GOVERNMENT OF SIKKIM UNABLE TO PROTECT THE PILGRIMS

PILGRIMAGE IN SIKKIM MORE UN SAFE THAN JAMMU KASHMIR

A Report by Rabden Rongkup

The indigenous Lepchas of Sikkim, Darjeeling and adjourning areas who had started off their pilgrimage to Dzongu in North Sikkim from Kalimpong Teesta Beni on the 14^th April 08,were forced to return back on the 16^th April 08, The 14^th evening the pilgrimage comprising of 650 people they were anticipated in an hostile atmosphere ,all the shops were closed and their earlier booked resting place Bihari bhawn were locked, 15^th April the planned route which was via Gangtok to Kavi to put their offerings on historical place of the treaty of brotherhood was diverted towards Dikchu, as section 144 had been issued in Gangtok .

Mr D Lepcha the President of ‘Rong Ong Progzum’ The Lepcha youth wing said “The tense atmosphere was deliberately created by the Government of Sikkim, it was all orchestrated , on bottle filled with petrol was thrown towards the truck carrying the luggage of the pilgrims in which the superintendent of Police himself walking with the pilgrims could not find the culprit . on the 16^th April 08 it was informed that the people inside the Dzongu were resisting us from entering inside while there were 30 to 40 people shouting from the other side in which a huge battalion of police force from various ranks were just standing and watching , we were forced to leave with the pretext of artificially created situation”

Map of Darjeeling Tract inside the Kingdom of Sikkim

Contributed by Rabden Rongkup

One of the most revealing map of the History, the Darjeeling Tract which was given to the East India Company is seen for the first time inside the true stretch of the Sikkimese Kingdom

Shedding Light on True History

By Rabden Rongkup

Toy Train - Bad day in the office!

A comment worth a thousand comments!

Hemant: After sixty three years of the occupation of the Dajeeling by the British, there was a report called as Terai Settlement 1898 that deals with the classification, occupation, settlement of the land road, hat, bazaar , climate, ethnic composition etc of “the plain portion of the district of Darjeeling locally known as the Darjeeling Terai” that is siliguri and its periphery of today. The Terai Settlement Report 1898, as per the then available record contains caste wise population as follows :-

1. Bhuimali and Mehter 1079
2. Bhutia 422
3. Brahman 630
4. Damai 108
5. Gharto 229
6. Gurung 1916
7. Kaibarta 329
8. Kami 630
9. Khambu 2773
10. Kachh 11,133
11. Lepcha 1024
12. Limbo 524
13. Mgar 1347
14. Munda 255
15. Murmi 1002
16. Newar 507
17. Oraon 4632
18. Rajput 514
19. Sarki 151
20. Sunur 101
21. Yakha 54
22. Buna 1270
23. Shaik 6301

These castes belongs to Nepali(Gorkha) and Adivasi community and they had formed the population of the Terai at the end of the nineteenth century.

But with the passage of time the dominat population has become minority and the community which were not in sigh at the time of preparation of the Report of Terai Settlement in 1898 has become majority and also the ruling community…..

Shree Kirateshwar Shiva Temple (Mandir), Legshep

I remember driving down through the enchanted tea gardens of North Tukver and Singla, contemplating deep inside my hollow self whether my mother had survived or not. Every time my mobile rung struggling inside my trouser pocket like an agitated fish, I silently closed my eyes and prayed, “Lord, please protect her, save her.” On the fateful month of January 2007, when the world celebrated a new year, I fought my way through emotions to reach Legshep, to prostrate myself before the Supreme Lord Kirateswara and beg for my mother’s life. My mother herself, in coma for more than a week, at the intensive care unit at Mitra’s Clinic in Siliguri was on the verge of losing her struggle for survivable. It was certainly, the gloomiest day of my life. We lost our direction, had to change tires and ultimately the car itself. I was wrecked but on advice of a friend’s mother some how found strength to carry on. I was heartbroken when I reached the temple but suddenly I felt relieved and at peace. It was as if some one had placed his hand on my shoulder and given me hope. Deep inside I was convinced that nothing would happen to my mother. We performed puja and at the end of the puja and prayers, I received a call from my father saying that Mom was now doing well and that there was nothing to worry about.

My faith in the temple and my reverence of the Lord changed my life for ever so can yours be, after you visit Shree Kirateshwar Shiva Temple (Mandir) at Legshep. In fact, there are many whose lives have changed miraculously and the divine aura of the temple upon the sacred banks of the Rangeet at Legshep grown over the years. Today, it attracts thousands of devotees from all over the world. The hallowed ‘Shiva Linga’ (the revered mark of Lord Shiva), the main idol of the sanctum sanctorum is believed to have originated ages ago lying revealed and concealed by the receding and growing waters of the Rangeet. Once there used to be a cowshed upon the flat of the bank and cattle grazed on the delicious green in the vicinity. The story goes that sometime in 1918 a cowherd had dreamt of the presence of the ‘Linga’ and was guided to revere it to usher in prosperity. The following morning he had searched and located it upon the base of an old ‘Duneri’ tree. Soon the neighbours had collected and prayers had begun. As time went by, news of the holy spot had spread and devotees flocked in to worship. Meanwhile the cattle had flourished and the people had prospered. Later a fair came to be held where people congregated to sing ‘Kirtans’.

Silgarhi (Siliguri) – A Land of Temptation

Please Note that this article has been published on the condition that the author Mr. Gangaprasad Subba will be solely responsible for the implications of his thoughts. Barun Roy or The Himalayan Beacon does not expressly correspond to affirm to the authors words or thoughts.

By Gangaprasad Subba

Silgarhi, a dense jungle a little more than a century ago, was cleared by its inhabitants Gorkhas, Koches, Meches and Lepchas and made way for establishing a town which later became an important trade centre. Not a single Bengali, as history tells us, lived here then. Traders from Bihar, Rajasthan and Gujarat came to Silgarhi to do business and gradually this place flourished as a strong trade centre of North East India. Bengalis from the south came here to work for these traders and government offices as clerks and manual workers. At present Silgarhi has become a well developed part of Darjeeling district – a financially sond place that has tempted the West Bengal’s rulers to separate it from its mainland Darjeeling district which is totally unacceptable to its original inhabitants. Gorkhas, Koches, Meches and business communities mainly Marwaris and Biharis played major role for the development of Silgarhi but not Bengalis.

These days many Bengalis who are in actual fact ‘outsiders’ and prospered by being in Silgarhi call the Gorkhas ‘outsiders’. They should be ashamed of what they say. To claim or grab Silgarhi by force by them as their own land is ridiculous. I always thought Bengalis were very well educated, gentle and knew the historical facts of not only India but also of the whole world. But the present arrogant, shameless Bengali Rulers disgusting attitude towards an ethnic group proved my assumption wrong. The Bengali population in Siliguri grew in an alarming height since Bangladeshi intruders managed to sneak into our country at the connivance of their blood brothers and settled here to be CPI(M)’s vote bank.

Welcoming Gesture

By Barun Roy

Welcoming ceremony is an important gesture of guest relation. Every country has its own way of going it with a torch of uniqueness and originality. Tourist welcoming has over the years become the best lobbying factor in the tourism industry around the globe. Indeed a travel experience begins and ends with it. The ritual of doing so differs widely among the hospitality industries as it is done to make the guests feel comfortable. It makes them feel homely and accepted.

Rooted in its culture and religious traits. Nepalese/Gorkhas believe that guests are incarnations of Gods so the famous saying goes, “Athiti dewa bhawa”. Nepalese believe in gods and they pray to Gods every day. Prying is a part of their daily routine. In Darjeeling Hills, guests who come to one’s home are considered to be the forms of God. So the guests are welcomed whole-heartedly and attended to with care and respect.

Patkar supports agitators against Dzongu power projects

GANGTOK, April 16: Environment activist Miss Medha Patkar today urged the Sikkim chief minister Mr Pawan Chamling to hold dialogue with the Affected Citizen of Teesta, which is agitating against power projects at Dzongu in North Sikkim. Pointing out that Sikkim falls in the seismic zone Miss Patkar said: “I have seen the Teesta river being devastated by power projects while coming to Gangtok today. We support the protest programme of ACT and will put up the issue in Socio Economic Ecological Planning meeting in Parliament.”   Miss Patkar also said that a dharna on the issue was being organised in New Delhi from 28 to 30 April. “We expect that the policy makers would take note of the protests,” she said. [The Statesman]

Gyanendra may seek refuge in India

Jaipur, April 16: As Nepal is getting ready to take the final plunge into democracy; it seems the ripples will be felt in the obscure semi arid town of Sikar here in Rajasthan. According to reports, with the Maoist parties making a clean sweep in the recent elections, King Gyanendra of Nepal was getting more concerned over the safety of his family and was likely to seek refuge in India, probably in Rajasthan. However it was confirmed today late evening that so far the Nepal King has not requested for a safe passage to India.
Meanwhile it is being speculated that sooner or later King Gyanendra would be forced to flee from Nepal in order to escape prosecution. Rajasthan’s name had cropped earlier also when the Nepalese monarch sought a safe passage into India during a massive Maoist upheaval against the royal family in the past. King Gyanendra’s family had entered into a marital alliance with the erstwhile rulers of Sikar when his son and crown Prince of Nepal, Paras Bir Bikram Shah Dev married Princess Himani Rajya Laxmi Devi, the daughter of Raja Rao Vikramsingh Shekhawat of Sikar in 1999. According to reliable sources associated with the Sikar royal family, Princess Himani and Vikramsingh Shekhawat, presently based in Nepal were likely to return home but they were still awaiting a final word on the status of King Gyanendra and Prince Paras.
“Vikramsinghji and princess Himani are likely to return to Sikar soon. He has informed his brothers here in Sikar about his return. It should indirectly imply that Prince Paras would be accompanying them,” said Ashfaque Kayam Khan, a Sikar based social activist who is acquainted with Vikramsingh Shekawat.
They are likely to settle down at Reshma Mahal, a palace owned by the Sikar Royal family about 115 kilometers away from Jaipur. Till recently, a portion of the palace used to be rented out as heritage wedding venue. But now the caretakers have received strict orders to refuse any more bookings after 27 April. [The Statesman]

Sikkim to set up more power plants

GANGTOK, April 16: Several hydroelectric power generation stations are coming up in Sikkim. After the completion of the National Hydro Power Corporation Stage V project at Sirwani in Singtam, the Teesta Urja Limited has started work at Chungthang, Theng and Singhik in North Sikkim. They are excavating a tunnel out of rocks for the projects.
The project is expected to generate 1200 megawatt power and approximately Rs 750 crore will be spent on the project. “We have already started work on the 600-meter-long and 8-meter-broad tunnel at the project site,” said Mr Thomas Gaichen, project in-charge. “The tunnel is being constructed by Coastal Project Pvt. Ltd and is expected to be completed in two-and- a-half years,” he added. The Stage V of NHPC has already commissioned, generating 510 megawatt at Sirwani in Singtam and is about to sell the power.
The NHPC is now coming up with the State VI of the Teesta project. Lanco Hydro is in charge of Teesta Stage VI of NHPC. “The project is a joint venture with the state government which is presently waiting for clearance from the state forest department,” said Mr SK Mittal former director of Stage V NHPC. [The Statesman]

PCC to observe ‘Tea Day’ on 1 May

SILIGURI, April. 16: The West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) and the party’s labour wing, Intuc will observe the coming May Day as ‘Tea estate workers’ Day’. The Intuc West Bengal unit president Mr Subrata Mukherjee said this today.  The Darjeeling district Congress president Mr Shankar Malakar said that both the PCC president Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi and Mr Subrata Mukherjee are scheduled to come down to Jalpaiguri on 19 April to chalk out the party’s plan of action in this regard. Mr Subrata Mukherjee said that the Pradesh Congress and the Intuc considered it to be a bounden duty on their part to uphold the cause of the half-starved tea estate workers and so they decided to observe the coming May Day as ‘Tea workers’ Day’.  Coming down heavily on the state government for its alleged apathy towards the deteriorating condition of the tea estates in north Bengal, the Intuc leader said that the Left Front government had done nothing to revive the dying tea estates. “The state has been shedding crocodile tears for the cause of the half-starved tea workers while allowing the tea estate owners to make profit at the expense of the workers. This is the shrewd game of duplicity being played for years by the so called champion of the working class,” Mr Mukherjee said.  “We take it as our duty to expose this duplicity and we would reach out to the people of the state, particularly of north Bengal through several program-mes on the occasion of the proposed ‘Tea Day’ on 1 May,” he said further. [The Statesman]

March to Dzongu aborted

Gangtok, April 16: The Lepchas from the Darjeeling hills marching towards Dzongu in North Sikkim had to turn back at Dikchu today after facing open hostility from their Sikkimese “brothers”.

A police team escorting the marchers bundled them into vehicles and took them back to Rangpo on the Bengal border. Around 500 Lepchas, including some from Rangpo, were on their way to Dzongu, ostensibly on a pilgrimage to their holy land, although their real aim was to protest against the mega hydel power projects being set up there.

“We were marching to our holy land but the Sikkim government hoodwinked us into returning,” said Dorjee T. Lepcha, the president of the Kalimpong Lepcha Youth Association.

Dorjee admitted that they returned to avoid clashes with “Lepcha brothers” in Sikkim. He said bottles were thrown at the marchers and shops downed shutters along their route to prevent them from buying refreshments. “The people also used provocative and filthy language.”

According to police, hundreds of Lepchas from Dzongu were camping at Namprikdang, the entry point to the Lepcha reserve, to stop the marchers. Fearing more violence, the police convinced the marchers to abort their mission.

NBU exams rescheduled for polls

Siliguri, April 16: North Bengal University (NBU) today decided to reschedule all its undergraduate exams (BA, BSc and BCom Parts I, II and III) in view of the May 18 panchayat elections in the region.

According to the original schedule, declared about one-and-a-half-months back, the undergraduate exams were to begin today and conclude on June 18. The Part I tests commenced today.

“We have decided to split the exams into two phases,” said NBU vice-chancellor Arunava Basumajumdar. “The first phase began today and will continue till May 7. The second phase will start from May 26. The new schedule will be circulated to the colleges soon.”

Meena focuses on landslides

Kalimpong, April 16: DGHC administrator B.L. Meena has agreed to take up landslide prevention work in the hills on a priority basis. He, however, cautioned that it would take time to accomplish the onerous task.

After meeting representatives of NGOs like Citizen Rights Forum, Kalimpong, and Save The Hills, Meena said the Bengal government has already identified roads, drinking water, rural electrification, education and health as priority areas, and landslide prevention would be added to the list. [Inset: Meena at the meeting with representatives of NGOs in Kalimpong. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha]

“We will have to consult government experts on disaster management. We will start working on it, but it will take time,” Meena said.

In hunger strike, Tibetans bridge generation gap

Siliguri, April 16: Phurbu Dolma, 90, can easily see the similarities between the recent Chinese crackdown on Tibetans and the experience she had 50 years ago when, as a middle-aged homemaker in Tibet, she was forced to flee to India with many other members of her community.

Phurbu, who now lives in Kalimpong, is taking part in a 24-hour hunger strike, organised under the banner of the Tibetan Solidarity Sub-Committee, which began at Indira Maidan here this afternoon. [Inset: Dolma (centre) at the hunger strike in Siliguri’s Indira Maidan on Wednesday. A Telegraph picture]

She is not alone. Fifty-nine other Tibetans, many of whom were born and brought up in India where they have been in exile since 1959, have joined her in the fast.

“We hardly find any difference in the terror unleashed by the Chinese government since March this year and the oppression we had faced half-a-century ago,” Phurbu said, holding a prayer wheel. “Only the context and the faces have changed and nothing else. The degree of torture inflicted on innocent people has intensified.”

The hunger strike appears to have bridged the generation gap among the Tibetans. The protesters at Indira Maidan include Tashi Csongpa (86) from Salugara and 17-year-old Sampa Legden, arguably the youngest one around. All of them raised anti-Chinese slogans and demanded intervention of the international community to end the crisis in Tibet.

Pickpockets with visas

Balurghat, April 16: Two Bangladeshi men in India on tourist visas were caught picking pockets in a bus at the border town of Hili and handed over to police last evening.

Khandakar Abdul Rashid, 42, and David Paul, 36, were caught with Rs 26,500 in cash, which they had just picked from a passenger’s bag. They were carrying their passports with them.

It later emerged that a third pickpocket, Ratan Ghosh, managed to escape in the melee. His nationality is not known yet.

South Dinajpur police superintendent Kalyan Kumar Mullick said Paul and Rashid had crossed over to India yesterday morning after completing immigration formalities at the Hili international check-post. “Their visas are valid for one month,” the police chief added.

Sankosh River?

Sankosh is a river that rises in northern Bhutan and empties into the Brahmaputra in the state of Assam in India. In Bhutan, it is known as the Puna Tsang Chhu below the confluences of several tributaries near the town of Wangdue Phodrang. The two largest tributaries are the Mo Chhu and Pho Chhu, which flow together at Punakha. The Punakha dzong, which is situated immediately above the confluence of the two rivers, is one of the most beautiful dzongs in Bhutan and the winter residence of the Central Monk Body. The upper reaches of the Pho Chhu are susceptible to ice blockages, and the dzong has been damaged on several occasions by glacial outburst floods (GLOF). At Wangdue Phodrang, (altitude 1364 m), the river is joined by the west flowing Dang Chhu and it enters a precipitous gorge. The highway running south from Wangdue Phodrang to Dagana follows the river for much of its course. Near the town of Takshay is the confluence with the west flowing Hara Chhu. The last major Bhutanese tributary is the Daga Chhu.

References

• Jordans, Bart (2005). Bhutan: A Trekker’s Guide. Cicerone. ISBN 1 85284 398 5.

• Himalayan Maphouse. Bhutan Himalaya, 1:390,000 [map].

Siliguri faces rally threat- 100-odd Gorkhaland marchers eye route through heart of trade hub on way to the Dooars

Siliguri/Darjeeling, April 16: Around 100 supporters of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha Agsu today reached Sukna, having walked 70km from Darjeeling on their way to the Sankosh on the Bengal-Assam border, the last frontier of the new state that they are demanding.

“Our aim is to garner support for Gorkhaland from people who live along the route,” Ravi Shankar Sharma, the president of the students’ body affiliated to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, said this evening.

Till late in the evening, the marchers had not decided whether they would bypass Siliguri or not. Some favoured walking to Sevoke through NH31, which skirts Siliguri town, while others wanted to walk along Hill Cart Road from Darjeeling More and head for Salugara via Panitanki More and Sevoke Road. [Inset: The marchers at Sukna.]

Sharma, however, said they planned to enter Siliguri and halt at Sevoke, the entry point to the Dooars, tomorrow night. “We will have 100-120 marchers (a few people from Sukna will join),” he said. Only 16 people had started off from Darjeeling on April 13.

Blast net widens as cops raid another house

Siliguri, April 16: Police have detained four women for questioning and raided the rented house of one of the eight persons arrested in connection with the Champasari blasts and the subsequent recovery of explosives from Mallaguri and Gurung Bustee.

In another development, a forensic team from Calcutta visited the house in Champasari’s Naya Bustee where two concurrent blasts had killed three alleged bomb-makers on April 3. The experts are here to determine the nature of the explosives. [Inset: Forensic experts at the blast site.]

The four women detained today were picked up from Bidyachakra Colony, located close to Mahakalpally, on the southern bank of the Mahananda. Another woman, Krishna Gajmer’s house in Mahakalpally was raided after her landlord, Ashok Bhattacharya, saw her picture taken after her arrest in different media and contacted the police.