Women Power on work!

Photos by Rajesh Pradhan and Sunil Pradhan

Lady volunteers of the womens wing of the GJMM on duty at the SDO Office,Kurseong where the hunger strike is in progress.

Prayers in progress for the well being of the hunger strikers.

Muna Hang Subba being offered ‘khada’ by the GJMM supremo Mr.Bimal Gurung while on his way to Kolkata

Gorkha Bill in Delhi - Sixth Schedule on Hold Again!

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RS-LD GORKHA (NATIONAL,BUSINESS,PARLIAMENT,GENERAL)
Created on : 02/28/2008 13:56 (PRI)

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Parliamentary panel puts brakes on Gorkha Hill Council Bill

 

New Delhi, Feb 28 (PTI) A Parliamentary panel today put brakes on the bills seeking to accord special status to Darjeeling hill areas and asked the Government to take a re-look before proceeding further.

After examining the bills, Parliament’s Standing Committee on Home Affairs advised the Home Ministry to have a fresh look at the move.

“The Committee would like to caution and advise the Ministry of Home Affairs to make a fresh assessment of the ground realities all over again before proceeding with the bills in the two Houses of Parliament,” the Committee, headed by BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, said in its report presented to Rajya Sabha.

The bills — Sixth Schedule to the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2007 and the Constitution (107th Amendment) Bill 2007 introduced towards the fag end of the winter session — seek to provide Sixth Schedule status for the Darjeeling Hill areas.

The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution provides special status to certain areas in the North Eastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura in terms of administrative and functional autonomy.

The Committee observed that if the bills had been passed immediately after signing the Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) in December 2005, the situation would have been different because Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) leader Subhas Ghisingh was “the undisputed leader at that time”. MORE PTI SMI MS aps 02281400 DEL

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RS-LD GORKHA TWO (NATIONAL,BUSINESS,PARLIAMENT,GENERAL)
Created on : 02/28/2008 14:29 (PRI)

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The Committee in its 45-page report noted that “diametrically opposite” views have emerged on the bills with one group strongly supporting them and another opposing grant of Sixth Schedule status. It was contended before the Committee that the spirit of the Constitution was being changed by giving such a status to Darjeeling and a new precedent was being set by extending the Schedule to an area beyond the north eastern region, the report said.

It said an apprehension was also expressed that in future it would have to be extended to other areas as the tribal areas of Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar might demand Sixth Schedule status.

There are already such resolutions from Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, the Committee noted and felt that such demand might gain momentum and lead to “opening of Pandora’s Box”.

In the backdrop of Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) demanding immediate ouster of Ghising as the caretaker administrator of the hill council and scrapping of the Sixth Schedule bill, the Committee stated that an “overwhelming majority” of those who appeared before it had asserted time and again that there would be bloodshed in the region if the bills were passed.

The GJM, spearheading the movement in Darjeeling, did not allow Ghising to enter the hills and forced him to go to Kolkata. PTI SMI aps 02281434 DEL

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RS-LD GORKHA THREE LAST (NATIONAL,BUSINESS,PARLIAMENT,DEFENCE)
Created on : 02/28/2008 14:55 (URG)

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(Reopens PAR15) The last election to the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) was held in 1999 and its term, which expired in March 2004, was extended by a year and the term of Ghising has been extended six times.

Recently an all-party delegation of West Bengal MLAs met Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to demand grant of Sixth Schedule status to the Darjeeling hills.

The West Bengal Assembly had adopted a resolution in March 2006 recommending grant of Sixth Schedule status for Darjeeling hill areas.

The main objective of the MoS is to replace the DGHC by an autonomous self-governing council under the Sixth Schedule to fulfil the economic, educational and linguistic aspirations and socio-cultural and ethnic identity of the hill people, while protecting the rights of non-tribals.

The MoS, popularly known as tripartite agreement, was signed by the Centre, West Bengal Government and Ghising, as Administrator of DGHC.

Racing against time in the wake of the agitation for creation of an autonomous self-governing council in Darjeeling, the Centre introduced the concerned bills in the Lok Sabha in November 2007.

The bills were introduced in the backdrop of largescale violence in Darjeeling forcing authorities to call out the army for restoration of peace. PTI SMI aps 02281459 DEL

Contributed by Mr. Bishal Rai, New Delhi

At last - Gorkha MP shouts…

GORKHA-MP
GORKHA-MP (NATIONAL)
Created on : 02/28/2008 17:02 (PRI)
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Darjeeling MP objects to special status to hill areas

New Delhi, Feb 28 (PTI) A Lok Sabha member from Darjeeling today opposed any move by the Centre to give special status to the Gorkha Hill Council.

Congress member Dawa Narbula said the situation in Darjeeling was grave as over 300 people were on hunger strike to protest special status to hill areas by seeking to bring these in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

“The entire hill people are against the Sixth Schedule bill. Considering the sentiments of the hill people, this bill giving special status to the hill areas, should not be brought before Parliament for passage, otherwise the entire hill will be on fire,” he said in a statement.

He said to ensure peace in the hills of Darjeeling district, the Centre should take the initiative to withdraw the Sixth Schedule bill. PTI SMI APS 02281707 DEL

Contributed by Mr. Bishal Rai

Panel puts brakes on Gorkha Hill Council Bill

New Delhi (PTI): A Parliamentary panel on Thursday put brakes on the bills seeking to accord special status to Darjeeling hill areas and asked the Government to take a re-look before proceeding further.

After examining the bills, Parliament’s Standing Committee on Home Affairs advised the Home Ministry to have a fresh look at the move.

“The Committee would like to caution and advise the Ministry of Home Affairs to make a fresh assessment of the ground realities all over again before proceeding with the bills in the two Houses of Parliament,” the Committee, headed by BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, said in its report presented to Rajya Sabha.

Source: The Hindu / The news was shared by Nepalidai

Morcha firm on demands

Feb. 27: The bandh in Darjeeling will continue till the state removes Subash Ghisingh from the post of caretaker administrator of the hill council and the Centre scraps the Sixth Schedule bill, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders said in Calcutta today. [Inset: Ghisingh in Santiniketan on Wednesday. “This is Kalyug,” he said after a guided tour of Visva- Bharati. “What happened in Iraq? What is happening everywhere? Negative,” he said.]

After a 75-minute meeting with chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the Morcha brass said they would stay in the city for a few more days awaiting the government’s response to their demands. “We are happy with today’s discussion. The chief minister said he would discuss our two primary demands with his cabinet colleagues and convey the government’s stand at the earliest,” said Morcha president Bimal Gurung.

“The bandh and the hunger strike (by Morcha supporters in Darjeeling) will continue,” Gurung said.

Asked about the demands, Bhattacharjee said: “We had a detailed discussion but no decision has been taken.”

About Ghisingh, the Morcha president said: “We have heard that he has gone to Santiniketan today, he should remain there.”

Ghisingh has been shut out of Darjeeling since his return from Delhi on February 18. He was holed up in Pintail, on the outskirts of Siliguri, for four days before moving to Calcutta.

Darjeeling hills erupt with statehood demand

Thu, Feb 28 02:40 AM

Santiniketan, West Bengal: The hills of West Bengal have erupted again with the Gorkhas reviving their demand for a separate state.

Leaders of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha have been on a hunger strike in Siliguri, North Bengal, for the past 11 days, and are baying for the blood of Subhas Ghising, who has ruled the Darjeeling hills for over three decades now.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has broken away from the Ghising-led Gorkha National Liberation Front or GNLF and are opposing the implementation of the Sixth Schedule, which will give the region a tribal status.

“We want the provision of the Sixth Schedule for the region annulled immediately. This will lead to internecine clashes here. We also want Ghising to be ousted as the Administrator of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC),” GJM Central Committee leader Vishal Chetri says about his party’s demands.

Life in the hills, meanwhile, has come to a standstill over the past week due to an indefinite bandh called by the Morcha. While occasional relaxations of curfew has hardly managed to ease tension, its impact has now been felt in adjacent Sikkim with tourists having to bear the brunt.

“The taxi-owners and drivers have been facing a lot of problems. The Sikkim Government should take up this issue with the West Bengal Government and find a way out so that the tourism industry does not suffer,” the in-charge of Sikkim National Transport, MM Ramudamu, says.

Hounded out of the trouble-torn hills and acting upon the advice of the West Bengal government, Ghising is at present cooling his heels in Santiniketan. But even as his opponents meet the Bengal Chief Minister with the definite agenda of seeing the end of Ghising’s political supremacy, Tagore’s abode of peace may just fail to provide him necessary solace.

(With Narayan Singh Roy in Siliguri and Mrinal Sarkar in Santiniketan for Yahoo India News and IBN) Contributed by Mr. Bibek Sharma.

Morcha sticks to demands– Indefinite bandh and fast to continue

Talks Fail

Calcutta/Santiniketan, Feb. 27: The indefinite hunger strike and the bandh in the Darjeeling hills will continue till the Bengal government removes Subash Ghisingh from the post of caretaker administrator of the DGHC and the Sixth Schedule bill is scrapped. [Inset: Gurung at Writers’ Buildings. (Sanjay Chattopadhyaya)]

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leadership stuck to this stand after a 75-minute discussion with chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at Writers’ Buildings this evening. The Morcha leaders said they would stay put in the city for a couple of days awaiting the government’s decision.

“We are happy with today’s discussion which went well. We got a good response from the chief minister. He said he would discuss our two primary demands with his cabinet colleagues and convey the government’s stand at the earliest. We are awaiting a speedy decision and will stay in the city for the moment,” said Bimal Gurung, the Morcha president.

“The bandh and the hunger strike will continue till our demands are met. Our supporters who are on indefinite fast have given in writing that they are undertaking the hunger strike wilfully,” Gurung said.

However, Bhattacharjee, while leaving Writers’ Buildings, did not elaborate much. Asked about the Morcha’s twin demands, he said: “We had a detailed discussion, but no decision has been taken as yet.”

About Ghisingh, the Morcha president said: “We have heard that he has gone to Santiniketan today. He should remain there.”

Ghisingh has been shut out of Darjeeling since his return from Delhi on February 18. Morcha supporters set up road blockades to prevent his entry to the hills. He was holed up in Pintail, on the outskirts of Siliguri, for four days before he shifted to Calcutta.

However, for the present, the demand for Gorkhaland does not seem to top the Morcha priority list. “We do not want to talk about it now,” Gurung said.

At Santiniketan, around 180km from Calcutta, where he was on a three-hour visit, Ghisingh described the Morcha leader’s movement as “negative”.

“This is Kaliyug. What happened in Iraq? What is happening everywhere? Negative.”

He said the new council to be formed once the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution is amended would have more power. The standing committee on home affairs is expected to submit its report on the special status for Darjeeling in Parliament tomorrow. “The bill will be passed in a day or two and the situation in the hills will become normal,” said Ghisingh.

Asked if he would sit for a discussion with Gurung on the Sixth Schedule status, Ghisingh said: “I am not involved in all this (the dispute over the special status) It is something between the state, Centre and those opposing it. The state government should handle it.”

Ghisingh said he had come to Santiniketan as a tourist. “I also visited Belur Math, a place I never saw before. I will go back to Darjeeling in a day or two.” [The Telegraph]