The Politics of Aloo Puree

By Barun Roy

Yesterday, I was asked to attend the GNLF leaders’ including Mr. Subash Ghisingh’s Kriya, a purification ceremony where everyone who were present during the funeral of the deceased have to attend in order to purify their body. Of course, Mr. Subash Ghisingh and Mr. Kumai among others are very much alive, yet the aloo and purees were too good to be denied. Mr. Ghisingh may no longer return back to Darjeeling since, the people have already cremated him and performed his last rites. Was this simply an official GJM sponsored protest? An elaborate gimmick to have scribes pouring in for aloo-puree in favour of a paragraph in the next day’s edition? Or simply an earnest resentment?As I have already owned up being one of the scribes filing in for the aloo-puree, I can be candid that the Kriya was well performed. In fact, staged like a real life drama a couple of people I met seriously believed that ‘The Chairman’ had indeed made way for the ‘where ever he deserved’. A majority thought he was as good as dead and yet a couple munching through the aloo puree carefully whispered that the ‘old man was not that bad anyway’. I did meet a couple of GJM Central Committee Members and asked whether they had tasted the aloo-puree or not. They smiled and murmured, “our people are really creative!” Yet, still claimed that they had nothing to do with it. Hence, not an official protest, I guess.I dared not ask the ladies managing the Kriya because, firstly I did not want to be chased by a group of angry ladies and secondly, I was hoping for a second helping. The ladies seemed dead serious and the more one rejoiced on the King’s Death the more helpings one could hope for. Definitely, a community affair cooked on the ravaging furnace of resentment itself.Yes, there were a couple of us scribes trading aloo puree for a column in our respected papers.[P. S. I was later told that the entire affair was sponsored and organised by GJM Town Committee. I only hope now that instead of organizing the Kriya of all the leaders at the same time, they could do so for one leader at a time. A weekly affair would have been even better. At least the poor folks in the hills could have one score of meal even though it was only Didi’s aloo-puree or Rice cooked together with pulses - khichery!]

Is India Shining - Pinky Pradhan

We celebrated the 59th Indian Republic Day with great patriotism and fervour. At moments, I am sure our eyes must have moistened with pride, while watching the parade and tableau showcasing our achievements. Even days later, the congratulatory mood is still on. Without doubt, India has emerged as a country that no one can overlook. Acknowledged as the next super power, India is proving to be a tough competitor for China over this pageantry. It is noteworthy, that everybody is bringing laurels for this country, which is very good indication that makes the country pride in any way.

The Indian cricket team is at its best form so much so that the rich and famous are investing on it. Indian economy is booming as its GDP has shown improvement which is in good health and politics too is very robust. India also became the proud manufacturer of the world’s smallest car called ‘Nano’ although it has to hit the market as yet and thanks to telecom revolution, Indian villages have gone global. Even Bollywood stars are doing their bit.The disposable income of India is rising phenomenally. India is shining everywhere.  But, let me play a spoilsport and talk about our ‘real’ achievements. This is the same country where poor farmers are committing suicide, defaulters due to the draconian credit reforms. As we celebrate India’s status as a superpower and the achievements of the Mittals, Ambanis and Tata’s, in some place, not far, some poor farmers and their members of  family may be eating the last morsel of their life. Are we even bothered that since 1997, as many as 40,000 farmers have committed suicide due to indebtedness. Have we for a moment even given a thought to this problem and done something so that no other farmer ever needs to take such a step in future? These are the question in which every Indian citizen must ponder and introspect for a while and find answers.It is also very clear, that this country is reeking with violence against women. Incidences of rape, molestation, trafficking, homicide etc are common place.

There is tendency of many Indian people who observe silent when there is incident of woman being raped in broad daylight in moving trains and buzzing streets; groped and molested in open public places, recipients of acid attacks, stripped naked and abused in front of the whole village. Statistics reveal that every hour 18 women become victims of crime in India. According to a 2006 report, released by the Home Ministry’s National Crime Records Bureau, there were 19,348 rapes, 7,618 dowry deaths and 36,617 molestation cases. India is also crippled by poverty. It is quite an irony that in one hand‚ Indian economy has been rated as one of the fastest growing in the world and on the other hand‚ people are surviving on income of less than US $1 a day. Over 400 million people in India live below the above mentioned internationally agreed poverty line.

The problems are further compounded by low literacy rate and lack of adequate health facilities and services. In India, only 66% people are literate (76% men and 54% women). Despite various incentives and educational sops being provided, it is ironical that half of India’s schools still have a leaking roof and have inadequate or no water supply. According to reports, 35% schools don’t have infrastructure such as blackboards and furniture. And close to 90 % have no functioning toilets. This clearly shows that the much touted ‘right to education’ is a farce in reality. The health of India is in an equally abysmal shape. This is reflected in persistent malnourishment of children, very slow reduction in infant mortality and maternal mortality. India today allocates lower than 1% GDP to health.

According to United Nations calculations India’s spending on public health provision, as a share of GDP is the 18^th lowest in the world. Even a cash strapped country like Nepal and Thailand are in better position than India. If there is availability of health infrastructure then it is definitely urban centric. The rural India doesn’t even have access to doctors, nurses and medicines. There are only 585 rural hospitals compared to 985 urban hospitals in the country. Out of the 6,39,729 doctors registered in India, only 67,576 are in the public sector and the rest either in private sectors or abroad, pointing towards the severity of the problem.  

Religious intolerance, racial slur, caste discrimination and deprivation all exists in India. It is a shame that even after so many years of independence; some communities are still fighting for their fundamental rights - be it the Advisasis of Assam, Dalits or Gorkhas. I want to specially mention the plight of Gorkhas in India.Some fraction of this community, is dreaming an unachievable dream. Frustrated with the step motherly attitude and apathy of the Government, they are rising; their once silent voice is demanding a status of statehood for Darjeeling.  Therefore, I think it is not appropriate to celebrate our ornamental achievements duly ignoring our loopholes and lacunas. Lets dare to raise our voice and question the ones at the helm of affairs, how is India shining? Let us stop being rhetoric and make enriched democracy a reality and ensure rights to every Indian citizen irrespective of their caste, creed, gender, language and social status. 

One on one with Madan Tamang!

Sixth Schedule bill has been scrapped as per other source? Please do not talk based on hear-say. Sixth Schedule bill has not been withdrawn completely. Parliament Standing Committee has sent the report mentioning that “Bill be passed but government should know and verify the ground reality before”. The budget session is going for two more months, any time it can be passed based on forged government report. As government representatives consists of CPI(M) and congress candidates.

Do you think that current political activities are heading towards right direction? I do not want to comment. How can I comment when there is no transparency in this Kolkota talk, let the result be public.

Does it make any difference by the resignation of Subash Ghisingh in the political scenario of Darjeeling hills Does it make any differences! The same story being repeated, social boycott being implemented, houses being brunt, people are scared, being threatened…

ABGL and GJMM, they can not get along? Its not child play, it should get along with opinions, mentality. They have started burning houses, social boycott, ultimatum being placed, these are undemocratic gestures, which I never liked of GNLF, if other follows the same thing, and I vehemently oppose it.

You have participated in last All-party meeting called by BJP in Darjeeling, do you see any possibility of Collective leadership? I have already told in Chowk bazaar that it is easy to wake up sleeping person but very difficult to pretending one.

So, we are not prepared for Collective leadership?It is not that we are prepared for, it is not being allowed. But I always insist whether they believe it or not, that’s what I can do, that’s what I foresee. This movement can not reach to destiny because there is no collective leadership, this is what I always say.I was not supposed to participate in that All-party meeting but insisted by everyone on larger peoples’ interest, as hunger strikers were in critical stages and looking at people’s agitation, I had full supports on resolutions adopted by the meeting, which were: to pressurize chief minister and send the delegation to Delhi immediately. Accordingly I went to Delhi but the GJMM and CPRM did not honour the resolutions adopted by All-party meeting.But I am doing my jobs in Delhi, I won’t step back till the Sixth Schedule bill completely scraped. Jorge Furnandes has assured me strongly in this regard. I am also making a document called “Vision Statement”, which states “Gorkhas are not threat and liability to nation, in case of separate state, it will earn revenue for country with its own resources”, It is a compilation of statistic and data, which I am submitting to all central leaders including Prime minister.

How far leaders of Central have understood about the separate state for Gorkhas? The first thing is they do not know where Darjeeling is; forget about politicians even the leading media like NDTV displayed in news footnote caption recently as strike in Darjeeling hills against implementation of Sixth Schedule in Himachal Pradesh.We have not done anything to draw the attention of national media. We think Chowk bazaar is our world.

State slammed over Sixth Schedule

Siliguri, March. 2: With a lull having descended over the Darjeeling Hills following Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha’s withdrawal of agitation the principal opposition party, the Trinamul Congress and the Left Front constituents sharpened the pitch of attack against the state government over the latter’s alleged failure over the Sixth Schedule issue.

While the Trinamul Congress scoffed at the state’s failure to achieve any breakthrough the pri-ncipal Left Front constituents took the state government to task for having beguiled the people of the state for a long time over the paramount political issue of the state.

The leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly and a senior Trinamul Congress leader Mr Partha Chatterjee mo-cked at the ‘fiasco’ over the issue, saying that the inc-ompetence and lack of seriousness on the part of the state government we-re thoroughly exposed wi-th the crucial bill having got into a freezer in the Parliament.

“High-pitched flamboyance notwithstanding the state government has completely lost its face over the issue. The much touted all-party delegation to New Delhi incurring a lot of state expenses has proved mere sound and fury, signifying nothing. There is little possibility for the Sixth Schedule Bill to be passed in the Parliament given the intransigence in the BJP’s stand and the fluid situation in the Hills,” Mr Chatterjee said.

The important Left Front constituents are also unhappy with the state government over the issue. The CPI Darjeeling district secretary Mr Ujjal Chowdhury while endorsing the state’s decision to remove Mr Subash Ghisingh from the chairmanship of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) remarked that the decision was much belated.

“We had demanded Ghisingh’s removal three years ago. The state dillydallied and continued hobnobbing with the GNLF chief,” Mr Chowdhury said.

The RSP Darjeeling district secretary Mr Binoy Chakravarty, however, went a step further, denouncing the state government for having hoodwinked the people long over the Sixth Schedule issue. “We are absolutely convinced that the state government all along had known that the much vaunted Sixth Schedule Bill would never be passed by the Parliament. Still it went on pressing for the bill and continued pampering Mr Ghisingh at the same time. The move has just boomeranged,” Mr Binoy Chakravarty said.

In a similar vein, the Forward Bloc Darjeeling district secretary Mr Smritish Bhattacharya castigated the state government over the Sixth Schedule fiasco, holding the lack of coordination among the Centre, the state and the DGHC administration responsible. [The Statesman]

Gorkhaland back on GNLF agenda

Darjeeling, March 2: The GNLF today passed a resolution to revive the Gorkhaland demand, “taking into account the aspirations of the hill people”.

The resolution, which was adopted by the three GNLF branch committees in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong, however, made it clear that the party had given the go-ahead to the Sixth Schedule bill only after it was clear that the people, too, had wanted it.

“On January 10, 2005, the state government mulled a provision under Article 371 (J). The party and the people rejected this provision following which a memorandum of settlement was signed on December 6 2005 for the special status. At that time, the people were in favour of the demand. However, taking into account the current circumstances and the aspiration of the people, we have decided to demand Gorkhaland,” said Gurung.

Political analysts believe that the GNLF has no option but to raise the statehood demand after the Morcha gained support of the hill people by clamouring for Gorkhaland and stalling the special status bills. The GNLF has, however, not yet announced its agitation plan and has decided to wait for instruction from party chief Subash Ghisingh, who is currently camping in Delhi.

 Ghisingh for Rajya Sabha

 

According to news pouring in the State Government has shown its desire to nominate Subash Ghisingh for the Rajya Sabha seat. Ghisingh and his party have so far made no comments on the same.  

Lengthy welcome for Morcha ‘hero’

Darjeeling, March 2: Bimal Gurung took thrice the normal time to reach Darjeeling from Bagdogra airport yesterday. Today, the hill leader appealed to his supporters to be prepared to tread a long path for Gorkhaland. [Inset: Morcha protesters in Kalimpong after they were discharged from hospital. They had been on fast for11 days. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha]

Thousands of people had lined up along the streets to welcome Gurung’s cavalcade which had started from the airport at 2pm yesterday. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader reached Darjeeling around 11pm and by the time he headed home it was 3am.

Since morning, hundreds of people had been flooding the party head office in Singamari to congratulate Gurung. In an interaction,  he appealed to the people to be ready for a long struggle.

“The path will be long but our goal is Gorkhaland. We must take this movement forward in a democratic and peaceful manner. We have to take into account the livelihood of our people. I appeal to our unit leaders to maintain peace and tranquillity in the hills. The tourist season has just started and people must not be deprived of their livelihood,” said Gurung.

The leader seemed aware that the people were getting used to “instant results”. For the past five months, since its formation, the Morcha has been riding high both in terms of popularity and its success in stalling the Sixth Schedule bill. “But we must be ready for a long struggle as elections (to the DGHC) for us are secondary,” he added.

Gurung reiterated today that Ghisingh would not be allowed to return to the hills.MLA house gheraoed

In Kurseong, hundreds of Morcha supporters gheraoed the house of Santa Chhetri’s father-in-law at Gaurishankar Tea Estate, reports our correspondent. The Kurseong MLA is in Calcutta.

Posted in In Newspapers Today | Tagged: bagdogra, bimal gurung, darjeeling, gaurishankar tea estate, gorkha janmukti morcha, gorkhaland, kurseong, mla, santa chhetri, singamari | No Comments »