Row Over Monastery Head - Misuse of Hospitality by some Tibetan Refugees

By Norbu TThe row over Monastery head in a nutshell represents the misuse of our hospitality by some of the Tibetan refugees owing allegiance to the Dalai Lama. These people have scant regard for the fundamental right to religion enshrined in our constitution and even in Indian soil behave as if they are still in a Theocratic state of Tibet. It was the Indian Gorkha Bhutias who bear similiar religion and culture to the Tibetans who sympathised with them and welcomed them in Darjeeling when they fled Tibet. Later on some of the Tibetans even misrepresented facts and enrolled as Bhutia Tribe and falsely acquired Indian citizens. They were used to mixing religion with politics in Tibet and tried to practice the same in Secular India even to the extent of ordering Indian monasteries to remove Dorjey Shugden diety while the administration watched haplessly.It was largely due to these people and their activities that the local Darjeelingeys became wary of them and the AAGSU had to openly criticize them. The Indian Gorkha Bhutias also started distancing themselves from the Tibetans. [Inset: Kyabje Domo Geshe Rinpoche
Ngawang Gyalten Jigme Choekyi Wangchuk,  January 22, 1937 - September 10, 2001]

The second Domo Geshe Rimpoche, a Sikkimese had gone to Tibet for studieswhere he was imprisoned in Tibet by the Chinese and later on released largely due to the efforts of the Govt of India on the request and mass signature campaign by the Indian Bhutias of Darjeeling and Bhutias of the then Sikkim ( Protectorate )The Domo Geshe Rimpoch had also been offered monasteries in Darjeeling District by the local Bhutia community. However since the Geshe Rimpoches were also worshipping Dorjey Shugden deity which the Dalai Lama had directed the Tibetan Buddhist community not to worship, relations between Geshe Rimpoche and Dalai Lama soured till the passing away of second Geshe rimpoche at Dungpar Gompa Society, New York. In the maenwhile a Tibetan group owing allegiance to Dalai Lama won over some Lamas at Kalimpong Tharpa Choling monastery, removed the Shugden deity and hurriedly brought a fake Geshe Rimpoche whereas the real third Geshe rimpoche had already been born at Sikkim, India to Sikkimese parents. The extract from the website of the Dungpar Gompa Society regarding Domo Geshe as given below will serve to enlighten readers:

” Kyabje Domo Geshe Rinpoche was born in January 22, 1937, near Gangtok, Sikkim. At age three he was recognized as the reincarnation of Geshe Ngawang Kelsang, Domo Geshe Rinpoche, and was taken to the Dungkar Gonpa (White Conch Monastery) in Chumbi (also called Tomo or Tromo) Valley in southern Tibet. In 1942 he began his studies at Sera Monastery in Lhasa, where he completed his Geshe degree in 1958. In March of 1959, during the Tibetan uprising, Kyabje Domo Geshe Rinpoche was taken prisoner by the Chinese Communists. He remained in prison until 1961, when he was finally released after repeated petitions from the government of India on his behalf. Being exiled from Tibet, Kyabje Domo Geshe Rinpoche moved to Tharpa Choling Monastery, one of the monasteries which the previous Domo Geshe Rinpoche had established in northern India.

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Darjeeling Bar demands filling up of vacancies

DARJEELING, April 1: The Darjeeling Bar Association (DBA) today threatened to take strong action if the five vacant courts out of seven courts of Darjeeling were not filled within a fortnight. “If these posts are not filled by the next fortnight the Bar Association will demonstrate and subsequently observe hunger strike,” stated Mr Amar Lama, president of the Darjeeling Bar Association. The five courts, which include the three additional courts and enjoy both original and appellate jurisdictions, are vacant for the past one year, said the DBA official. “Even the Chief Judicial Magistrate Mr SS Anand was transferred recently rendering the judicial system in Darjeeling inefficient,” Mr Lama, said. “The laxity on the part of the Calcutta High Court, which is responsible for the recruitment of the judges to these courts, has caused the local people to suffer as more than 500 cases are pending in these courts. This is causing delay to the cases of the undertrial prisoners,” said Mr Lama. The Darjeeling Bar Association has sent a resolution to the Registrar of the Calcutta High Court to immediately depute officials to these posts failing which they will take firm action. “We have written to the official concerned and if they fail to do the needful, we shall be compelled to take action,” Mr Lama, said. [The Statesman]

Row over placement in Siliguri Technology Institute

SILIGURI, April 1: Demanding prompt placements through campus interviews, MBA students of the Siliguri Institute of Technology (SIT) today gheraoed the principal and the other teaching staff of the institute for around two hours. There was no major untoward incident except breaking of some windowpanes. RAF and police were posted at the institute as precautionary measure to prevent any untoward incident. The SIT students alleged that the principal was not acting on his words in respect to their placement. “The principal Mr S Das Gupta had assured us that the students would be given prompt placement after successful completion of the course. Now he has backed out, avoiding the placement responsibility. We were, thus, forced to agitate to make our stand clear,” said the agitators.

According to them, the director of SIT Mr Tapas Chatterjee has assured them that the institute would do everything to ensure their placements in substantial companies. “A delegation would leave for Kolkata tomorrow to have talks with the Central Placement Cell affiliated to the Techno India group (TIG). If the talks bear no fruit in respect to our placements we would launch a hunger strike from Thursday,” the agitators, said.
Confirming that a meeting had been slotted between the agitators and the Central Placement Cell, SIT director Mr Tapas Chatterjee said that the institute had no legal compulsion concerning placement of the students. “We assist the students in placement. We cannot be forced to provide placement for all the students. We are here to provide quality education,” Mr Chatterjee added. [The Statesman]

Tibetan Protest - Generation X

Tibetan activists during a protest near Parliament House in New Delhi on Tuesday. - AFP

Money to keep alive wife’s mission

Jaigaon, April 1: The manager of Bagracote Tea Estate yesterday donated Rs 4.4 lakh to the organisation founded by his deceased wife to carry on the mission of providing help to physically challenged people.

“My marriage with Neelam was in 1979. She had always taken a keen interest in helping the physically challenged children of garden workers and provided them with wheel-chairs. She even supported them financially to pursue education,” said Harsh Kumar. [Members of Niswarth make incense sticks. Picture by Subhash Chandra Bose]

Neelam suffered a heart attack in 2005 and was admitted to a private nursing home in Calcutta. “Lying on the hospital bed, our mother formed an organisation, Niswarth, where 49 disabled persons could work to earn their livelihood,” said Karan, with sister Tanvi standing next to him, after yesterday’s brief ceremony.

Class boycott over result row

Siliguri, April 1: Students of North Bengal University’s BBA and BCA courses have decided to boycott classes till April 20 to protest against poor results in first, third and fifth semester exams.

The varsity, too, has suspended all classes, including BBA and BCA, held at the Information Technology Centre “until further notice” citing a breakdown in the law and order situation on the campus. [Inset: BCA students of Siliguri College demonstrate outside the administrative building of the varsity, demanding re-assessment of their answer scripts. A Telegraph picture]

Yesterday, the varsity authorities had promised to re-evaluate the answer scripts of those who had failed after students vandalised the campus as soon as the results were published. The registrar had said the revised results would be published by April 20.

Civic polls in Sikkim on June 11

Gangtok, April 1: The first municipal elections in Sikkim will be held on June 11.

Elections, on the basis of electoral rolls prepared for the Assembly polls, will be held simultaneously in one municipal corporation, four municipal councils and six nagar panchayats, district collector (East) Vishal Chauhan told reporters here today.

The Sikkim government has divided the urban areas into three categories of civic bodies based on population. Gangtok will be the only municipal corporation with 12 wards, while Namchi (South), Gyalshing (West), Mangan (North), the three district headquarters, and Jorethang will get municipal councils. The civic bodies of six towns — Rabongla, Soreng, Rongli, Pakyong, Singtam and Rangpo — will be named nagar panchayats.

In the absence of a municipal body in any of the towns in Sikkim, the state urban development and housing department have been entrusted with civic responsibilities. [The Telegraph

Tibetans praise Bhaichung

Gangtok, April 1: Tibetans living in Bhaichung Bhutia’s home state have hailed his decision to withdraw from the Olympic torch relay to show solidarity with their cause.

“We will be forever indebted and grateful to him for the sacrifice he has made for our cause,” said Zimba Pencho, the president of Tibetan Youth Club here. Bhaichung, who hails from Sikkim, is the first Indian to drop out of the relay, which has been mired in controversy ever since the Chinese crackdown on Tibetan protesters in Lhasa.

“I have heard of Bhaichung and know that he has made a big name in football, but I never had the chance to see him from close quarters. Now, I will definitely try to meet him and thank him personally,” said Sonam Doma, a 57-year-old Tibetan woman.

Drive against illegal taps

Kurseong, April 1: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha-led Kurseong Municipality has started a crackdown on illegal connections in a bid to solve the drinking water scarcity in town.

The newly elected vice-chairman of the civic board, Balaram Chettri, said today that they had already found 105 illegal connections in Tung, 4km from Kurseong, from where drinking water is supplied to the town.

Chettri said the drive against illegal connections would ease the drinking water problem in the town. “In fact, there is no scarcity of drinking water in Kurseong. The scarcity is precipitated by the unauthorised diversion of water to the houses which have not taken connection legally.”

Fourth pool to splash around- SJDA project to be ready by July-end

Siliguri, April 1: Summer promises to be cooler this time with another swimming pool coming up in Siliguri.

The pool, the fourth in town, being constructed by the Siliguri-Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA) will be ready in four months. [Inset: The swimming pool under construction.]

“Construction started in October and we expect it to be complete by the end of July,” said Shankar Roy Choudhury, the superintendent engineer of the SJDA. “The estimated cost of the project is Rs 60 lakh, to be borne equally by the Kanchanjunga Stadium Committee and the SJDA.”

New Met centre to come up - Better forecast in the offing

Siliguri, April 1: In a bid to make a more intensive and elaborate weather forecasting, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has decided to set up a new, larger and modern Met office in Jalpaiguri.

The new centre will integrate the operations of four constituent offices spread across Siliguri and Jalpaiguri. [Inset: The regional Met office in Jalpaiguri. Picture by Biplab Basak]

“To ensure better analysis of data and the forecast based on them, the IMD has decided to upgrade the technology and integrate the operations by bringing all the divisions under one roof,” said T.K. Chakraborty, the director of the regional Met office in Jalpaiguri. The new office will be equipped with sophisticated gadgets.

Archery selection at Kalimpong

A boy at an archery selection meet organised by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Kalimpong on Tuesday. The selected candidates will participate in a competition in Darjeeling on April 12. The best archers will be admitted to SAI, Lebong. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha

Price hike spurs tea theft - Worker-goon nexus hits small gardens

Siliguri, April 1: Small growers have alleged that tealeaves are being removed at night by a section of workers, leading to losses at a time when the price of brew has reached Rs 9-10 per kg from Rs 5-7.

The thefts started around mid-March across Jalpaiguri district. Anil Pal, the owner of Arnab Agro Pvt Ltd in Fatapukur, is one such victim. Two weeks ago, Pal who owns a 30-acre plantation, discovered that around five quintals of green leaves had been clandestinely plucked overnight from his estate. Pal was also abused by two workers on March 19 after he lodged a complaint with Rajganj police. “I suspected their role in the theft and later lodged another diary,” said Pal. The workers have been suspended.

In the past 10-15 days, thefts were reported from at least 100-150 plantations everyday, said a small grower. In each case, the quantity of leaves stolen ranged from 50kg to a quintal and more. “If a grower loses a quintal three-four days a week, his monthly loss is anything between Rs 5,000 and Rs 15,000,” he added.