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“By opening Amra Bangali are they trying for Greater Bangladesh” Bimal Gurung

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In Bhutan, Tibetan refugees yearn to join protests

Choden, an 82-year-old Tibetan exile, prays in her wooden cabin in Hongtsho near the Bhutanese capital of Thimpu March 23, 2008. In a remote corner of the Himalayas, a small Tibetan refugee community felt helpless as it watched protests erupt all over the world against Chinese rule in their homeland. For in the tiny Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan, ethnically, culturally and linguistically close to its giant northern neighbour Tibet, demonstrations are not allowed. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan (Reuters)

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By Simon Denyer

HONGTSHO, Bhutan (Reuters) - In a remote corner of the Himalayas, a small Tibetan refugee community felt helpless as it watched protests erupt all over the world against Chinese rule in their homeland. For in the tiny Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan, ethnically, culturally and linguistically close to its giant northern neighbor Tibet, demonstrations are not allowed. Young Tibetans were even reluctant to give their names for fear of trouble.

“We want to demonstrate but we don’t have the right to, and that is very bad for us,” said a 24-year-old who gave her name as Tenzing. “If we could, people would know that Tibet belongs to Tibetans.”

Sixty years ago, Tibet and Bhutan were both reclusive feudal societies virtually shut to the outside world, under absolute rulers viewed as close to Buddha in most people’s eyes.

But after Tibet was swallowed up by China, Bhutan befriended India and embarked on a gradual path of modernization and opening up that culminated in last week’s parliamentary elections, ending a century of royal rule and ushering in democracy.

Despite the advances, Bhutan remains a tightly controlled society where criticism of the elite, let alone protests, is almost unheard of.

Chattrey undershadow with the raising of Gorkahland demand

Gangtok: With the raising of the demand of Gorkhaland and removal of Subash Ghising from DGHC, Chattrey Subba, the forefront leader and the stalwart supporter of Gorkhaland is under shadow. Chattrey Subba according to his family source is languishing in the jail for seven years without any judicial trial. He is accused for attacking Ghising. Ghising was attacked at Tinghumti near Kurseong while coming from Delhi. Along with Mr. Chattrey Subba five other members Mr. Gunjoy Lama(Kurseong),Mr. Saran Dewan(Kurseong), Mr. Bijoy Chettri(Kalimpong), Mr. Kumar Chettri( Chitrey) and Mr. Shyam Karki( Malli) are also kept in Jalpaiguri Central Jail.Some stakeholders say that it is the opportune moment to demand the early disposal of Chattrey case along with the raising the demand of Gorkhaland. They say that Chattrey Subba was the first person who dared to take on Ghising and his councilor by issuing threat letters to quit their post in order to stop the atrocities of Ghising.

A royal twist

With his involvement and interest in many socio-political affairs, the fifth royal monarch of Bhutan has an interesting background. Swaati Chaudhury takes a peek into his past

A new dawn of democracy has risen in the Land of the Thunder Dragon with the Fifth King, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the eldest son of the Fourth King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck. A peek into the early life of the Fifth King reveals that he had an impressive academic track record.

With a short stint in early schooling in Bhutan, the Fifth King began his tryst with higher studies and graduated from Cushing Academy and Wheaton College in the United States. He took to Foreign Service Programme from Magdalen College at Oxford University and earned an M Phil degree in politics. To hone his defence and administrative skills, the new king also joined the National Defence College, New Delhi and US-based Kennedy School of Governance.

Bred in an ambience of traditional Bhutanese environment, he attended the royal court of his father. With an immense exposure to the regal traditions, culture of the land and the realities of the country tucked under his belt, today the Fifth King is a confident national figure who has taken over the monarch as the Fifth Druk Gyalpo of the Himalayan kingdom. The coronation ceremony will be held next year. The Fifth King has been the recipient of an honorary degree of Doctor of Law from the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton in Canada. In addition to this, Bangkok’s Rangsit University has awarded him an honorary doctorate degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics that reveals his significant contributions in the verticals of leadership, wisdom and developmental strategies for upgrading the quality of lives of citizens.

Tibetans organise protest rally

SILIGURI, March 31: Thousands of Tibetans and their Buddhist sympathisers today took to the streets of Siliguri to protest against the latest spate of Chinese suppression in Tibet. The protesters took out a huge rally from Mallaguri More in Siliguri towards the afternoon and marched along the busy Air View More-Venus More-Bidhan Road-Pakurtala More to assemble at Baghajatin Park, where a public meeting was held later.

The West Bengal and Sikkim sub-committee of the Tibetan Solidarity Movement, a body supported by the Tibetan Government-in-exile, organised the protest march on a five point charter of demands, which include – sending a fact-finding international delegation to Lhasa for an impartial inquiry into the 14 March massacre, allowing ‘free’ media to report the incidents at the Tibet capital, immediate medical assistance for the victims of 14 March massacre, release of all Tibetans detained during the latest uprising in Lhasa and allow free movements of people to and from Tibet. According to Mr Tsetan of the organising committee, today’s protest march was to mount international pressure on China to come clear on the 14 March massacre at Lhasa and stop suppressing democratic activities in Tibet. At the same time, the protesters want that the Indian government to take a solid stand against the Chinese military exercise in Tibet.
As per a rough estimation, there are about 7,000 Tibetans in North-east and north Bengal, of which a sizeable chunk reside in the districts of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri. There are also a number of Tibetan monasteries in and around Siliguri, the gateway of north Bengal. [The Statesman]

GJMM expected to attend GCDP rally in April

COOCH BEHAR, March 31: The Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha leadership is expected to return a compliment to the Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party by being present in a GCDP organised rally in Cooch Behar in April. The date of the proposed rally is yet to be finalised. The GCDP leadership along with the Kamtapur Progressive Party leadership had met the GJMM chief Mr Bimal Gurung on 27 March in Darjeeling. Both sides had pledged to support the other in their respective statehood movement.

The GCDP held an executive committee meeting in Cooch Behar on Sunday to discuss the GJMM’s participation in the proposed rally in April. The proposed rally would be held in support of their demand for carving a separate Greater Cooch Behar state out of north Bengal. The date of the rally would be finalised after discussions with the GJMM leadership, GCDP sources said. It was learnt that GCDP also discussed its campaign strategy for the upcoming three tier panchayat elections in the Sunday meeting. The GCDP will contest the rural polls also and try to field candidates in all the seats in Cooch Behar district. Confirming the information, the GCDP president Mr Ashutosh Barma said that the GJMM leader Mr Bimal Gurung is expected to attend their public rally in the month of April. “The date of the rally would be finalised after talks with the GJMM leadership,” he added. [The Statesman]

New chemical substances invented

RAJPUR, March 31: The city people nourish a common perception that great minds can be products of the cities only. But history bears testimony to the rise to the prominence of people like Raja Rammohan Roy and DL Roy, who originally belong to the districts.
The same legacy is continuing uninterrupted with an ex-Professsor Sunirmal Roy ~ hailing from the South 24-Parganas. Prof Roy has invented a few chemical compounds.
Sixty-three-year-old Prof Roy, who taught mathematics at the Presidency college, has invented thirty five new laws in different branches of science. On 23 March, he declared another revolutionary discovery during a Press conference at Rajpur.
Benzene is known to be the only chemical compound comprising six carbon and six hydrogen molecules. But Prof Roy came up with the fact that more than four hundred compounds could be made with the same quantities of carbon and hydrogen.
This theory was published in Mathemetica journal in Europe. With the discovery of a new compound Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy created a great sensation in the scientific world. Applying these new compounds in medical science would mark the beginning of a new revolution.

Printing errors puzzle HS examinees

KOLKATA, March 31: Printing errors in the mathematics paper left Higher Secondary examinees baffled today. Students found it difficult to solve Question no 4 (a) (ii) in Group D as the question did not mention the term ‘co-efficient of’. The question was on arithmetic progression and examinees were asked to find the value of ‘r’. “The question turned to be a misleading one without the term. The sum is difficult be solve unless the coefficient is taken into consideration,” said Mr Jyotish Chandra Ray, mathematics teacher, Sanskrit Collegiate School. The question carried three marks. The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, however, seemed oblivious about this mistake. “We have not received any such complaints,” said Mr Debasis Sarkar, council secretary. 

Another prominent error was that the constant of integration ~ +C ~ was not mentioned in some questions. For instance, question no 1 (f) of Group A, carrying one mark, and question no 3 (c) (i), carrying two marks, did not have the constant of integration. “The mistake however did not pose any problem to students as they were able to solve the questions even without the constant,” said Mr Ray.

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Siliguri to get second fire station next week

Siliguri, March 31: The second fire station for Siliguri subdivision constructed at Matigara in Paribahan Nagar will start functioning next week. The long awaited station will cater for the areas which were developed in the recent years.

Subhash Maitra, the station officer of the Siliguri fire, said Pratim Chatterjee, the Bengal minister of fire service, would inaugurate the new one. [Inset: The new fire station at Matigara.]

Residents of Matigara, Shibmandir, Bagdogra, Champasari and the North Bengal University area will be benefited by the new fire station. They now depend on Siliguri, which is about 15km away from Matigara.

In the past couple of years, these areas witnessed a lot of growth with the construction of a new township and a residential complex. A number of central and sate government offices also came up at Paribahan Nagar.

‘Siliguri DM’ stamps papers

Darjeeling, March 31: For almost a year, vehicles registered in Siliguri have been carrying documents signed by the “district magistrate (DM) of Siliguri” and while the mistake is being attributed to a “printing error”, the issue threatens to snowball into a major controversy.

The motor vehicles department in Siliguri had issued a number of Form 23 for registration stamped by the erroneous seal. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which has been demanding that Siliguri be made part of the proposed Gorkhaland, sees a bigger game plan in the error. The party feels that certain outfits in the plains are determined to make the subdivision a district rather than be considered part of a new state.

“If this is a mistake, it is of a very sensitive nature. The error coincides with the demand to create a separate district out of the plains area. We will never allow this to happen as Siliguri is part of our proposed Gorkhaland,” said Amar Lama, a central committee member of the Morcha.

The Telegraph is in possession of one such registration certificate issued to a vehicle owner in May 2007. Sources maintain that a fortnight ago even traffic officials of Darjeeling were “confused” on seeing Siliguri papers bearing such a stamp.

Rajesh Pandey, the district magistrate of Darjeeling, has ordered that the seal be removed immediately. “It was a mistake and should not have taken place. I have issued orders to the department concerned to rectify the error at the earliest,” he said.

Rajen Sundas, the assistant regional transport officer of Siliguri, said the joint secretary (transport) has been informed about the mistake so that there are no more printing errors. The officials, however, could not immediately recollect the number of papers that have been erroneously stamped.

D.S. Bomzon, the spokesperson for the CPRM, an anti-GNLF party in the hills, spoke on similar lines as the Morcha and said those responsible for the mistake should be booked. [The Telegraph | Vivek Chhetri]

Students on rampage at NBU over results

Siliguri, March 31: Students of the Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Computer Application of North Bengal University (NBU) vandalised the IT Centre located on its campus after they scored low marks in the examinations.

The students belonging to first, third and fifth semesters alleged that they fared badly in the exams, the results of which were announced today, because Techno India Group (TIG), which runs the courses, did not provide them with enough faculty.

The glass panels inside the centre, which was set up by the TIG a little more than five years ago to run the two courses, and the lights on its veranda were broken by the students.

“The results of all the semesters were bad. Only two of the 50 first semester students managed to pass the courses. While 23 students will have to re-attend the semesters, the rest will have to appear for supplementary exams,” said an agitating student.

“The institution, which charges exorbitant fees for admissions, does not provide us with enough teachers. Besides, classes are irregular,” said the student.

NBU registrar Dilip Kumar Sarkar said failed candidates’ answer scripts would be reviewed by a separate set of examiners and the results would be declared by April 20. He, along with inspector of colleges Subrata Sanyal, had earlier visited the centre.

A police team from Matigara station also reached the spot to prevent a major flare-up at the institution.

T.K. Chatterjee, the director of the TIG, said they would find out why so many students failed in the exams. “But this is not the way for students to behave. There is a provision for reassessment under NBU system of examination and the students can avail of it,” said Chatterjee. He added that damage to the property would be compensated by way of deduction from the students’ caution deposits.

The TIG official denied the charge that the students were not given proper faculty at the institution. “They are levelling all these allegations out of anger. We provide the best in terms of faculty and infrastructure.”

The students submitted a memorandum to the university authorities.

Row over monastery head – Who is the chosen one?

Pedong, March 31: The aborted ceremonial enthronement of a rimpoche at the Gaden Chholing Gumba almost led to a clash between two factions of Tibetan Buddhists here today.

Trouble began when about 300 followers of Lobsang Jigme Wangchuk, a four-and-half-year-old child monk, arrived here, about 22km from Kalimpong, from different parts of the hills and sought to enter the gumba (monastery) to enthrone him as the third incarnation of Domogeshi Rimpoche, the head of the Tharpacholing monasteries. [Inset: Monks protest against Wangchuk’s entry to the monastery. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha]

The rival faction of Domogeshi’s followers, who had sought a stay order from the Kalimpong court on March 25, put up a blockade and did not allow Wangchuk backers to enter the monastery. Bound by the court order, the administration, too, used its resources to stop their entry to the monastery.

Both the factions belong to the same Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

“We formed a wall as the supporters of the rival faction came within 10 metres of each other near the Pedong ground en route to the monastery. Otherwise, things could have gone out of hand,” said K.B. Dorji, Kalimpong’s additional superintendent of police.

Wangchuk backers, however, alleged that Nawang Lobsang, the person who had approached the court for a stay, was a fictitious person and not a resident of Pedong, as claimed in the court affidavit. “The stay order has been obtained by misrepresentation and we will challenge it,” said Tenzing Bhutia, the assistant secretary of Ghoom-Darjeeling monastery.

Blackout scare in heat spell in entire Bengal

Durgapur, March 31: Bengal is likely to reel under power cuts in scorching April and May despite power minister Mrinal Banerjee’s promise that the summer of 2008 will be power cut-free.

Power department officials said the main reason for the impending crisis was the delay in full-scale generation by the new units that were scheduled to start running last year itself.

“We hope the situation will improve after the new units at Sagardighi, Santaldih, Bakreswar and Durgapur begin generation in full swing,” the minister said after opening a 300MW Durgapur Projects Ltd (DPL) unit today.

However, “full-swing” operation at none of the plants is likely to begin before June.

The evening peak-hour demand this summer has be-en estimated at 4,700MW, over 500MW more than last year.

According to a West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company official, Calcutta is likely experience a 100MW shortfall everyday. That roughly translates into an hour’s power cut on any given day.

The situation is likely to turn worse if the central power suppliers such as the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) scale down supply.

In the districts, the shortfall is expected to hover around 300MW during the evening peak hour.

The best hope of relief could be in prayers for Nor’westers.

“They are a blessing,” an official said. “The storm and rain pull down temperatures and bring down the demand for power.”

This evening, for example, CESC had expected a shortfall of 100MW in Calcutta and its adjoining areas.

After a squall, the deficit was less than 20MW and there was hardly any power cut, an official said.

The government had announced in 2006 that there would be a capacity addition of 1570MW by May 2007. Among the new units were two 210MW units in Bakreswar, a 250MW unit at Santaldih, two 300MW units at Sagardighi and a 300MW unit at DPL.

Among these, three units at Sagardighi, Santaldih, and Bakreswar have started generation but on a very low scale.

Bhaichung leaves torch team – Football captain cites sympathy for Tibetans

Gangtok, March 31: Bhaichung Bhutia has got the Tibetan cause on the score-sheet, becoming the first Indian to drop out of the Olympic torch relay.

The national football captain took the decision on his own, unasked by Tibetan protesters, who had requested actor Aamir Khan to withdraw from the April 17 relay in New Delhi. Aamir has not replied.

“I sympathise with the Tibetans and their cause. I have sent a letter to the IOA (Indian Olympic Association) refusing to carry the torch,” Bhaichung said.

Association president Suresh Kalmadi had faxed a letter to the Mohun Bagan skipper about three weeks ago, inviting him to participate in the relay. Red-faced IOA officials refused comment this evening.

“I have learned from someone that Bhutia has turned down our invitation,” association secretary-general Randhir Singh said. “Since we haven’t received any letter from him, I would not like to comment on it.”

Bhaichung’s home state, Sikkim, has a large population of Tibetan exiles. Last week, Tibetan youths from the Northeast had marched to Rangpo on the Sikkim-Bengal border, looking to enter Tibet through Nathu-la, before being dissuaded by the Dalai Lama.

Tibetan youth bodies opposing the Games, who had sent the appeal to Aamir, were surprised and overjoyed at Bhaichung’s decision.

“We welcome it. It will encourage others like (veteran athlete) P.T. Usha and Aamir Khan,” Tibetan Youth Congress president Tsewang Rigzin said.

“It’s a good surprise,” said Tenzin Thoedon, campaign co-ordinator, Students for a Free Tibet India. “Bhaichung is an icon for young Indians. I am proud that he declined the offer for the sake of Tibetans.”

The Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile, which supports the Games being held in Beijing, reacted cautiously.

“If Bhaichung Bhutia took this decision for the plight of Tibetans in China, human rights in particular, the Central Tibetan Administration welcomes it. But if the decision is (against) the Olympic Games, we have nothing to say,” said Thubten Samphel, spokesperson for the government-in-exile.

The India leg of the 130-day, 31-nation relay will start from the Red Fort and end at India Gate wrapped in a blanket of security.

Beijing had recently threatened to cancel the Delhi event after Tibetan protesters scaled its embassy walls, drawing Indian assurances of watertight security on April 17. Some 10,000 police are expected to line the torch route; the Chinese embassy has already been ringed with barbed wire coils.

A meeting of officials from the Union home ministry, Delhi government, police, intelligence agencies and the IOA today decided to raise the security for the relay to the level of Republic Day and Independence Day, sources said.