Prachanda wants to visit Mao’s village

By Anirban Roy

Nepal’s Maoist chief Prachanda has said he would visit China soon and draw inspiration from Mao Zedong’s hometown Shaoshan in Hunan province.

While Prachanda talks about maintaining equal distance from India and China, the Maoist leader told the China Daily he is eager to visit China soon.

“When our communications minister (Krishna Bahadur Mahara) was in China recently, he was instructed to prepare for my visit. I hope I will soon be in Beijing,” he said. This would be the Maoist chief’s first visit to China. After coming over ground in June 2006, he has been to India and Switzerland.

The firebrand communist leader, who surprised the world with the victory of his party in the Constituent Assembly election, said he wanted to visit the “great helmsman” Chairman Mao’s village.

He said the new government would take strong measures against anti-China activities in Nepal. Over the past few weeks, Tibetan refugees have been regularly protesting in front of the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu.

Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee (SPCC) concerned over frequent inconvenience to Sikkim due to bandhs

GANGTOK, June 13: The Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee (SPCC) convened an emergency meeting today at the party head office here to discuss on the situation arising out of the indefinite bandh called by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) and the counter strikes called by the Amra Bangali, Janjagran Manch and Janchetna Manch.  A press release issued by the party general secretary (Press and Media), Kunga Nima Lepcha informs that the meeting was chaired by the SPCC president, Nar Bahadur Bhandari and attended by senior members of the party.

As informed in the release, the members expressed deep concern on the “imminent disruption in the transportation of essential commodities like rice, wheat, petroleum products, medicines etc in the State.”
Deliberating seriously on the hardship being faced by the people of Sikkim, particularly the patients needing immediate medical treatment outside Sikkim and the students seeking admission in colleges in different parts of the country for higher studies, the party has also strongly condemned the State Government’s lackadaisical attitude towards tackling such burning issues having direct bearing on the life of the people of Sikkim.

Landowners oppose Teesta Stage IV project

GANGTOK, June 13: The landowners of Lower Dzongu in North Sikkim, whose land come under the Teesta Stage IV project, have submitted a memorandum to the District Collector, North opposing the project. This was submitted yesterday at the DC’s office, during a meeting between the land owners and the DC to discuss the issue. According to a press release issued by Dawa Tshering Lepcha, general secretary, Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT), the land owners, in their memorandum have categorically mentioned that they are not going to part with their land under any circumstances. The landowners have also mentioned in the memorandum that the issue/subject be not proposed or brought before them again in future. The copy of the memorandum has been marked for all the concerned authorities both in the State and the Center Government, Governor, Ministry Commissions and NGOs. Meanwhile, the Rangyong River in Dzongu has flooded again on the intervening night of June 12 and 13 washing away the drilling machines and equipment, further taking it towards the rock test drilling site at Lingzya. “The flood level has not gone down and River Teesta remains in flooded mess,” the release adds. [Sikkim Express]

Dorje Phurba Sadhana Puja (Vajra Kilaya) – Purifying the Three Vajras

Devotees thronged Rumtek Monastery from 2 am today to get the initiation and blessing of the precious religious objects of body, speech and mind of Dorje Phurba. After the completion of the Dorje Phurba Sadhana Puja (Vajra Kilaya) and the branch puja for over nine days, His Holiness Gyaltsab Rinpoche today bestowed the Phurba Wang. This was followed by the Dorje Phurba Chaam. The prayers will conclude on June 14 with a religious procession to deposit sand from the dismantled sand mandala into the nearby river and auspicious butter lamps prayers. Photo by Sikkim Express

Maoists pull out of Nepal cabinet

Maoist ministers in Nepal’s interim government on Thursday resigned en masse in a bid to pressure Premier G P Koirala to quit and allow formation of a new administration. [Inset: Bhattarai contended that former king should not disturb the development of the republic]

While, former rebels warned ousted King Gyanendra to stay away from politics a day after he surrendered crown to lead life as a commoner.

All the five Maoist ministers in the ruling alliance tendered their resignations to party chief Prachanda, Maoist leader and Local Development Minister Dev Gurung said.

According to political analysts, it was a pressure tactic by the former guerrillas so that the process of the government formation could be initiated.

Maoists had emerged as the single largest party in the landmark April 10 polls for the 601-strong Constituent Assembly bagging 220 seats followed by Nepali Congress of Koirala and CPN-UML which secured 110 and 103 seats respectively.

They have agreed to other major parties’ demands to amend the Constitution and give up their claim on the post of the President in order to lead the new government.

Maoist second-in-command Baburam Bhattarai, meanwhile, said the former King “should not disturb the development of the republic, and refrain from engaging in counter-revolutionary activities.”

“We don’t want him to be used as a weapon for counter-revolutionary forces in this transitional and sensitive period,” he told reporters.

In an emotion-charged speech before vacating the Narayanhiti palace last night, Gayanendra said that he had accepted the Constituent Assembly’s decision to declare the country a republic and abolish the 240-year-old monarchy.

Bhattarai also said new government will go for a fresh probe into the 2001 palace massacre and investigate whether the deposed King had any foreign bank account.

Photo Feature Today!

A Democratic Revolutionary Youth Federation supporter wears a head scarf with ‘Hail Gorkha’ written on it

A Democratic Revolutionary Youth Federation supporter with Communist Party of the Revolutionary Marxist Flag painted on his cheeks

People watch a tyre set afire by protestors during a 48-hour strike in Siliguri on Thursday, June 12

Anti-Gorkhaland protestors run for cover, as policemen, unseen, baton-charge them during a 48-hour strike in Siliguri, in West Bengal on Thursday, June 12.

Policemen run after anti-Gorkhaland protestors during the 48-hour strike in Siliguri.

Aiming the third highest peak in the world – Indian mountaineer plan solo Khangchendzonga Circuit

By SAIMON PAUL RAI

GANGTOK: Challenge is what enthrals Malli Mastan Babu (33) and free spirit is what he has exhibited in his incredible feat of scaling the highest peaks of the seven continents in 172 days, the fastest so far, inspiring millions of youth from across the globe. The phrase “Never Give Up, Never Give In!” has worked miracles for this world’s fastest summiteer whose courage and conviction being his way of expression of his self. [Inset: The Khangchendzong Rock Face and the Summit]

An accomplished mountaineer hailing from Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, Babu is all set to undertake a solo 50 day long high altitude traverse entitled the ‘Khangchendzonga Circuit’ this post monsoon season. It may be mentioned here that there has only been three such traverse expeditions around Mount Khangchendzonga. The first Khangchendzonga expedition was initiated by a Sikkimese-Rinzing Namgyal, an Indian Survey Pandit in 1884 who helped the Britishers map the peak.

The second expedition was organized in a much broader scale led by Douglas Freshfield in 1899. The expedition helped in the mapping all the glaciers around the Khangchendzonga range and the peak itself.  Likewise, the FS Smythe international expedition in 1930 headed by Dehnr Dyhrenfurth, a German national attempted to scale Mount Khangchendzonga but proved their worth reaching only up to 24,000 feet of the summit. The reason was bad weather. Thereafter there were no such expeditions to Mount Khangchendzonga.

However, in 1992 after a gap of nearly 65 years, a Calcutta expedition to Mount Khangchendzonga under the leadership of Lhatoo Dorjee, a retired senior instructor at Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling proved successful in covering only a part of the Khangchendzonga circuit.  Malli, who is here in Gangtok, is very excited about him being the first Indian to undertake a high altitude traverse to Mount Khangchendzonga and is looking forward to the adventure. He said that he would follow an entirely new route to the Khangchendzonga Circuit, which according to him, would be an exciting and an enthralling one.

Food and essentials reaching Darjeeling hills

Siliguri: Truckloads of foodstuff and essentials were being sent to the Darjeeling hills to ease out the tough situation as the GJM-sponsored indefinite bandh in the region has been lifted till June 16.

According to Darjeeling district administration, 50 trucks carrying essentials were sent to Darjeeling hills on Saturday morning and more vehicles were on the way.

The GJM, which had extended recess to its indefinite bandh for two more days, was helping the administration in sending food and essentials to the hills, District Magistrate, Rajesh Pandey said.

GJM had called an indefinite bandh in Darjeeling hills and in some parts of adjoining Terai and Dooars region demanding Gorkhaland on June 10. They had asked all tourists to vacate the hills overnight.

The hill party had relaxed the bandh for 60 hours from 4 pm on June 11 for easy exit of stranded tourists and facilitating the hill people to buy food and essentials.

Three anti-Gorkhaland organisations – Amra Bangali, Bangla Bhasa Bachaon Samity and Janajagaran Mancha called Siliguri bandh during the initial bandh recess period to cut the supply line of food and essentials to the hills.

A separate state of Gorkhaland with its capital in Darjeeling – India

Gorkhaland with its capital in Darjeeling – India faces another Kashmir because of blunders by ethnic Bengali communists writes Bhuvan Giri

The Bengali ethnic communists never understood the aspirations of Gorkhas in Darjeeling. Indians from all over the country visit Darjeeling, a hill resort created by the British for fun in the summer. But people who live and work in Darjeeling have tasted little of Indian economic prosperity. The ruling coalition UPA led by the Congress party of India has supported the Bengali communists in West Bengal in spite of the neglect of the Gorkhas in the regions interfacing West Bengal and Himalayas.

The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha on Friday rejected the ethnic Bengali communist dominated West Bengal Government’s offer for talks on the Darjeeling issue on June 18. The Gorkhas are claiming that the agenda of development of the hills was “irrelevant” when the main issue was a separate state of Gorkhaland. “The GJM central committee rejected the offer to sit for dialogue with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee because the agenda of the meeting was development of the Darjeeling hills,” GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said.

It is a serious issue for India. India faces another Kashmir because of blunders by ethnic Bengali communists. The ethnic Gorkhas do not trust these ethnic Bengali communists. The Bengali communists led by Buddhadev Bhattacharya follows liitle if any advise of Lord Buddha. They are well known in the world for killing innocent Bengali in the state of West Bengal. [India Daily - Whtehouse Station, NJ, USA]

Darjeeling tea exports seen hit by Gorkha unrest

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Exports of the premium Darjeeling tea may be hit by the strike over fresh demands for a separate state for the Gorkha people that shut down the famous tea district, a top official of Tea Board said on Thursday. [Inset: First Flush of Darjeeling Tea]

Protesters clashed with police in Darjeeling hills after the strike called on Tuesday by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (Gorkha People’s Liberation Front) triggered violence and forced the government to call for the army on Thursday.

“It is certainly affecting the tea industry. Transport of tea has completely been stopped, which is affecting the tea auctions in Kolkata,” said Basudev Banerjee, chairman, Tea Board of India.

Exporters as well as domestic buyers depend on the Kolkata tea auction to meet their demand for Darjeeling tea. Kolkata is the capital of the India’s eastern West Bengal state, where Darjeeling is located.

“The production is going on but I can’t get the tea into the market,” he said.

Darjeeling produces about 10 million kg of high quality tea famous for its flavour. It fetches about five to six times the price of the normal CTC (crush, curl tear) tea.

India exports the Darjeeling tea, mainly to Middle East, Pakistan, Russia, Germany. Exports in 2007 was about 6 million kg and India has targeted an increase of 20-25 percent this year, Banerjee said. The peak harvesting season for Darjeeling tea is April-June.

Darjeeling unrest may hit tea exports

Kolkata, Jun 13: Tea exports as well as domestic production of Darjeeling tea could be impacted as the ongoing political unrest in Darjeeling and Siliguri threatens to stall production in 87 tea estates. Darjeeling tea is registered as geographical indication (GI). While India produced 945 million kg (mkg) of tea last year, 200 mkg was exported at an average price of $2 per kg. The orthodox or leaf tea export was more than 80 mkg.

Aditya Khaitan, chairman of the Indian Tea Association (ITA) said, “This is the main season for quality tea. If the leaves grow beyond a certain number of days, the quality would fall. The value contracted for the tea would also go down eventually.”

According to him, if the unrest continues, exports are bound to fall. Moreover, if the transportation is affected, input for tea gardens would also be affected eventually.

“While the response for the first flush has been good, second flush could get affected due to the present situation,” he said.

Gorkha Morcha’s green flag gets Revolutionary Marxist’s red star

Kolkata, June 13: The Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists (CPRM), a breakaway group of the ruling CPM, has now joined hands with the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), which has demanded a separate state of Gorkhaland.  About 500 supporters of the party reached Kolkata on Thursday night to meet the state law minister and Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi. The supporters, coming from Mirik, Sonada, Kurseong, Kalimpong, Darjeeling, Ghoom and other remote areas of the Darjeeling district, took out a rally in Kolkata on Thursday. Some Naxalite groups also participated in the rally. It started from Subodh Mullick Square and ended at Esplanade.

“We will not accept anything other than a separate state for Gorkhas. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s government should start thinking about our demand,” said Arun Ghatani, secretary of CPRM. He added: “For the sake of Gorkhaland, we are ready to join hands with GJM’s Bimal Gurung.” But in doing so, the party will resort to democratic ways and not adopt “violent methods” as chosen by the GJM.

The supporters of CPRM spent the entire day meeting bureaucrats and members of the Human Rights Commission to plead for the formation of Gorkhaland. A 20-member team, headed by the supporters of the Democratic Revolutionary Youth Front and Democratic Revolutionary Nari Sangha (the student and women’s wing of the party respectively) met the Governor at Raj Bhavan.

Left Front’s destructive obstinacy

An Economic Times Editorial

The intensity of the inter-ethnic violence — sparked off by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha’s call for an indefinite bandh demanding a separate state of Gorkhaland — in north Bengal could have been contained had Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee been less cussed about setting preconditions for talks.

It is this autocratic approach, characteristic of the CPI(M)-led LF, that must be blamed for the agitation morphing into a full-fledged civil strife. Gorkha groups have been targeting non-Gorkhas and tourists in the hill areas of north Bengal, even as Bengali outfits unleash chauvinist fury on the Gorkha population in the adjoining Terai and Dooars.

The systematic manner in which the LF has gone about destroying the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) is reason enough for the Gorkha population to be distrustful of the state. The LF’s unstated mission has been to erode the limited autonomy Gorkhas gained after the first Gorkha National Liberation Front-led statehood movement (1986-88).

Witness the way it helped DGHC’s elected chairman Subhash Ghising concentrate absolute powers by not holding polls since 2004, and allowing him to continue as the council’s caretaker administrator till recently.

Commentators please read this notice before commenting

Dear friends,

Greetings from Darjeeling! I hope you are all doing well!

The couple of weeks have been very emotional and tension filled for all of us. We have on this blog itself split much hair and discussed and threated each other on the issue of Gorkhaland, Tourists and clashes. I always believed that it is much better have a candid and open discussion on this forum instead of face to face in the streets and corridors of our homes. However, since, Beacon Online has been receiving a huge traffic and readers have been commenting so fast that it has almost become impossible to for me to read each one of them and moderate. Surely, threatening each other and throwing abuses only leads to creating bad image for the Global Community. I have not deleted comments even if they have directly threatened me or other commentators. Direct attack on any individual commentator will not be tolerated.

You are individually now, responsible for the comments you make, Beacon Online, The Himalayan Beacon or Barun Roy is no longer responsible for the comments and the ideas expressed by its readers.

Please, do comment and discuss responsibly.

Regards

Barun

Army on a standby in Siliguri – Tension grips Darjeeling and Siliguri as clashes continue between GJMM supporters and anti-Gorkhaland groups

SILIGURI/DARJEELING, June 12: Army is on standby and Section 144 clamped in Siliguri in West Bengal as three organizations called a total bandh opposing the demand for creation of a separate Gorkhaland state. Earlier, Police lathicharged and tear-gassed on protesters who went on a rampage stopping traffic, throwing stones and burning tyres. Some tourists were also injured in the clashes. In the wake of fresh tension arising out of clashes between supporters of Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha’s (GJMM) and anti-Gorkhaland factions in Siliguri and parts of Darjeeling, the West Bengal Government today called in the Army in Siliguri and adjacent areas. According to reports, the Home Ministry has dispatched ten companies (about 1,000 personnel) of BSF, CRPF and SSB to West Bengal. The reinforcement was meant to deal with the situation in violence-hit North Bengal. The additional forces had been sent following a request from the West Bengal government. To ease tension following the clashes, personnel of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) staged flag march in Siliguri. The deployment of Army came after Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee discussed the situation in Siliguri and adjacent areas with Army authorities. The CM also appealed for maintaining peace and amity. Further, he has called an all-party meeting on June 17 to discuss the Darjeeling crisis. The development came after normal life was hit in Siliguri today as it observed a near total bandh called by three organisations opposing the demand for creation of a separate Gorkha state. The two-day parallel bandh, called by Amra Bangali, Banglabhasha Bachao Samiti and Jana Jagaran Morcha, in Siliguri and Dooars in protest against the indefinite bandh called by the GJMM, initially began on a dull note, but picked up as the day progressed with all shops and business establishments remaining shut and vehicles off the roads. Some educational institutions cancelled their scheduled examinations and majority of the banks remained closed. GJMM press secretary Benoy Tamang alleged that the bandh at Siliguri and Dooars was purposely called to restrict movement of vehicles carrying food and essentials to Darjeeling. Inspector General of Police (North Bengal), KL Tamta told reporters that the allegation of GJMM was not correct. Vehicles were very much moving towards the hills and sufficient security forces were deployed at all vulnerable points, particularly the entry points to the hills. There was no repot of any major untoward incident either in Siliguri or Dooars, the IGP said. The picture, however, was opposite in the hills after the GJMM announced a 60-hour breather in their indefinite bandh which began at 3 pm yesterday. Police said that there was no untoward incident reported in the hills. On the other hands, the GJMM today said that there was no question of giving up its demand for Gorkhaland. “We are yet to receive any invitation for the all party meeting and we will take a decision as and when it comes,” GJMM president Bimal Gurung told reporters from Darjeeling. Meanwhile, the WB Governor has urged for calm in the region. “It is essential that leaders of the public opinion and civil society strive to maintain communal harmony, even as the administration performs its duties for maintaining law and order,” the West Bengal Governor said in a statement. [Sikkim Express]

Left parties meet today to solve ongoing crisis in Darjeeling

The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) on Friday rejected the West Bengal Government’s offer for talks, saying that the main issue of a separate state was not in the agenda.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, in a letter to GJM chief Bimal Gurung, had invited him and his colleagues to discuss measures needed to restore normalcy and speed up development work in the Darjeeling hills.

Gorkha morcha rejects talks offer

KOLKATA:The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), demanding a separate Gorkhaland, has sought the Prime Minister’s intervention in “protecting the hill people’s interests in Darjeeling against the dictatorship of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and the CPM onslaught”.

GJM president Bimal Gurung today turned down Bhattacharjee’s invitation to attend a meeting on June 18. Gurung said, “We will not participate in the meeting. We advocated a tripartite meeting involving the Centre, the state government and the GJM.Since, it is not a tripartite meeting, the question of taking part does not arise.”

Gurung alleged that they had no faith and confidence in the CPM government, which had been playing dirty politics at the cost of the Darjeeling people. He argued that only with the formation of a separate statehood, the “neglected hills would be developed and the hill people’s problems be solved”.

The GJM also sent a similar letter to Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi and home minister Shivraj Patil.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already advised the Chief Minister to hold talks with the GJM and other political parties for resolving the dispute.

Meanwhile, the GJM has temporarily called off strike till Monday for the convenience of the people. GJM secretary Roshan Giri said their strike would be resumed on Tuesday after reviewing the situation.

Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee also rejected the Chief Minister’s invitation for attending the all-party meeting to be held on June 17 since the aggrieved GJM had not been invited to the meeting.

Another agitation, but at what cost?

By Dawa Lhamu

Gurung, who is leading the current stir, has promised a non-violent agitation. But will the peace hold?

Darjeeling, June 13: After almost two decades, the hills of Darjeeling are resounding with cries of “We want Gorkhaland” again. Then, the movement was led by Subhash Ghisingh and his Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF). Today, it is former Ghisingh loyalist Bimal Gurung and other GNLF rebels, under the banner of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM), who are at the helm.

The demand may be old, but the GJMM leaders profess to tread a new path—that of “non-violence”. In the ‘80s, when Ghisingh started the agitation, he led a band of youths to the Mahakal Mandir in Darjeeling and administered a vow to carve a separate Gorkhaland state. The youths were armed with khukris, setting the tone for years of a bloody movement that left thousands dead. This time, GJMM leaders say they have sheathed the khukris—at least for now. So at a party rally on Thursday night, supporters held candles instead of khukris.

“The state administration is trying to provoke us into violence, but we won’t be provoked,” said Samuel Gurung, general secretary of the Kalimpong party unit. However, the threat of another bloodbath looms large, especially in view of the counter attacks in the foothills. Referring to the communal clashes in Siliguri on Thursday, in which some Nepalis were reportedly attacked, GJMM president Bimal Gurung warned that they may not remain quiet for too long. “Our women and children have been attacked, but we have told our cadres not to retaliate with even a slap. But how long can this continue,” he said, addressing the candlelight rally. This was greeted by loud cheers from the crowd.

The GJMM has fired the imagination of the hill people, most of whom are disillusioned with the “autonomous” Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) that Ghisingh settled for in 1988 instead of a separate state. Other than some cosmetic ill-planned changes, the DGHC could do little by way of development.

Some link Bimal Gurung’s rise to the strategic manner in which he mobilised mass support to help local youth Prashant Tamang win the Indian Idol contest. For a population struggling to carve a niche in the national mainstream, Tamang—and Gurung by default—became heroes.

But others say Ghisingh’s days were numbered anyway. People had had enough of his follies, they say. So today, he stays isolated, confined within the relative safety of his house, guarded by a posse of police personnel. Anti-Ghisingh rallies have become commonplace, with sloganeering protestors marching right up to his doorstep. This week they reportedly tore the last GNLF flag atop his house and replaced it with a GJMM one.

The man who was once revered—and feared—is now bearing the brunt of the people’s anger. For over two decades, he ruled with an iron hand, ensuring that his every diktat was obeyed, however foolish it may be—from asking people to worship stones (nature) to saying that Goddess Durga’s idol should have 12 hands not eight.

Darjeeling still tense, Buddha to meet GJM leaders on June 18

New Delhi, Jun 13 The situation in Darjeeling and surrounding areas of Siliguri remained tense as sporadic violence between pro and anti-Gorkhaland groups continue even on Friday. Signs of any breakthrough into the matter seemed elusive with the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), spearheading the movement for a separate state, and the West Bengal government refusing to climb down from their stated positions.

West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya on Friday afternoon announced in Kolkata that he would meet the GJM leadership on June 18, but with the caveat that the demand for statehood was dropped with discussions revolving around development issues of the hills. Hours later, the GJM led by Bimal Gurung was quick to reject the offer saying the agenda of development of the hills was ‘‘irrelevant’’ when the main issue was a separate state of Gorkhaland.

The chief minister has also convened an all-party meeting on June 17 ostensibly to seek support against bifurcation of West Bengal.

‘‘The GJM has rejected the offer to sit for dialogue with chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee because the agenda of the meeting was only development of the Darjeeling hills,’’ GJM general secretary Roshan Giri told PTI after a meeting of his party’s central committee. ‘‘The central committee felt the demand for Gorkhaland was a political one and the offer to merely discuss development of the Darjeeling hills was irrelevant,’’ Giri said.

No fresh violence reports in Darjeeling, Dooars

SILIGURI/KOLKATA: The situation in Darjeeling hills and Dooars in north Bengal was peaceful today with no fresh violence reported in connection with the Gorkhaland unrest but streets wore a deserted look with paramilitary commandos on patrol.

No incident of violence was reported from the trouble- prone areas and trucks loaded with food and essentials were being allowed to move towards the hills freely, Darjeeling SP Rahul Srivastava said.

“The situation is normal, but tense,” IGP (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia said in Kolkata.

He said police rescued five students of North Bengal University en route to Bagdogra whoe were stopped by some Gorkhaland agitators.

Kanojia said five companies of CRPF and two companies of SSB were on standby in Siliguri, while one company of CRPF was at Malbazar in neighbouring Jalpaiguri district.

Inclusion of all indigenous communities in ST list recommended

Gangtok, June 13 (PTI) A Sikkim government-appointed commission has recommended that all indigenous communities living in the Himalayan state be included in the list of Scheduled Tribes and the strength of the state legislature be increased from the present 32 to 40 to give them adequate electoral representation. [Inset: A young Limbu Girl]

The Commission for Review of Social and Environmental Sector Policies, Plans and Programmes, headed by eminent social scientist Prof. B K Roy Burman, in a report submitted to the state government recently has recommended for the inclusion of the entire Bhutia, Lepcha and Nepalese population in the Scheduled Tribes list and that the strength of the state Assembly be increased to 40 to give them electoral representation.

”Taking an overview of the living condition of the communities in Sikkim, we came to know from various sources that all communities of Sikkim of Nepalese stock have a ‘historical right to claim special treatment by being recognised as tribal people,” the commission said in its report.

Pressing further for recommendation of inclusion of all ethnic communities in the ST category, it said that a number of such communities like Bahun, Chettri and Rai have maintained their original ethnic identities despite some of their members converting to Christianity.

These ethnic communities still maintain their multi-religious and cultural association and do not want to be identified as a caste, the report said.

Situation getting back to normal in Siliguri

SILIGURI: Paramilitary force personnel on Friday conducted flag marches in violence-hit areas of Siliguri where the situation was fast returning to normal with the administration and business establishments taking initiatives to restore calm.

Shops, markets and business establishments opened following assurances by the police and administration though there was no formal announcement of withdrawal of the ongoing bandh by little-known outfits like Amra Bangal, Bangla Bhasa Prachar Samiti and Janajagaran Manch.

Vehicles were seen plying on roads. “There was no impact of the bandh in Siliguri and police was ready to frustrate any attempt of violence,” Superintendent of Police, Darjeeling, Rahul Srivastava told PTI.

Other than 200 Sashastra Seema Bal personnel conducting flag marches here since Thursday, 600 CRPF personnel requisitioned by the district administration for deployment in Darjeeling hills reached here on Friday morning.

The CRPF was partly deployed in Siliguri and the rest was sent to Malbazar in Dooars region of Jalapaiguri district, which too had witnessed violence between pro and anti-bandh supporters on Thursday, he said.

Gurung has mountain to climb

FROM HINDUSTAN TIMES

By Amitava Banerjee

A Darjeeling Combat Police vehicle stands guard under Gorkha Janmukti Morcha flag. Photo by Barun Roy

A long and winding road lies ahead for Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader Bimal Gurung and the separate statehood agitation he is spearheading. The biggest challenge would be to counter the CPI(M), which boasts of a strong organisational structure, strength and strategies.

Political observers feel that the Gorkhaland demand can reach places only if the hill people (read political parties) unite. Though the goal remains the same, there is a lack of unity among the various political parties in the hills, while the rest of Bengal remains by and large united against the Gorkhaland demand. Time and again attempts to unite the parties to launch a common programme under a collective leadership have failed.

Another major factor is the organisational weakness of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), which is yet to shape up as a fully organised party. The party being top-heavy (with a heavily numbered central committee and branch committees yet to be formed), keeping track of the large cadre base and controlling them is a Herculean task.

Formed on the October 7, 2007 the GJM has grown at a rapid pace, defying all laws of expansion. Starting in Darjeeling, the GJM could successfully manage to expand in all four corners of the Hills and even eat into the CPI(M) base in the Terai and Dooars regions.

Gorkha group defers shutdown, rejects offer for talks

The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), agitating for a separate Gorkhaland in northern West Bengal, Friday deferred its proposed indefinite shutdown in the Darjeeling Hills by two days to Monday, but turned down an offer for talks with the state government. [Inset: Governor Gandhi. Source: Daylife]

The GJM has sought tripartite talks with the central government and the state government on its demand for a separate state. The Gorkhaland demand has triggered violence in the Darjeeling Hills, Siliguri and the Dooars in the past few days. The situation remained normal Friday.

‘Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi has sent a letter to our president Bimal Gurung, appealing for peace. Respecting the letter and giving time to the government to arrest those involved in the atrocities on our supporters at Siliguri and Naxalbari, we are deferring the shutdown till Monday,’ GJM general secretary Roshan Giri told IANS.

The GJM earlier Tuesday called for an indefinite shutdown in the hills, but gave a 60-hour relaxation Wednesday to enable thousands of stranded tourists to leave the hills. The shutdown was to resume 6 a.m. Saturday.

Giri said the GJM has rejected Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s call for a dialogue June 18 in Kolkata.

‘The government wants to discuss the developmental issues concerning Darjeeling with us. But we consider the problem as a political one, and we need a political solution. We will not participate in the talks on June 18,’ he said.

The chief minister earlier in the day wrote a personal letter to Gurung, inviting him to the discussion table.

‘We feel an interim solution can be found out through tri-partite talks involving our party, the state government and the centre,’ Giri said.

“We showed them what Gandhigiri is”, injured GJM supporters

“We showed them what Ghandhigiri is…we did not raise our hands…we believe in Nonviolence”, says injured GJM supporters