed to the GNLF including the Congress, BJP, ABGL, CPRM, Trinamul Congress and Gorkha Rastriya Congress.

Gherao by GJMM

KURSEONG, Nov. 8: Opposition to the proposed Sixth Schedule for the Darjeeling hills is growing. Yesterday the newly formed Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha held a symbolic gherao programme of the DGHC headquarters in Darjeeling in opposition of the Sixth Schedule status for the hills and today, the Kurseong Bar Association picked up the queue.

In an emergent meeting held in Kurseong today, the Kurseong Bar Association condemned the Sixth Schedule proposition for the Darjeeling hills. According to the KBA, the Sixth Schedule is not acceptable for the Darjeeling hills. “It goes against the aspiration of the people of the hills, Terai and Dooars,” the KBA secretary Mr Manik Chand Pradhan, said.

The wanning of the GNLF moon?

Photo Feature:

Bimal Gurung starting off the Lal Kothi seize laying rally

Lal Khoti Seize Objectives

The Himalayan Beacon, Darjeeling: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in a document handed over to this paper has issued the following objectives behind the attempted seize of the Lal Kothi:

1. GJM and its supporters will not assault Subash Ghisingh or cause any harm to the property. A response from Subash Ghisingh however, will be demanded as to why he accepted Gorkha Hill Council in 1988, after involving the general populace for 28 months of violent agitation for Gorkhaland.

2. To wake up Subash Ghisingh from his decade old slumber at Lal Kothi and make him aware of the aspirations of the people who quest for the statehood in the form of Gorkhaland under Article 3 of the Indian Constitution.

3. To seek justice form 1200 martyrs of the Gorkhaland Movement.

4. To seek clarification for accepting the Sixth Schedule status for the Darjeeling Hills when 67 per cent of the population are non-tribals.

GJM siege plan nipped by police

The Telegraph, Darjeeling, Nov. 7: Hundreds of supporters of the newly formed Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) today marched towards Lal Kothi as part of the party’s plan to gherao the DGHC’s administrative headquarters.

The protesters were stopped by a police barricade 500m from the headquarters. They returned after GJM leaders promised to come back in the second phase of their agitation programme.

DGHC office gheraoed

KURSEONG, Nov. 7: In a symbolic but significant move, the newly formed Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha “gheraoed” Lal Kothi the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council headquarters in Darjeeling today.

It was symbolic as the gherao programme was confined to a spot about half-a-kilometre from the DGHC headquarters, courtesy the presence of a heavy police contingent. It was symbolic again as the GJMM, which had declared a 15-day siege of the DGHC headquarters starting today, confined its programme for the day only. “We are shelving the rest 14 days in view of Diwali and forthcoming school examinations. The held up two-week agitation would be launched after the examinations,” GJMM chief and breakaway GNLF leader Mr Bimal Gurung claimed later.

Lal Kothi Gherao postponed indefinitely

The Telegraph, Darjeeling, Nov 6: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has altered its plan of laying siege to the Lal Kothi, keeping in mind the Diwali celebrations.

The recently formed party of Bimal Gurung, which has been clamouring for Gorkhaland, will gherao the administrative headquarters of the DGHC in phases.

As planned, the protest will start tomorrow though it will not continue for a stretch of 15 days as announced earlier. “We will lay siege to the building for a day. The gherao for the remaining 14 days will take place after the festival,” said Gurung.

Dowhill Eco Park

Statesman, KURSEONG, Nov. 4: The Deer Park has now been changed to Dowhill Eco Park. An important amusement park, under the Kurseong forest division, it was renovated at a cost of Rs 8 lakh. The park was inaugurated by the Kurseong MLA, Mrs Shanta Chettri, and Mr AK Raha, IFS, principal chief conservator of forests, government of West Bengal.

GNLF calls of 48 hrs bandh

The Statesman, Siliguri: The political temperature in the hills is soaring even as the Gorkha National Liberation Front today retracted from its proposed 48-hour Darjeeling bandh on 6 and 7 November.

According to Mr Indra Narayan Pradhan, president of the GNLF’s Kurseong unit, the bandh has been withdrawn to keep the ensuing festive season free of any trouble. The GNLF had called the 48-hour bandh in the hills of Darjeeling demanding clearing of the Darjeeling Sixth Schedule Bill in the ensuing winter session of the Parliament. The withdrawal of the GNLF bandh has however, given the newly formed rebel party, the Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha, a cause to cheer. Mr Bimal Gurung, a former GNLF leader and the president of the GJMM, termed the development as a victory for his party.

Risky Ride

RISKY RIDE: Despite repeated warnings, vehicles have not budged from carrying an excessive number of passengers like the one in the picture travelling from Sallaghari to Bhaktapur, Wednesday.
Photo: Sabin Tuladhar/TRN

Political Agreement Expected in Nepal!

Kathmandu: Following intensive efforts to find a way out of the present political standoff through outside the parliament meetings with the leaders of the three major political parties, Speaker Subash Nemwang sounded positive about bridging the rift among the parties.

A ray of hope has emerged towards forging an understanding on the differences,” Nemwang told journalists after today’s parliamentary meeting, which postponed the discussions on the Maoist motions till 1:00 p.m. Thursday due to the inadequacy of time.

Subash Ghisingh to be forced to abdicate

“If you think that I have come here with Khukuri to start my dictatorship, then you are wrong. I come here to give voice to the thousands who are voiceless. Lal Kothi is the castle of Ghisingh the undertaker and nothing good ever results from there. Ghisingh must be chased away. Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha was born on the 7th and hence the gheroe of Lal Kothi will commence on the same day lasting for 15 days”, Bimal Gurung, the President of the newly instituted Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha said in an unprecedented political meeting held in Kalimpong. The meeting organized under the chairmanship of Kalyan Dewan was attended by over 5, 000 people most of whom had traveled from different parts of the district. “In the present circumstances, any Councilor may be killed and the accusation levied on me. I might even be personally attacked. All I want to tell those who are planning to kill me is that if you want to do so, then shoot me right here on my brow, else, God knows what will happen of you. GJMM has the capability to take the demand of Gorkhaland to New Delhi and we will do so in a peaceful and democratic way.