The Korean Band ‘Darjeeling’ performing in Luxemburg

Country Roads take me home to Darjeeling!

By maxicotown

Tea – A Major Victim of Gorkhaland Agitation

School students on relay hunger strike

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Siliguri (PTI): The non-violence movement started by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) for a separate Gorkhaland got a boost on Thursday when school students started relay hunger strikes in various parts of Darjeeling district.

Students from Class IX and above launched relay hunger strikes in batches of seven from 10 am in front of the offices of district magistrate, sub-divisional officer’s office at Kurseong and in front of the office of block development officer at Mirik, Superintendent of Police Rahul Srivastab said.

“We are keeping a watch over the situation and handling it carefully as it is an emotional issue,” he said.

GJM press secretary Benoy Tamang told PTI that at least 20 batches of students were on hunger strike at many places, including at Nepanea bustee in the plains of Siliguri in the district.

On the GJM’s decision to affix vehicle number plates with GJ prefix from July, Srivastab said the police had sent an exhaustive report on it to the authorities and was awaiting instructions.

Gorkha Janmukti Morcha Dharna in Delhi

All Photographs by Kamal Pradhan

Nepalese and Gorkha children forced into prostitution

Former Gorkha Vets being manhandled by West Bengal Police – Revisited (Not seen before scenes)

Indian Army recaptures Tiger Hill – Kargil war

Dear Friends I am putting this other clip of an old Star News Report at Kargil interviewing a Gorkha Officer. I hope this will put things into a much larger perspective of a lot of people out there.

Living legend

FIELD MARSHAL SAM MANEKSHAW, M. C. — Soldiering with Dignity: Lt. Gen. Depinder Singh; Natraj Publishers, 17, Rajpur Road, Dehradun-248001. Rs. 450.

FIELD MARSHAL Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, M.C. popularly known as Sam Bahadur perhaps is the tallest amongst the military geniuses in the contemporary world. This legendary soldier and giant personality is too big to be documented in 234 pages. However, Lt. General (Retd.) Depinder Singh deserves compliments for his personal reflections about Sam Bahadur, for what he saw at close quarters during his four-year tenure as military assistant to a celebrated Army Chief. These years saw many momentous events including the decisive military victory over Pakistan. That also resulted in the emergence of Bangladesh.

Gen. Depinder has succeeded in depicting the multi-dimensional personality of Sam Bahadur, his professional genius and competence that stands second to none even today. Intellectually he stood head and shoulders above his contemporaries. After the 1971 war, Sam Manekshaw, while visiting military hospitals to see jawans and officers, was encountered with a soldier who had five bullet injuries. While patting the injured soldier to boost his morale, the Army Chief said ” Look, you’ve got five bullets in your body, I had seven bullets at your age and today I am Chief”! Prophetic words, indeed.

Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw interacting with a young Gorkha soldier

JOBS ABROAD

By Ichamani Chettri

Last time I received one mail from Mr.Bishal Rai (member of Beacon online and Gorkha welfare Society, New Delhi) mentioning that two ladies were assured for Job in Dubai and brought to Delhi and taken some money from them now these ladies are stuck in Delhi, because these agents are not giving money back to them everyday they are making new excuses, we don’t have to worry about them because Mr.Bishal rai is taking care of them.

Lots of agents are making fool to the people of Darjeeling and Sikkim. These agents are not having any license or shops. Even they don’t know anything but these agents are tied up with the manpower suppliers from Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. What these agents are doing they are taking 80 thousand or 1 lakh from the candidate and they are giving half money to manpower supplier and remaining amount is their profit. But these Agents don’t know that they are fooling our own brother and sisters.

I am writing this to aware all the people of Darjeeling and Sikkim do not give even a single penny to any agent unless he provide you employment visa and air ticket. Also you have to ask the offer letter if the Company is genuine then it will provide you offer letter and in offer letter it is clearly stated about your basic salary (Local Currecy), food, Transportation, air tickets, duty hours, and medical allowance etc after reading carefully you can acknowledge the offer letter to the concerned manpower office. If you are giving any money to any office then do not forget to take receipt and remember it should be a registered office. After getting your visa you must contact with your friends or relatives those who are in abroad and enquire about the sponsorship company etc or visa must be verified through the concerned Embassy or Consulate office. Then you can proceed further, for any kind of clarification especially for U.A.E then you can contact me freely through my e mail id ichamanikc@yahoo.com.I will get back to u and assist you.

In newspapers today!

No talks on Gorkhaland, says WB govt

LD GJM (NATIONAL,GENERAL)
Created on : 06/26/2008 17:37 (Press Trust of India
——————————————————————————–

Kolkata, Jun 26 (PTI) Though West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has said that there would be no precondition for talks with the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, the state government, a day before a crucial meeting with the GJM, today ruled out discussion on its separate statehood demand.

“There will be no discussion with the Morcha on the statehood demand, but talks can be held on administrative re-arrangements and greater autonomy (for the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council),” Chief Secretary A K Deb told newsmen.

The chief minister after an all-party meeting on June 17 had said, “In my (earlier) letter to the GJM for talks, we had not set any precondition. We still do not have any precondition.” GJM President Bimal Gurung, when asked to react, told PTI from Darjjeeling that the party delegation in Kolkata would not seek a discussion on Gorkhaland, but stress on a tripartite meeting to resolve the Darjeeling issue.

“I have instructed the GJM delegation to stick to a one-point agenda to urge Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to take the initiative for tripartite talks,” Gurung said.

“The GJM demand covering Darjeeling district and the contiguous area of Dooars would be taken up at the tripartite meeting,” he said.

“We have only one aim, that is Gorkhaland. We are not interested in talks for more administrative powers for the hill council, or development of the hills,” he said.

Sam Manekshaw critical

2ND LD MANEKSHAW (NATIONAL,DEFENCE,GENERAL)
Created on : 06/26/2008 18:28 (URG)

Wellington (TN), Jun 26 (PTI) Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, who had led India to victory in the Bangladesh war in 1971 and is battling lung disease, is seriously ill and has slipped into a coma at the military hospital here. [Inset Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw interacting with a young Gorkha soldier]

The condition of the 94-year-old former Army chief, continues to be serious and his vital parameters are unchanged, a medical bulletin issued by the hospital in the evening said today.

“His condition is being monitoried constantly by the medical staff,” the bulletin issued by Maj Gen E T Kochekan said.

Replying to questions, he said according to medical advise there was no no necessity to shift him to either Delhi or Bangalore. All the required treatment was adequate in Wellington, he said.

Affectionately called Sam Bahadur, who had led India to victory in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, has developed “acute broncho pneumonia” with associated complications and his condition has been serious for the past four days, hospital sources told PTI.

He is being provided with best medical support at the intensive care unit of the military hospital, they said, adding the team of doctors treating him was being assisted by a pulmonologist who has come from the Army Hospital in New Delhi.

A medical bulletin issued during the day had said “it is hoped that the Field Marshal will respond positively to the treatment”. PTI NVM SA VSC 06261834 DEL

In The Statesman Today

The Fire is Burning – A Graphic presentation by Hendry

One ‘agenda’ for Calcutta: 3-way talks

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

June 25: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders meeting the chief minister on Friday will press for tripartite talks also involving Delhi while the government will stress on more teeth for the hill council and restoration of peace in the region.

“We agreed to attend the meeting to open up a dialogue to fulfil our state-hood demand. We will stick to just one agenda, that is, to request Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to convene a tripartite meeting,” said Amar Lama, a Morcha central committee member.

Lama, Anmole Prasad, Raju Pradhan and Dinesh Chandra Rai, who reached Calcutta yesterday, met supporters in the city today. “Tomorrow, we’ll meet a group of students. We want to know their views as well,” said Lama.

The hill party is aware that the state will want to discuss the region’s development. “They will push their own agenda at the meeting. But we are firm on our stand: a tripartite meeting has to be convened,” Lama said.

His leader, Bimal Gurung, had yesterday said: “We must not make a mistake for our ultimate aim is to attain statehood.”

Sources in the chief minister’s secretariat said the government would not discuss statehood. “The Morcha will not be prevented from bringing up the issue, but the demand will be politely turned down,” a senior official said.

The hill party will be reminded of the all-party resolution against any division of the state.

After judging the mood of the Morcha delegation, the chief minister may talk about bringing in more areas in the Terai and the Dooars under the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council and granting it more financial powers.

The Morcha leaders will be told not to call bandhs, which are hurting the hill economy, and to refrain from blocking National Highway 31A, the lifeline to Sikkim.

In Newspapers Today – Deshbandhu, Delhi

People gather at Chowrasta for a GJM Rally

Photo by Himalaya Darpan

Aerial Panorama of Kunlun Shan Tibet

Today’s Panorama looks due south over Hotan China and the Kunlun Shan into Tibet. The southern margins of the Tarim Basin lie in the foreground (route of the ancient Silk Road’s southern branch). Hotan is situated at the bottom of the image in the large oasis created by the Karakax River. Beyond lie the Kunlun Shan with the great peaks of Dahongliutan and Muztag. The Karakoram Range is situated in the upper right. The large lake at the top center is Aksai Chin Kul. The panorama displays a “dreamscape” for those inclined towards tectonics, alluvial fans, or history. If you look closely, you may be able to see the footprints of Sir Marc Aurel Stein and his dog Dash.

The image was created at a virtual elevation in excess of 150 kilometers with a 20 mm lens. Surface cover – Landsat 7 Topography – SRTM dems Software – Natural Scene Designer, GeoExpress, Photoshop

-
Dr. William A. Bowen

California Geographical Survey

March to Lal Kothi

A multitude of women march to Lal Kothi to lend their support to the Janmukti Temporary Workers Union. Photo by Himalaya Darpan

Gorkha, 87, who won the VC returns war medals to Downing Street after being refused free hospital care

FROM THE DAILY MAIL, UK

A Gorkha awarded the highest military award for gallantry in the face of the enemy was at the forefront of a demonstration today to promote the rights of more than 2,000 of the soldiers to stay in Britain.

Tul Bahadur Pun VC, 87, a Second World War veteran who is now in a wheelchair, delivered a boardful of medals, including an MBE, to Downing Street in protest over the treatment of Gorkha soldiers.

A London hospital refused to treat him for his heart condition, claiming he owed thousands of pounds in unpaid medical bills.

Disgust: Gorkha Regimental Sergeant Major Pun Tulbahadur returns his medals to Downing Street

He was told he had no right to free care by a revenue enforcer at West Middlesex University Hospital.

Mr Pun, one of just 10 living VC holders in the UK, was close to tears and forced to leave after being told he also owed thousands of pounds because he had ‘misled’ the hospital over his immigration status.

The Gorkha, who lives on just £135 a week, was ejected this week on the anniversary of winning his VC in Burma on June 23 1944.

He had attended the Isleworth hospital’s cardiology department for an urgent follow-up appointment and has been on lifesaving heart drugs for 10 months.

The VC war hero (at front of picture) was refused heart treatment at West Middlesex University Hospital

But Andy Finlay, its income generation manager, demanded to see Mr Pun’s passport and said his visa showed he had indefinite leave to enter Britain, not indefinite leave to remain – meaning he was ineligible for NHS treatment.

West Bengal faces another blockade, this time for Kamtapur state

FROM INDO ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

SILIGURI: Days after the Darjeeling Hills in West Bengal were stuck by violence and crippling shutdowns to press for separate statehood, another party – Kamtapur Progressive Party (KPP) – has called for an economic blockade on Saturday demanding a separate state.

The party, demanding a separate Kamtapur state in the north, has called upon its supporters not to pay taxes or repay government loans.

In a statement, party chief Atul Roy announced that its activists would start a rail and road blockade in the region from July 28 and participate in hunger strikes before the block development offices of north Bengal.

The party has also called for constitutional status for Kamtapuri dialect, the statement said.

The demands come on the heels of disturbances in the state’s northernmost part – the Darjeeling Hills, with the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) spearheading an intensive movement for the creation of a Gorkhaland state.

The GJM paralysed the hills by calling indefinite shutdowns that continued till on Sunday.

The KPP, which has been active in North Bengal, was earlier known as the Kamtapur People’s Party, but got its new name after Roy broke away from the parent party.

GJM expels seven party activists for indiscipline

Faced with cadre discontent over its imposition of back-to-back shutdowns with only periodic relaxations in West Bengal’s Darjeeling Hills, the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) Wednesday expelled seven party workers for indiscipline and threatened further action for ‘anti-party activities’.

‘We have expelled seven of our activists. Those thrown out of the party include the vice-president and the secretary of a village committee in Darjeeling,’ GJM press and publicity secretary Benoy Tamang told reporters here.

The GJM cracked the whip after a section of party activists put up posters and staged noisy demonstration in Darjeeling town Tuesday, soon after GJM chief Bimal Gurung announced withdrawal of the indefinite shutdown in the three hill sub-divisions till July 5.

The dissenting group alleged that the GJM central leadership’s ‘random decisions’ to call for indefinite shutdowns and then announce sudden relaxations were only causing ‘harassment’ to the people of the hills.

Tamang said the GJM, fighting for carving out a separate Gorkhaland state in Darjeeling district, would not tolerate any activity that could weaken the movement.

‘We will take more such actions if anybody indulges in indisciplinary activities,’ he said.

School felicitates MLA and others

FROM SIKKIM REPORTER

Gangtok: Modern Secondary School felicitated Area MLA of Assam-Lingsey Mr. Kunga Zangpo Bhutia and the former Panchayat of the area Aie Lassey for their significant contribution in the development of the school and Mrs. Phulmaya Tamang and Mr. K Bhutia, ex students of the school who have scaled the Mt Kanchenjunga recently. The felicitation was conducted during the annual prize distribution of the school on June 24. Prizes to the students from PP to Class X who secured 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions in the academic session of 2007 were distributed by the chief guest Mr. Bhutia, MLA. Besides academic prizes, SAI Scholarship was given to Richen Lhamu and Diki Lhamu for Archery and to Binod Rai of Class VII for Boxing. Loomba Trust Widow Scholarship was conferred to Arpan Tamang (Class VI), Dawa Phuty Lepcha (Class X), Diksha Shankar (Class VI), Ganga Maya Chettri (Class V), Phurchen Lepcha (Class V) and Tshering Ongda Bhutia (Class IV). Lashmit Lepcha of Class IX and Sonam Tshering Sherpa of Class VII were felicitated by the chief guest for their achievement in fields other than academic. Lashmit Lepcha is a Wushu champion and Sonam Tshering Sherpa is the finalist of Bal Tara. Prizes for annual inter-house sports 07 were also distributed. Rathang (Green House) received the overall champion prize.

“Demand of Gorkhaland is an issue between West Bengal & Central Govt and Sikkim has nothing to say on the subject”

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK, June 24: The Political Secretary to the Chief Minister, KT Gyaltsen yesterday said that the demand of Gorkhaland is an issue between West Bengal and the Central Government and that Sikkim has nothing to say on the subject. Mr. Gyaltsen was speaking as one of the panelists in the hour-long programme in a live television show yesterday evening.

“We just want our people not to suffer due to the bandh called by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM),” he said.

In the panel discussion, the political secretary said that the State has undergone tremendous loss in terms of revenue and business during the past few days due to the bandh. At the same time, he assured that Sikkim would remain unaffected by it henceforth. Others in the panel discussion were members from organizations such as Restaurant and Hotel Associations, Travel Agents Associations of Sikkim, Sikkim Chamber of Commerce and the media.  Rajesh Lakhotia of Hotel and Restaurants Association said that all the hotels in the State have zero occupancy thus hampering the hotel business largely.

SK Sarda, the President of Sikkim Chamber of Commerce pointed out that the business in Sikkim has been affected due to the blockade of the National Highway 31-A.

“Tourism considered the backbone of Sikkim’s economy never witnessed such a drop in the business, said SK Pradhan, the President of TAAS.