Nepalese Demand for a Separate State in India & its Implications

FROM INDIA VARTA

By Dr. Dipak Basu

Veteran Naxalite leader and the CPI-ML general secretary, Mr Kanu Sanyal has expressed support towards the ongoing agitation in the Darjeeling hills demanding a separate Gorkhaland state. The Maoist leader said, his party had favoured the Gorkhaland demand earlier and supports it now as well. “The Nepalis in Darjeeling have got every right to self-rule and the demand for Gorkhaland is very genuine.

But how genuine is that demand? The fact remains that the Nepalese are not the original inhabitants of Darjeeling. By all means, except for the few who were in Darjeeling before 1950, almost all of them are Nepalese citizens i.e., foreigners but due to the Indo-Nepal Treaty of 1950 were allowed to stay in India. Does that treaty gave them the right to demand a separate state?

If we look back in history Nepalese were in expansionary mode before. The Anglo-Nepalese War of 1814 – 1816, was fought between Nepal and the British East India Company as a result of aggresive attacks by Nepalese on both India and Tibet. Gorkhas were originated in West-central Nepal. The Gorkha army, after occupying all of eastern Nepal by 1773, invaded Sikkim in 1788. In the west, the Kumaon region and its capital Almora, were occupied by Gorkhas as well. To the north however, aggression against Tibet forced China in 1792 to attack Nepal and occupy areas very close to the capital Kathmandu. However, the Gurkha appetite of invasion was not stopped. In 1803, the Kingdom of Garhwal was occupied by the Gurkhas. Further west, even Kangra was occupied until in 1809, but Ranjit Singh the Sikh Emperor drove them out. Finally the British defeated them and drove them out of all these areas in India and Sikkim. In the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816, Darjeeling was returned back to Sikkim. According to the treaty, Nepal lost Sikkim, the territories of Kumaon and Garhwal, and most of the lands of the Tarai in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Darjeeling was annexed by the British Indian Empire in 1849. Immigrants from Nepal were recruited to work at construction sites, tea gardens, and on other agriculture-related projects; but their numbers were few and far between.

Central authority to monitor border trade posts approved

FROM PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, July 3 (PTI) In a move to boost trade with neighbouring countries, government today approved a proposed legislation, for setting up of a central authority for construction and maintenance of land check posts on borders.

The Union cabinet gave its nod to a draft ‘Land Ports Authority of India Bill, 2008′ which would be introduced in the Parliament.

“The proposed Land Port Authority of India will have mandate to construct, manage and maintain the integrated check posts (ICPs) on the borders for regulation of trade and transit,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi told reporters after the meeting here.

Some of the ICPs have already started working on borders with Pakistan, China, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Experts said well-managed ICPs would boost India’s trade with neighbouring countries and would also help contain smuggling of goods.

Govt mulling revised guidelines for medical education in NE

FROM PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, Jul 3 (PTI) With a view to encouraging medical education in the northeast, the Government today said it was considering revised guidelines for the region with regard to the establishment of medical colleges.

Observing that the North Eastern states were a priority area for the Government, Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said, keeping in mind the special needs of the region, the Central Government is actively considering revised guidelines for the region with regard to establishment of medical colleges.

The relaxation regarding number of beds and patient load are under consideration for establishing medical colleges in North Eastern region, he told Meghalaya Chief Minister Donkupar Roy who called on him last evening.

With regard to the state’s request for a change in the selection criteria for North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS), Shillong, the Minister said that the proposal will be considered in the context of norms and requirements of similar autonomous institutions established by the Government of India.

Sikkim govt scraps three more hydel projects

FROM PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Gangtok, Jul 3 (PTI) After discarding four hydel projects in March, the Sikkim government has scrapped three more such projects in the state accusing private developers of delaying execution of their contracts, a top government official said today.

“It has been decided to terminate the contract of three hydel projects – Sada-Mangder (71 mw) in West and South districts, Bhasmey (51 mw) in East district and Rongnichu (96 mw) in East district – due to the failure of the private developers to execute these projects on schedule,” Power and Energy Department Secretary Pema Wangchen said.

The private developers, Gati Investments Ltd and Madhya Bharat Power Corporation Ltd, have been duly informed about the state government’s decision to terminate the contract of the three power projects on grounds of delay in work execution, which, he said, had caused financial losses to the state exchequer.

The Sada-Mangder and Bhasmey hydel projects were awarded to Gati Investments Ltd in November 2003, while the Rongnichu hydel project was awarded to Madhya Bharat Power Corporation Ltd in March 2006, Wangchen said.

Nepalese Royal Guards without Job

FROM PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

By Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, Jul 3 (PTI) A total of 479 former staff members of the Narayanhiti palace in the Nepalese capital have no duties to preform since the abolition of the 240-year-old institution of monarchy on May 28 and are waiting the fresh directives from the government. [Inset: The Former Royal Guards. Photo: Daylife]

They have been attending the office at the palace-turned museum but without any work, although they received their monthly salaries as usual, a former royal palace staff said.

Nepal’s last king Gyanendra vacated the palace in June after the Maoists-dominated Constituent Assembly declared the country a republic in a historic decision.

“Now a days, I pass my time watching television programmes at the office,” said Sarad Bista, Under Secretary at the Narayanhiti Palace Museum.

Bista, former deputy press secretary at the royal palace press secretariat, is serving under the Ministry of General Administration like rest of the ex-palace staff.

They have been instructed to keep the records of the palace assets and look after the property, said a staff.

Bengal won’t ban Maoists

FROM PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Kolkata, July 3 (PTI) Despite a spurt in Maoist activity, the West Bengal government is not contemplating a ban on the ultras and instead wants to tackle them politically, administratively and through adoption of various socio-economic measures.

Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee told the state Assembly today that the government did not think that a mere ban would be able to check the Maoists. The menace could rather be tackled politically, administratively and by taking up measures for socioeconomic development.

Bhattacharjee, who holds the Home (police) department, told Leader of Opposition Partha Chatterjee that several states had suggested a ban on the Maoists during a recent meeting with the Prime Minister in Delhi, but the West Bengal government did not subscribe to such a view.

The state government, he said, would like to undertake socioeconomic development of the areas now considered Maoist-infested.

He referred to the resolution of the militancy problem at Naxalbari in the past through political and administrative means.

Accusing the Maoists of commiting murder, loot, terror and dacoity, the Chief Minister said the government had been keeping a strict vigil on the ultras and stepped up security in the Maoist-infested areas of Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore districts.

“Gorkhaland is akin to Greater Nepal” Dainik Jagaran

Gorkha agitation keeps trekkers at bay

FROM DNA INDIA

By Sumanta Ray Chaudhuri

Monsoon adventurers stay away from Darjeeling due to unrest

KOLKATA: The agitation for Gorkhaland seems to have robbed the queen of hill stations of all its sheen and means of sustenance as well. It’s not just the tea gardens and tourism in the Darjeeling hills that are affected.

Trekking and mountaineering — the two most popular sectors of Indian adventure sports — have taken a
setback since the protests began.

With the hills now a hotbed of unrest, the training and expedition schedules of almost all the leading mountaineering institutes of West Bengal have been totally jeopardized, especially the biggest mountaineering federation of the state, West Bengal Adventure & Mountaineering Federation (WBAMF).

Darjeeling was especially a favourite haunt of monsoon trekkers, but no institute has recorded any booking so far. June-July is considered to be the best time for monsoon trekking expeditions and on an average there are around 30 to 40 monsoon-trekking call bookings every year during this period.

Renowned mountaineer of Mount Everest North Call and WBMAF founder member, A Sen, said monsoon trekking is the ultimate stage of risky trekking. It is only after successfully completing this phase that a trainee mountaineer graduates to probationer mountaineer.

STORM BREWING IN THE MOUNTAINS

The indifference of the state government towards the people of Darjeeling makes a separate state the obvious solution to their problems, writes Mahendra P. Lama (The author prepared the first Development Plan of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in 1989. The position he holds has no bearing on the views expressed in this article )

March ahead

The inevitable has happened in Darjeeling district. The demand for Gorkhaland has erupted once again, and this time in a much more vocal, sweeping and determined manner than the last. There are four primary reasons for this. First, the setting up of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in 1988 as a solution to the last round of Gorkhaland agitation of the Eighties failed to do Darjeeling any good. The DGHC had no power to speak of, as it remained under the control of the Writers’ Building. Its chairman, Subhas Ghisingh, ran it as a personal fief and with the tacit support of the Bengal administration, systematically demolished well-known institutions and created a deep sense of insecurity among the people. The West Bengal government obviously enjoyed this throttling of democratic rights and further consolidated its friendship with Ghisingh. Even nine months back, the Bengal government maintained that there are no opposition parties in Darjeeling.

Second, if Jharkhand, Uttaranchal and Chhattisgarh could happen without much fuss, why not Gorkhaland? An autonomous Gorkhaland would complete the geographical definition of the North-east. If Sikkim and Assam are parts of the North-east, then why not the contiguous Darjeeling district and the Dooars? The political history of the demand for Gorkhaland dates back to 1907. The memorandum submitted by the Hillmen’s Association to Sir Samuel Hoare, the Secretary of State for India, on October 25, 1930, states in detail why the hill people wanted to remain outside Bengal. Ghisingh and his party, the Gorkha National Liberation Front, sold out the core issue of Gorkhaland just to remain in power. This movement, like that for the constitutional recognition of the Nepali language before it happened in 1992, has been linked to questions of Gorkha identity and of the need to acknowledge their contribution in the making of modern India.

Third, the last 20 years have shown clearly that the Bengal government’s interest in Darjeeling is only skin deep. It continues to treat most parts of Darjeeling and the Dooars as an ‘internal colony’. This attitude was reflected most clearly in the way the government tried to impose the Sixth Schedule status on Darjeeling. For the Gorkhaland agitators, this proved to be the last straw.

Is Darjeeling quickly turning into a Queen of Concrete Jungle!

A BEACON ONLINE EXCLUSIVE (THE HIMALAYAN BEACON

Photo by Barun Roy

The development of Darjeeling Town under the financial assistance of WORLD BANK – What Happened to It?

BEACON ONLINE EXPOSÉ (THE HIMALAYAN BEACON)

MUST READ!

By Barun Roy

Darjeeling Town, one of the oldest towns in India, situated at altitudes varying between 2,000 meters and 2,3000 meters was established in the year 1850, one of the first municipalities in the British Empire, when the population of this town was not even more than 10,000. Darjeeling was then famous for its scenic beauty and used to be a place for health resort for tourists from other parts of the world. Darjeeling was and is still known as “Queen of the Hill Stations” thus earning a place in the “Tourist Map” of the world.

With the passing of 158 years, today, there has been tremendous growth in the population of the town. (More than 10.7 times as you can see on the data sheet below). While this growth has been exponential the growth of the town to accommodate this growing population has been in a most unplanned manner. The unplanned growth of the town has further led to severe resource hemorrhage due to the influx of tourists in the town. A flicker of 10 to 100 tourists during the first days of the town has now increased to more than 500,000, with the cumulative population of the town exploding to more than 7 lakhs every tourist season

The consequences of this unplanned growth of the town and the pressure of the massive population has adversely affected the basic amenities to the people of Darjeeling which includes portable drinking water, sanitation (Disposal of solid and liquid waste) roads and roadside drainage, storm water disposal drainage (Jhora), fire hydrants, bus terminuses, terminuses for goods carriers, transportations, parks and gardens, roadside shelter sheds, crematoriums, slaughter house, market complexes etc. Even the stability of the town itself is threatened periodically by major landslides caused by the damaged Jhoras at the lower regions of the town. Due to the lack of the facilities there has been rapid degradation in environment and the living standard of the people of Darjeeling and the popular concern on the degrading administrative and infrastructural resources in the town, Darjeeling Municipality and other Governmental Agencies made concentrated effort to remedy the problem and initiate an Integrated Development Scheme. A project of 89 Crores was thus made in 1998, of which the World Bank funded the majority in 2002. Funds were to be made available to the Darjeeling Municipality and other Government Agencies. The Integrated Development Scheme included the following schemes in priority basis:

Springdale and Saptashri Students on Hunger Srike in Kalimpong

Photo by Himalaya Darpan

“Gorkhaland Personnel will work as a filter in the society”, Retired Col. Ramesh Allay

“Gorkhaland Personnel will work as a filter in the society” saying Retired Col. Ramesh Allay at a meeting in Kalimpong. Photo by Himalaya Darpan

Students on Hunger Strike at Mirik

Photo by Himalaya Darpan

19 girls in hunger strike at Kurseong – A photo feature by Nandan Pradhan

LL

Names of thestudents form various school took parts in Hunger Strike are as as follows

1. Shahin Khan 19yrs XII Arts St Joseph’s Girls HS School

2. Sangamika Rai 18 yrs XI Arts St Joseph’s Girls HS School

3. Meghna Tamang 18 yrs XII Arts St Joseph’s Girls HS School

4. Kritim Rai 18 yrs XII Arts St Joseph’s Girls HS School

5. Osim Lama 17 yrs XII Arts St Joseph’s Girls HS School

6. Priya Chettri 16 yrs VIII St Joseph’s Girls HS School

7. Roshni Lama 16 yrs X St Joseph’s Girls HS School

8. Paulina Dewan 18 yrs XIArts St Joseph’s Girls HS School

9. Priyanka Chettri 18yrs XI Arts St Joseph’s Girls HS School

10. Karishma Lama 17 yrs XI Arts St Joseph’s Girls HS School

11. Pooja Lama 19 Yrs XII Arts St Joseph’s Girls HS School

12. Pratiksha Mark Lepcha 17 yrs XII com St. Alphonsus HS School

13. Trishala Chettri 17 yrs XII com St. Alphonsus HS School

14. Sweety Chettri 17 yrs XII Sci Pushparani Roy Memorial HS school

15. Minjee Doma Lama 15 yrs X Himali Boarding School

16. Bijayata Pradhan 15 yrs VII Himali Boarding School

17. Bishaka Pradhan 16 yrs XI Himali Boarding School

18. Deepshika Pradhan 15 yrs IX Cambridge English School

19. Ruchira Gurung 15 yrs IX Daisies English School

LL

ALL PHOTOS BY NANDAN PRADHAN

LL

Mayawati’s reform

THE INDIAN EXPRESS EDITORIAL

English is a piece of cake. I can totally conquer English. I will use English. I will learn English. I will live in English. I am no longer a slave to English. I am its master. I believe English will become my faithful servant and lifelong friend.” That’s from the Li Yang Crazy English website, where the Chinese are taught to shout out loud in the language of global competitiveness. States like Uttar Pradesh, which earlier eschewed English, have done a 180-degree switch, realising that it is increasingly the only way to transact with a wider world. Those who could afford to flee the public system would send their children to “English medium schools”, and ensure that they grew up fluent, so the demand for English instruction actually also came via UP’s subaltern politics, under a Mayawati government.

And it’s not just India’s cow belt that’s junking old, resentful associations. Hong Kong recently made a pragmatic decision to undo a decade-long policy of teaching in Cantonese and revert to the language of erstwhile colonial rule. Moreover, as the UP education officials suggested, when four-fifths of electronic information is stored in English, rejecting the language amounts to setting our faces against the global interconnectedness that defines our times. Even though there are now more multilingual platforms (and machine translations) than before, the Web mostly speaks English. The language dominates international business, politics and culture more than any other language in human history.

Just as English is taking over the world, the world is also taking over English. It is a stew of accents and influences, and the OED can barely keep up with the intricacies of Yiddish English or Caribbean English, let alone the hip improvisations of various urban subcultures. India is second only to the United States in the number of English speakers (and is all set to overtake it). The Empire strikes back, and how.

Indian Idol comes to Buddha’s rescue

BY Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay INDIAN EXPRESS

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has for long been harping on the fact that the Gorkhaland impasse can only be solved through talks. Now, he has got Prashant Tamang, the “Indian Idol” from Darjeeling, for company. [Inset Prashant Tamang. Photo Archives]

Speaking to The Indian Express, Tamang said: “Gorkhaland or no Gorkhaland, the deadlock must be solved only through dialogue. There should not be any violence or bloodshed, as these do not lead us anywhere. I am a singer and not a politician. I just want that the problem is solved amicably.” Tamang, who won the singing competition last year, works for the Kolkata police.

He added that he was pained to see the Bengali-Nepali divide not only in the Hills but also in Siliguri. “This is the worst thing that could have happened,” said Tamang, who is currently in Mumbai on leave.The leaders of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), however, accused the CPM of fomenting communal tension in Siliguri and in the Hills.

“The CPM is responsible for dividing the two communities. Both the police as well as CPM cadres had attacked the Gorkhas. We can assure that the Gorkhas will never indulge in violence and get Gorkhaland through peaceful means,” said Anmol Prasad, a member of GJM’s central committee.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, AND NO ACTION?

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

BY SREYASHI DASTIDAR (WITH INPUTS FROM ANURADHA SHARMA)

The multiplexes are alive with the sights and sounds of the Darjeeling hills, with Anjan Dutta’s Chalo…Let’s Go and Arindam Nandy’s Via Darjeeling doing brisk business. But the sun isn’t shining too brightly on the Kanchenjungha right now. Blame it on Bimal Gurung, or, from the other side of the divide, on the media-created impression of the disruptiveness of the movement he heads.

Walt Disney Pictures have called off their plans to shoot Zokkomon in north Bengal, and shifted the ‘location’ to Himachal Pradesh, informed Suddhabrata Deb, the location consultant to Walt Disney Pictures for the film. Had they stuck to their original plan, the hills would have had the honour of hosting “the first live-action full-length film that the company known for its animation films is producing in India”.

When Bengal went to Cannes this year to woo international filmmakers, its main weapons of mass temptation were the “high Himalayas” and “virgin forests and rolling tea gardens” of north Bengal. Darjeeling and Kalimpong are the “jewels nestled against the backdrop of the gorgeous eastern Himalayas”. Before the campaign could begin to reap its fruits comes the news of Disney’s withdrawal.

Apprehensions often have a tenuous basis in reality. The cast and crew of Chalo…Let’s Go shot in Darjeeling for days when the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha agitation was gathering steam around the end of last year. Parambrata Chatterjee remembers their local guide testifying to the popularity of Gurung. The production manager of the film, Sugata Chowdhury, had no problem shooting on one side of the Mall while the Morcha leaders held a meeting on the other.

Chowdhury has worked on Anjan Dutta’s new film, Chowrasta: Crossroads of Love in the Mall only a couple of months back. This was when the media were full of reports of tourists being harassed by agitating Morcha supporters. Not for once was their work held up because of protests, maintains Chowdhury, although once, on a bandh day, the unit had to opt for indoor shooting, when even the bus used by the crew was politely taken away by the Morcha leaders.

Would the will of Nepali people be honoured?

FROM THE NEW NATION (BANGLADESH)

By Shamsuddin Ahmed

The surprise victory of Maoists in the election in Nepal has given to rise some speculations. Rabindra Nath Sharma, an elderly politician in Kathmandu, has predicted turmoil in the country leading to army take over, which would be supported by India and International community. Wang Hong Wei, a Chinese expert on Nepal, viewed that India wants to turn Nepal into a second Bhutan or Sikkim. The election results have made Indian leaders uneasy at the prospect of spilling over the influence of the Maoist rule in Nepal to the comrades well organised in the neighbouring northeaster states of India. Some of the political pundits in India and BJP leaders sounding security risk have suggested the government to take ‘appropriate measures’ in Nepal.

The election was held on April 10. But the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) that won majority in the constituent assembly has been struggling to take over the power. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala of the Congress Party staking for the presidency has long refused to step down on pretext of one reason or other. Only a couple of days ago he agreed to hand over the power only after election of the President by the constituent assembly through consensus.

But then came the three small Madhes Terai parties with the demand for constitutional guarantee of autonomous province for their region. Maoist felt that One Madhes is a threat to national integrity and dismissed the demand. The region borders India and its leaders are believed to have been prodded by India to raise the demand. Madhes leaders are in favour of railway link to Kolkata via Bihar.

It is no surprise that Prime Minister Koirala and his party supported Madhesi demand. The Madesi members obstructed the proceedings of the constituent assembly to a standstill for five consecutive days this week. Finally with Koiral’s active support they succeeded in making the majority party agree to amend the constitution providing for Madhes an autonomous province.

Statehood Movements in India

The resurgence of the movement for a separate state of Gorkhaland carved out of West Bengal has revived the debate within political parties on smaller states. In the absence of unanimity, each political party has worked out its own logic for supporting or resisting demands for smaller – or not-so-small – states.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) favours splitting up states, barring a few, for better governance while the Congress party prefers not to have a fixed position on the issue. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) is against smaller states per se but its parent, Communist Party of India (CPI), is all for them – barring a few ones. Clearly, political India has no single mind on whether smaller states are good for the country.

The campaign for Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh had the strong backing of the tribals, who felt they were not getting their due from the plainspeople. Those clamouring for Uttaranchal – also mainly a hilly region and home to many tourist and Hindu pilgrimage centres – wanted to get out of the clutches of the mammoth Uttar Pradesh. In 2000, all three states – Uttaranchal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand – were carved respectively out of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. That success only emboldened the feelings of those who say they too need separate states.

Gorkhaland

Gorkhaland is the name given to the area around Darjeeling and the Duars in north West Bengal. Residents of the area, mostly Gorkhas have long demanded a separate state for themselves to preserve their Nepali identity and to improve their socio-economic conditions.

Prisoners of the Left

FROM SIFY NEWS

By Prakash Nanda

History is often a confused heap of facts and that is why history’s lessons are no more enlightening than the wisdom of those who interpret them. Since we Indians have been virtually forced, since our independence, to inculcate the Left-dominated historical thought process, it is indeed refreshing to read Claude Arpi’s “Tibet: The Lost Frontier” (Lancer Publishers) to get a proper perspective on how India, Tibet and China have been interacting for centuries. Students, analysts and practitioners of diplomacy and strategic affairs will find this book simply brilliant.

The Chinese say that Tibet became a part of the Chinese empire when the great Mongol Genghis Khan annexed Tibet (most parts of it) in the early 13th century. It is a strange logic, because taken to its logical conclusion, one could argue that China is a part of Mongolia and does not deserve to exist as an independent nation. Secondly, why are the Chinese not claiming a quarter of Europe, Russia and the whole of West Asia (Middle East) and Central Asia since these also constituted the Mongol empire of Genghis Khan?

The problem with the Chinese version of history is where to draw the line. After all, it is also a fact that the pre-Mongol history of Tibet was militarily glorious. In the eighth century, the Tibetan empire was expanding at such a pace that at one time the then Chinese emperor had to flee his capital and a Tibetan nominee was put on the Chinese throne! Peace was restored in the year 821 with the conclusion of a Treaty, which laid down clearly the boundaries between China and Tibet. It read: “Tibet and China shall abide by the frontiers of which they are now in occupation. All to the East is the country of Great China; and all to the west is, without question, the country of Great Tibet….”

Therefore, Arpi is right when he argues that Tibet and China always had a relation based on force and power. With the advent of Buddhism in Tibet, the Tibetan military power obviously declined. But its spiritual power was recognised, with many Chinese rulers treating the Dalai Lama as their “guru”. And as “dakshina”, they stood as the guarantor (militarily) – Arpi describes this as the Priest-Patron relationship – of Tibet’s territorial integrity against possible invasions. It may be noted here that at various points of time, Gorkha rulers of Nepal and Dogra kings of Kashmir had occupied Tibetan territories through military conquest. But ultimately, the Chinese factor in Tibet neutralized these gains by the Gorkhas and Dogras. And that is what constituted the so-called Chinese “suzerainty”, distinct from “sovereignty” over Tibet.

Sikkim boy gets a ticket to USA – SFA congratulates Ashish Chhetri

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK, July 01: Ashish Chettri, a young budding footballer from Sikkim has been selected in the final contingent of India Under-16 Football team under foreign coach, Colin Toal. While congratulating the young footballer, Menla Ethenpa, SFA general secretary informed that the U-16 national team is on a four week exposure cum training tour of West Virginia, USA. The Sikkim star has left India on June 30 midnight along with 24 other team mates and six officials of the India U-16 national team. For the team, the trip to the US is a part of the exposure ahead of the Asian U-16 championship finals to be held in October 2008. The trip has been made possible by FS Sports WV LLC Company based in West Virginia, Mr. Ethenpa said in a release. The release also informed that another Sikkim boy, Bigendra Rai, who was also in the coaching camp at Goa, could not make it in the final list for the US trip on medical ground.

Gorkha Janmukti Byapari Sangh Morcha formed to support GJM’s non violent movement

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

RANGPO, July 01: To show solidarity to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) for their demand of a separate Gorkhaland state, the Gorkha Janmukti Byapari Sangh Morcha was formed today under the presidentship of Ramaji Bhagat. A meeting of the newly formed committee was held at the residence of Lokesh Chettri, area president, GJM, Rangpo West Bengal. In the meeting, Chunu Chettri was elected as a vice-president, Rakesh Bhagat as general secretary and Satish Prasad as assistant secretary.  Manu Chettri, Dil Chettri, Tara Pradhan, Sunita Gurung, Om Prakash, Dharmanath Prasad, Laxmi Chettri, Mohammad Julfikar, Rameshwar Prasad, Pawan Prasad and Ram Kumar Gupta were elected as advisor of newly formed Morcha. Dil Chettri, one of the Spokespersons of the Byapari Morcha said that the business community has fully supported the peaceful revolution of Gorkhaland. We have also decided to take part in the non violet movement started by GJM president, Bimal Gurung, he said.

Morcha speeds up making GL number plates to meet July 7 deadline

FROM SIKKIME EXPRESS

DARJEELING, July 01: To support the move of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) for their demand of a separate Gorkhaland State, at least 300 vehicle owners have so far submitted documents of their vehicles to facilitate using GL number plates with effect from July 7, 2008. This was informed by Norbu Lama, president, All Transport Joint Action Committee here today. Last week, All Transport JAC had directed all vehicle owners to submit vehicle documents at the office of the Morcha at Singamari by July 5.

As work on making the GL number plates has speeded up, common people are both excited and worried as how the Morcha agitation would take its new form. Before suspending the bandh till July 5, the Morcha had said the bandh will be brought out in a different form.  In a meeting held today at Singamari to discuss about putting GL number plates from July 7, leaders announced to stop giving token tax of vehicles to West Bengal government from the same day, Mr. Lama said.

‘Situation not out of hand yet’

FROM THE STATESMAN

SILIGURI, July 2: Maoist rebels are becoming active in north Bengal, but the situation is not alarmingly out of hand yet, the Inspector General Police, law and order, Mr Raj Kanojia, assured here, today. But the police have struck a note of warning, he added. They are keeping a ‘cautious eye’ on the Maoist insurgents, who endeavour to add a new dimension to violence, in connection with frontal organisations. “Their activity is under observation, primarily, in three districts- Jalpaiguri, Malda and Dinajpur, but the situation is not alarming yet,” the IGP said. However, Mr Kanojia was painfully reticent about, whether the arms and ammunitions exploited by ex- Maoists in Nepal were being passed across to those active in West Bengal, particularly north Bengal. “It involves a foreign country and hence, I would not make a comment.”- was his terse reply.  Talking about how prepared the police are, the IGP boasted that the state is equipped with 15 companies of special force, extensively trained to combat insurgency. A few of them has been kept on hold in north Bengal. According to Mr.Kanojia, there was no immediate plan for deploying additional security forces in the Darjeeling hills, even in the face of recent violence. “Future steps would be taken, considering the situation in hills,” he added. The police bigwig, who has been camping in Siliguri since 30 June, also informed that he has been reviewing the situation in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar, along with extra hands, all senior police officials from these districts.