A BAHADUR’S LONELY POINT OF VIEW-II

BY PHILIP RAI

SHARED BY SHITAL PRADHAN

The equestrian figure of the legendary Durga Malla stands proudly in the precincts of the Indian Parliament, the heart of India’s democracy. As the venerable Mahindra P. Lama suggests, Durga Malla should be crafted into the brand ambassador of the Gorkhas living in India. Dr. Lama’s suggestion is absolutely right and should be worked on without any doubts.

But then Dr. Lama has never suggested that we pass into oblivion those Gorkhas  who served in the Indian army prior to 1947. The Gorkhas who served in the British Indian army should not be remembered by us merely as those twenty five oath bound Gorkhas who under General Dyer shot at an unarmed crowd in April 1919 at Jalianwala Bagh. Perspectives should change with the passage of time and the discovery of recent accounts hitherto in the dark

The contribution of the Gorkhas should not be confined merely to whether they took part in the freedom struggle or not or how much did they contribute but also thereafter in the nation consolidating process. And a Gorkha should never blindly accuse his predecessors that they blindly supported the Britishers and never did support the Indian freedom struggle. One should pore at all the facets of history before one should accuse oneself. With the pen in the scabbard, the real, unique and unbiased history of the Gorkhas has just started It stands, a silhouetted equestrian figure wearing a Gorkha heart against a crimson horizon with the sun slowly pulling up behind its back; ready to gallop.

Coming back to the British Indian Army, those who served in the pre Independent  army were not only Gurkhas, there were other Indians too. India’s first Field Marshal,(so far India has had only two, the other being K.M. Cariappa), the architect of India’s heroic victory in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, SAM Manekshaw, MC of the 8th Gorkha Rifles fought against the Japanese and not in the Azad Hind Fauj. Outstanding middle-level and junior leaders such as Brigadier KS Thimayya DSO, Major Srikant Korla DSO, MC, Major NC Rawlley MC and Major Rajwade, and others too were not in the Azad Hind Fauj. After Independence, these men filled into the higher commands left vacant by the departure of the Britishers. These men guided the modern Independent army ably so much so that the Indian army is considered at present one of the best and fit fighting forces of the world.

These men like the Gorkhas of the pre independent Indian army fought not for the British Flag but as put by the Indian army in its website (www.indianarmy.nic.in) ‘The Indian Army Sepoy (from the Hindustani word sipahi) and now Jawan (young man) or Sawar (rider) and his leaders formed a cohesive collective. They lived to serve the Unit, they were willing to die for it. Nothing must happen which would tarnish its honour, its izzat… Unflinching loyalty was to a concept and not to a transient personality or cause. Always and everywhere, the Unit came first.’

Kashmir, Darjeeling lose tourists to picturesque Shillong

FROM INDIAN EXPRESS

NEWS SHARED BY AARDEE

Picturesque Shillong, which once served as the summer getaway for the British colonialists along with Darjeeling hills, has witnessed a phenomenal jump in the arrival of tourists.

The city, atop the Khasi hills, has become a great hit with the tourists for the last five years after the Kashmir valley and Darjeeling hills fell out of favour because of militancy and political trouble there.

State tourism department officials said although they were yet to compile the exact number of tourists visiting the resort, provisional estimates said there had been a 50 per cent increase in the last five years.

The total number of tourists coming to Meghalaya last year was 4,62,952 as compared to 4,00,287 in 2006 and 2,71, 720 recorded in 2002.

The number of foreign tourists has also increased over the last five years. Last year there were 5,267 foreign tourists visiting the state as compared to 3,191 recorded tourists in 2002.

Buoyed by the increased tourist inflow, the Meghalaya government has floated the idea of Bed and Breakfast (BnB) scheme under which willing families will host tourists to give them a first hand feel of the food and culture of the region.

‘93 Mumbai blasts: Mistaken identity lands Kashmiri in jail

FROM INDIAN EXPRESS

New Delhi, September 8: Destiny could not have been more cruel on a 37-year-old Kashmiri businessman than being mistaken for a 1993 serial Mumbai blasts accused and picked up and deported from Nepal to India.

This is the saga of Riyaz Ahmed Lone who has been living in Kathmandu since 1983 and is married and settled in the Himalayan kingdom for over two decades.

Lone and another person were picked up by police in Kathmandu last week and questioned over his “role in Mumbai blasts” after which he was put on a plane to New Delhi.

The CBI was informed about their arrival after which a team reached the airport and detained Lone and the second person who was identified as Abdul Salim Gazi Gani, also wanted in connection with the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.

Lone informed the CBI that he was not the person whom they were looking for but the agency sleuths went about their task and shifted him and Gani to Mumbai and put in a jail. He informed the court also that he was not the person they were looking for.

In the meantime, CBI also began checking his background and found that it was a case of mistaken identity and that the person sent from Kathmandu had no links with the blast case or for that matter any case.

A resident of downtown Srinagar, Lone had migrated to Nepal in 1983 and set up a small shop selling Kashmiri handicrafts. He married a local there and the couple have a 14-year-old son.

Kingpin may spill the beans on Maoist-ISI link

FROM NAXAL WATCH

NAGPUR: The police are looking into political affiliation and activities of fake currency kingpin Umesh Rawat arrested by the crime branch near Sikta in West Champaran in Bihar recently.

Rawat was brought to city on Sunday. He is learnt to be a Nepali Maoist and a village head in Nepal.

Intelligence agencies may start probing the ISI-Maoist collusion in pumping fake currency in India after the arrest of Umesh Rawat alias Prasad alias Patel. Apart from Maoists, Nepal is also learnt to be harbouring a well-oiled network of ISI and Dawood Ibrahim gang, especially in and around Kathmandu. According to intelligence reports, both ISI and Maoists have a common agenda of fostering anti-national operations in India.

The crime branch, which had netted two of Umesh’s aides from Madhya Pradesh and city earlier, is likely to produce Umesh before the court today. The team under crime branch senior inspector P T Ingle, which nabbed Umesh, also reached city. Before being nabbed, Umesh’s moles circulated several fake notes at different locations in the city and MP.

THE FIRST GORKHA RIFLES VCOs MESS TANGLEWOOD, DHARAMSHALA: GORKHA HERITAGE

ALL PHOTOS BY JYOTI THAPA MANI

“NBU only choice at present” – HRD Minister convinces college faculty that SU is yet to have ‘functional ability’

FROM SIKKIM REPORTER

Gangtok: The Central University in Sikkim, locally called Sikkim University (SU), is yet to have necessary “administrative and academic” capacity to be functional with the affiliated colleges of the state in toe. It will take time for the futuristic projections of SU to match with ground realities, like capacity of the colleges to implement the syllabus and curricula given the Varsity, state HRD Minister, Mr. G. M. Gurung told the Sikkim Government College faculty members in his long parleys on Saturday. Till such time, affiliation with North Bengal University (NBU) is the only choice for Sikkim colleges, Mr. Gurung emphasized, according to sources.

After detailed deliberations with lecturers of individual departments of the premier college of the state, the Minister succeeded in achieving a consensus on the vexed issue. Other than Nepali department, all other departments of the college agreed with the Minister that re-affiliation of Sikkim colleges with the NBU is imperative in the present circumstances, sources said.

It is likely that the Minister and his departmental officers will continue similar parleys with other college faculties and students, to take them in confidence in the matter of re-affiliation with NBU.

It may be noted that Sikkim colleges were earlier affiliated to NBU but the affiliation was automatically snapped with the SU coming in existence by an Act of the Parliament which envisaged that all colleges of the state will automatically come under academic and administrative control of the UGC aided Central University. Accordingly, the UGC appointed Vice Chancellor of the Varsity, Dr. M. P. Lama ‘took over’ the control of all the colleges of the state, both government and private. Two months back, colleges admitted students for courses offered by SU.

No alternative than Gorkhaland: Hill parties – TRIPARTITE TALKS TODAY AT DELHI

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

DARJEELING, September 7: Talks about more power to Darjeeling hills and the still alive Sixth Schedule Bill are doing rounds as the people here wait for the much anticipated tripartite talks on Gorkhaland demand between Centre, West Bengal government and political parties of Darjeeling to be held tomorrow.

While the Bengal government have already dismissed Gorkhaland demand and stressed on more power to hill people through Gorkha Autonomous Council (a morphed version of Sixth Schedule), the Centre has generated much hope by stating the ‘Gorkhaland demand is not unconstitutional’.

Meanwhile, political parties here including Gorkha Janmukti Morcha have committed not move an inch back from Gorkhaland demand.

Sensing a move detrimental to separate State demand from Bengal government, All Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL) president Madan Tamang has expressed his fear of a more empowered council for Darjeeling instead of Gorkhaland from the Centre and West Bengal government.

“There is no alternative to Gorkhaland. Our development will only come from a separate State”, said Mr. Tamang. We are ready to give point by point on why we need Gorkhaland, he added.

My beloved Darjeeling – A Poem by Amar Bahadur Shrestha

BY AMAR BAHADUR SHRESTHA

SHARED BY DIPAK SHRESTHA

Click on the scanned copy to enlarge

Gorkhapedia – The free Gorkha Encyclopedia that anyone can edit

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Darjeeling! I hope you are all doing well. Please do accept my best wishes and deepest regards.

It has been nine months of tumultuous blogging since the first day of January 1 2008. In these few months ‘The Himalayan Beacon’ or more popularly ‘Beacon Online’ has grown in popularity and respect. From Darjeeling to New York, from Southfield College to Zurich University, from bloggers who had never ever blogged earlier to the most celebrated of authors, Beacon Online has reached across the world, binding people together in one consciousness. Though there remains much to be achieved but the coast is now clear and the horizon though far looks miraculously achievable. I don’t know whether I am right or wrong but I had never witnessed so many people coming together in an intellectual plain to discuss, deliberate and share ideas on a common ground. This has been Beacon Online’s achievement and more so the achievement of the bloggers who made Beacon Online. I congratulate all and hope that we will pioneer an IDEOLOGICAL RENIASSANCE in our midst and the world we represent.

On August 3 2008, Jyoti Thapa Mani, an esteemed Beacon Online Blogger initiated the historic ‘Save the Gorkha’ Campaign. The ‘Save the Gorkha’ initiative was historic in the sense that it for the first time sought to document the achievement of Gorkhas online in a ‘reacable for all free database system’. Within a span of two months, ‘Save the Gorkha’ Post is today one of the most commented post in Beacon Online. It is also one of highest viewed post among Indian Blogs. It has so far been viewed 5, 84,290 Times.

‘Save the Gorkha’ is only the few of Beacon Online’s exclusive initiative. The first European Article on Gorkhaland has been viewed more than 3,94,398 times. Darjeeling Burns received more than 10,928 hits in the first day it was published. Beacon Online has today more 42,923 articles, 9,283 photos, and 1,923,202 comments. Surely, a some means had to be forumlated through which all the information gathered on Beacon Online could be published in an collaborative effort after categorising and checking them. While Beacon Online specializes on News and Views, research based data had to be included somewhere else so that speciality of Beacon Online – News, Views and Insights from Gorkhas world Over had to be maintained. A new means of an collabrative endeavour on a Global level where bloggers were given the ability to create, edit and delete pages had to be reached out so that Beacon Online could be suplemented and her effort of Unifying Global Gorkha Consciousness augmented.

It is thus, my honour and privilege to inform you on Beacon Online’s new initiative – THE FIRST FREE GORKHA ENCYCLOPEDIA THAT ANYONE CAN EDIT.  This Wikipedia styled free for all to edit online encyclopedia aptly named Gorkhapedia will deal with everything that involves Gorkhas around the world. Please do visit the site to know more by clicking on the Gorkhapedia.org logos below go simply go to this link: www.gorkhapedia.org

I hope like The Himalayan Beacon (Beacon Online) Gorkhapedia will also grow in content and dignity.

Thanking you,

yours faithfully,

Barun Roy

Gorkhaland demand train passes Nagaland

FROM MORUNG EXPRESS

NEWS SHARED BY AARDEE

The three Gurkhaland State signature campaign activists of Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha along with Gorkha leaders during their stop at Mokokchung, September 7. Mokokchung | September 7 : The Gurkha’s demand for a separate state under the framework of the Indian Constitution has been gaining momentum after the formation of the Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha (GJMM) under the leadership of Bimal Gurung. Beginning June 23, this year, the GJMM as part of its campaign for a separate state for the Gurkhas is conducting a nation-wide signature campaign, which started from Delhi. The GJMM believes in the Gandhian principle of non-violence.

Three young GJMM activists today arrived in Mokokchung and conducted the ‘signature campaign’. They were welcomed by the Gurkhas residing in the town on behalf of the Gurkha Association of Nagaland. The convener of the signature campaign, Bishal Rai (23) is assisted by two aides, Gaynendra Aryal (24) and Pravashkar Mainali (24).

The three Gorkha youths expressed satisfaction at the turnout of signatories to the campaign. The same group has been touring entire India, organizing the signature campaign in support of a separate Gorkhaland state. The proposed Gorkhaland will be formed of Darjeeling and contiguous Gorkha territories including Siliguri, Terai and the Doars. This would mean redrawing the map of the Indian state of West Bengal.

Dr. Kumar Pradhan Releasing a Book on Darjeeling at Kurseong

Photo by Himalaya Darpan

Ratna Bahadur Rai addressing a political meeting

Ratna Bahadur Rai addressing a political meeting at Darjeeling. Ratna Bahadur Rai is the General Secretary of Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists. Photo by Himalaya Darpan

AYO GORKHALI!

By Amar Bahadur Shrestha

When General Gillespie’s men finally broke into the fort at Nalapani in western Nepal, his army was less by seven hundred and fifty men. Moreover, thirty-one of the officers had either been killed or wounded. It was a heavy price to pay for the defeat of a small force of only six hundred Gurkhas.

The battle of Nalapani in 1814 was one of the most important milestones in the history of warfare. It was the battle that opened the eyes of the world to the fact that a small kingdom called Nepal possibly had the bravest people in the world. The leader of the Gurkhas at Nalapani, Bal Bahadur Thapa, escaped with ninety soldiers and retreated to Jyathak where they were joined by three hundred fresh Gurkhas. Here, they were attacked by a combined force of three detachments of British soldiers, but when the smoke of battle had cleared, the British forces were in disarray, with twelve officers and almost fifteen hundred soldiers dead or wounded.

The numerically superior British soldiers, better armed and better trained, began to dread the Khukuri, the weapon of the Gurkhas. When Ranjit Singh Thapa, along with two hundred Gurkhas, attacked and defeated two thousand soldiers under Lieutenant Young in February 1815, the reputation of the Gurkhas as the finest soldiers in the world was confirmed. The fall of Malaon brought the British campaign of 1814-1815 to an end. But another was fought in 1816 – it was then that General Ochterony’s soldiers saw the heroism of the courageous Gurkhas. After the epic battle of Makwanpur, the war came to an end and the highly impressed British signed the Treaty of Sugauli (on March 4,1816) with the Nepalese government. It was as honourable a treaty as possible under the circumstances.

Thereafter, the British started to recruit Gurkhas into the Indian British Army, and the first of three battalions so raised consisted of Gurkhas from General Amar Singh Thapa’s defeated forces. So impressed were the awed British that they admitted, “…as compared to other orientals, Gurkhas are bold, enduring, faithful, frank, very independent and self reliant men….”. Brian Hodgson, an authoritative figure of the times, records further”…. and they possess preeminently that masculine energy of character and love of enterprise which distinguish so advantageously all the military races of Nepal.” At the same time, as befit their traditional thoroughness, the British were slightly confused, at first, as to the identification of the real military races in the mountain kingdom. What they did know was that in Nalapani in 1814, the six hundred Gurkhas under Bal Bahadur Thapa’s command were predominantly Magars. The British knew that the Magars made up the awesome Purana Gurakh Army.

A BAHADUR’S LONELY POINT OF VIEW- I

BY PHILIP RAI

SHARED BY SHITAL PRADHAN

The 150^th year of ‘the revolt of 1857′ or zealously called ‘The First War of Independence’ by Savarkar was celebrated this year with much fanfare and media attention. And the Gurkha intellectual cringed his eyes, drank mugs of tea, discussed the Gurkha bravery as a colonial myth and ended his discussion with a foot note ‘The Gurkhas should have sided with the Indians in the First War of Independence’.

Now then, according to popular history, the whole of Northern India was swayed by the First War of Independence but facts point out, the First War of Independence took place mostly between the Yamuna and the Narmada (that’s just a small speck of area compared to the whole of India). Bengal was peaceful. And significantly there were no Indians in the First War of Independence, but Poorbaiyas (Uttar Pradesh), Punjabis, Hindustanis, Gorkhas, Rajputs etc. This statement is given force by a Muslim poet of the Punjab, Shah Mohammed, who in his Jungnama, speaks of the Punjabis facing the Poorbaiyas and the Hindustanis in battle.

Such is the history taught by our intellectual cream and read by us as students that the Revolt of 1857 is believed by most as a glorifying year in the freedom struggle and those who did not take part in it as villains and traitors. Not a single secondary school text ever ventures to pint out that the First War of Independence was not an attempt to create a new India but an attempt to restore the old feudal era which had been replaced by the British highlighted by the use of religion as a tool of hatred against the British.

As put by Jawaharlal Nehru in his Glimpses of Modern History “Essentially it was a feudal outburst, headed by feudal chiefs and their followers… There was hardly any national and unifying sentiment among the leaders …There was no freedom for the common people in it…It was fighting for a lost cause, the feudal order…The revolt of 1857-58 was the last flicker of feudal India. “

Another noted freedom fighter Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad in the preface to Eighteen Fifty Seven published by the Government of India in 1957(Prof. Surendra Nath Sen) writes “As I read about the events of 1857, I am forced to the sad conclusion that Indian national character had sunk very low. The leaders of the revolt could never agree. They were mutually jealous and continually intrigued against one another. They seemed to have little regard for the effects of such disagreements on the common cause.”

Mahatma Jyoti Rao Phule in Slavery writes ‘The revolt engineered by Bhat Nana [Saheb] was put down by brave English rulers. Otherwise the so called emancipated Brahmins who perform religious rites … would have sentenced many Mahars for wearing the dhoti tucked away on one side, or for (the offence of) having uttered Sanskrit verses during religious discourses, to transportation for life.

Even Mahatma Gandhi initially had a dim view of 1857 as is evinced by his writing in the Indian Opinion of 1903 ‘The year 1857 was a year of great anxiety…An appeal was made to the worst suggestions of the people of India, religion was greatly brought into play, and all that could possibly be done by the evil-minded was done to unsettle people’s minds, and to make them hostile to the British rule. It was at that time of stress and trouble that great mass of the Indian people remained firm and unshaken in their loyalty [to the British]‘. [Inset: Ambedkar:  Dr. Ambedkar. The father of the Indian Constitution, was proud of the part played by the Dalits in suppressing the Revolt of 1857]

Now coming back to the real hero of the First War of Independence – Bahadur Shah Zafar. The rebels forced themselves on Bahadur Shah. He being old did not want to lead the rebels, so much so that he sent a fast camel rider to Agra to inform the Lieutenant Governor, of the mutiny in Meerut and of the arrival of the mutineers in Delhi and also offered to have the gate of the fort and to the city of Delhi opened to the Britishers if they guaranteed his life, pension, and privileges. Such was the degree of patriotism highlighted by the spear head of the First War of Independence.

PM warns employees of action

FROM SOUTH ASIAN MEDIA NET

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ today urged civil servants to help implement the Interim Constitution’s provision on federal republic.

Dahal was addressing a a function organised at the PM’s official residence in Baluwatar on the occasion of the Civil Servants’ Day. The government will try its best to boost

the morale of government employees, who do their bit to institutionalise the political change, he said, threatening to take action against all those who flout the rule.

“You are witness to political upheavals that have taken place since the 1960’s. As you know, the Maoists have a different background and you are working under the Maoist government. One can hardly experience such tumultuous changes in his lifetime,” the PM said. “The bureaucracy must accept this fact and be ready to work in a changed political situation.”

“We are trying to build a new Nepal dismantling feudal institutions and norms and values associated with them. Old norms and values are gone, but the new ones are yet to take root. We are yet to bring the peace process to a logical conclusion,” the PM said.

Aussie tourists to Nepal increase

FROM THE WEST AUSTRALIAN

Tourist arrivals in Nepal increased two per cent in the first eight months of 2008 compared with the same period last year despite a slowdown since April, the Nepal Tourism Board said.

“Total arrivals by air at the end of August reached 224,679, which is an increase of two per cent in comparison to the same period last year,” the board said in a statement.

However, it said the sluggishness seen in the past four months continued in August despite the overall growth.

“Just over 26,300 tourists arrived in Nepal in August, which is a decline of two per cent from August 2007,” the board said, adding, however, that the tourism industry had shown signs of revival after a 19 per cent drop in July.

The new data also showed tourist arrivals from Australia, Britain, Norway, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia were higher than last year but there had been a notable decrease of tourists from Japan, South Korea and China.

The tourism industry is one of Nepal’s biggest foreign exchange earners, bringing millions of dollars to the impoverished country and employing hundreds of thousands of people.

Five held over blast at Vice President’s residence

FROM GORKHAPATRA SANSTHAN

Kathmandu, September 7: The Metropolitan Police Crime Division Office (MPCD), Hanumandhoka once again succeeded in busting five culprits allegedly involved in a bomb blast at the residence of vice-president Paramananda Jha in Gaurighat-7 three weeks ago.

The five culprits – Mohan Karki alias Kiran, 26, Tikraj Magar alias Bisal, 21, Som Bahadur Rai alias Ramesh, 23, Shiva Bahadur Karki, 22, Prabin Dura alias Ashish, 19 – were rounded up from Chabahil a couple of days ago by a team led by Police Inspector Arun Ghale.

Police said that they had a direct link to the underground organisation called Rastriya Mukti Sena or National Liberation Army (NLA). Karki was reportedly handling NLA as the commander and Magar as deputy commander of the ogranisation.

Three others involved in the crime – Tara Sunuwar of Ramechap district, Saroj Tamang of Dolakha district and Dinesh Chaudhary of Dang are still at large. The arrested persons were made public at a press conference at the Nepal Police Club Sunday.

During the time of blast culprits had used plastic hand grenade, high explosive ranges of 3600-4200 splinter and double bearings. A Nepal Army constable Shreeprasad Sarbagya was injured and some windowpanes of the two storied building were broken in the August 17 blast.

Speaking at the press conference, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Upendra Kanta Aryal said that the underground group was notorious for extortion cases and demanding hefty ransoms from entrepreneurs of different organisations and manpower company owners.

No time for school…

FROM THE STATESMAN

SILIGURI, Sept. 7: Students skipped the Teachers Day celebration in their schools to attend celebrations at their coaching institute. This has brought the fact that formal school education has taken a back seat, almost becoming redundant.

A senior teacher of the Kalaram Higher Secondary School in Ranidanga, Mr Shankar Mani, who had been its teacher-in-charge for about 24 years, lamented the poor turnout at the Teachers’ Day function in his school this year due to the mushrooming private coaching institutes in the village.

“There was a time when almost no student would miss the Teachers’ Day celebrations. But this spirit is totally lost today with the advent of coaching centres,” regretted the 54-year-old teacher as he gazed at the handful of students seated in an open space where the function was held in the school, which has over 2,300 pupils.

About a kilometer away, the coaching institute of Mr Niresh Ghosh, a 26-year-old private tutor, was full of students. “All our pupils are present at the function today, organised by them,” Mr Ghosh gleefully declared.
Mr Sukumar Roy, a senior teacher of the Vivekananada Higher Secondary School in Hakimpara, Siliguri, who attributed the situation to some private tutors and high school teachers who manipulate to get the students to attend private classes, said “A perception has been created by some teachers that private tuition is a necessity to succeed in entrance tests and also for board examinations. For their benefit, they allow and even encourage free dating among boys and girls in their centres and organise lavish functions on Teachers’ Day.”

Winners take it all in the battle of brains!

FROM THE STATESMAN

SILIGURI, Sept. 7: Jagadish Chandra Vidyapith notched up 180 points to win the Darjeeling District AVBD Inter-School Quiz Contest 2008 jointly organised by the Association of Voluntary Blood Donors, West Bengal and Suryanagar Samaj Kalyan Sangstha (SSKS) at the Baradakantha Vidyapith here today. Netaji Girls’ High School finished second with 110 points in the contest on social welfare and blood donation.

In the Jalpaiguri district contest, Valmiki Vidyapith with 150 points and Saktigarh Vidyapith with 130 points emerged first and second at the same venue. The winners will now take part in the state competition in Kolkata on 1 December, 2008. In all, 21 teams comprising of 63 competitors from Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts took part in the daylong quiz, which was organised in three phases.

Mr Pranab Ghosh and Mr Bikash Mukherjee conducted the Darjeeling district quiz, while Mr Paritosh Paul and Mr Mani Shankar Dutta were the quizmasters for the Jalpiguri district contest.

GJMM threatens to shut down BSNL, NHPC services in the Hills

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

DARJEELING, Sept. 7: The GJMM has threatened to shut down all BSNL services and power projects in the Hills if these departments cut off telephone and electricity connections according to the notice served by them. “Notices have already been served to many in Kurseong regarding the non-payment of telephone and electricity bills. If these departments dare to disconnect telephone and electricity lines we would shut down all BSNL lines and NHPC projects in the Hills,” party spokesperson Mr Binay Tamang said.

In defiance of the West Bengal government’s authority GJMM had called on a non-cooperation movement forbidding the residents of the Hills from paying taxes to the government. Payment sections of telephone and electricity departments have remained closed since May.

Land and housing tax, motor vehicles tax and more recently,the closure of lottery shops that generate huge revenue to the government are add-ons to this programme.

‘Development as meet agenda wont click’

FROM THE STATESMAN

DARJEELING, Sept. 7: The CPRM leadership stated that developmental agenda as a criterion for statehood proposed by the AIGL would serve as an advantage for West Bengal government’s intention to weaken the statehood demand at the tripartite meeting.

“If development is the issue of discussion, WB government would happily oblige us. The Darjeeling Development Council and the DGHC also had development as their agenda but we have seen the outcome. Therefore, the statehood demand should be for identity and freedom from Bengal’s domination and that would ultimately lead to development,” party general secretary Mr RB Rai said.

National perspective is now necessary for intensifying the movement in collaboration with nation-based Gorkha organisations, the leader maintained. “The groundwork in Darjeeling, Dooars and Siliguri is set but now we need to focus outside this region. We have to tilt opinion in favour of Gorkhaland in other states by approaching the ministers there. This can be achieved only by involving Gorkhas residing all over India. The set-up is perfect so far but we lack a comprehensive outlook,” Mr Rai said.

Tip-off leads to pistol arrest

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Sunati Sarkar after the arrest. (Kundan Yolmo)

Siliguri, Sept. 7: One person was arrested with two pistols from near Darjeeling More here today when he was looking for potential buyers for the firearms.

Pradhannagar police have also recovered three empty magazines from the arrested man.

A few days ago, the police had been tipped off that Sunati Sarkar, a resident of Itahar in North Dinajpur, would come to Darjeeling More to sell some firearms.

“Based on the information we had, our men in plainclothes had been on recce in Darjeeling More for some days. Today, they found a person matching the description we had got. One of them went to him, posing as someone interested in purchasing guns,” said Swapan Ghosh, the inspector-in-charge of Pradhannagar police station.

Sarkar, who did not find anything amiss with the policeman’s behaviour, led him to a secluded place and took two 9mm pistols out of a can. The disguised policeman signalled his colleagues, who were standing a few metres away, and they rushed to the spot. The law enforcers took Sarkar into custody and found three empty magazines in the can.

The officer said although the guns were locally made, they had inscriptions which read “made in Italy”.

According to the police, the can was of a lubricant company and the firearms were stuffed into it in such a way that nobody would understand what was contained in it.

“He was planning to sell the firearms at Rs 50,000 each. We are now trying to verify from where he had collected them and who the possible buyers were,” said Ghosh.

Trishakti help in Bihar flood relief

ARMY LIVE

The winning teams of the Basketball championship

The Trishakti Corps has been carrying out relief operations in the flood-ravaged districts of Biahr as the Kosi wreaks havoc on the state.

Ten columns of the Corps, each comprising engineers, medical staff and 100 personnel with hundreds of motorised boats have moved to remote areas of Madhepura, Saharsa, Purnea and Araria districts of north Bihar. Two helicopters have also been pressed into service for rescuing marooned people.

About 8,000 people have so far been evacuated by the Corps, which has also provided 19 tonnes of relief material and medical aid to over 4,000 people in the badly-affected districts. A liaison cell has been set up at Katihar to coordinate the rescue operations.

New GOC

Lt Gen. Deepak Raj has handed over the reins of the general-officer-commanding (GOC) of the Corps to P.K. Rath.

During his tenure, Lt Gen. Raj maintained a high level of operational preparedness of the Corps. Rath, too, has a vast experience of serving in all operational areas, including Sikkim. He has held various posts and has excelled in the professional field.

Basketball meet

Army Public School Binnaguri hosted this year’s Eastern Command Inter Army School Cluster Level Basketball Championship from August 19 to 21. Six schools had participated in the event with each school fielding a boys’ and a girls’ team.

Ceiling too increases to Rs 7500 – Tea deal inked after two rounds of talks

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Darjeeling, Sept. 7: The Darjeeling Tea industry has agreed to pay a bonus that is being considered to be an all-time high in the past one decade, although industry principals maintain that it does not reflect the health of the gardens.

“While Group A gardens will get bonus at the rate of 14 per cent, that of B, C and D have been settled for at 13, 12 and 10.25 per cent, respectively,” said Sandeep Mukherjee, the secretary of the Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA).

Last year, Groups A, B, C and D gardens had received bonus at 12.60, 11.60, 10.60 and 9.25 per cents, respectively. This means that while the bonus rates of Groups A, B and C have increased by 1.4 percent, in case of Group D the hike has been 1 per cent. In 2005-06, Group A had received bonus at the rate of 12 per cent, while B, C and D had received at 11.05, 10 and 9 per cents respectively.

The agreement between the workers’ union and the Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA) was signed in the hill town well past midnight yesterday after two rounds of negotiations.

This is one of those times where the settlement on bonus came early. In the past, the agreements had been signed after several rounds of meetings. The inability to reach a consensus on the bonus had led to strikes and breach of peace and tranquillity in the hills in the past.

The bonus is calculated on the total annual earnings of the workers. While there are 17 gardens under Group A, 16 come under Group B, 19 under Group C and 15 as Group D.

Hill gardens get highest bonus in 10 years – Board mulls more BLFs

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Siliguri, Sept. 7: The Tea Board of India has decided to constitute a committee comprising its officials and representatives from the state government to decide on the proposals forwarded by entrepreneurs intending to establish bought-leaf factories (BLFs) to manufacture tea.

The move, sources said, follows insistence by small tea growers interested in investing in the emerging small tea sector. The prospective investors feel that the existing number of BLFs, especially in north Bengal, is less than the ideal number of factories necessary, given the supply of tealeaves from small plantations.

Following the mushrooming of small tea plantations and BLFs, the state government had imposed a ban on setting up of these tea processing units, after which the board also stopped granting registration to the BLFs.

“Citing the Tea Marketing Control Order 2003, the board has made a revision in providing registration to BLFs. We consider this a positive move as if the board starts granting registration again, the state government, most likely, would lift its ban,” said Bijoygopal Chakraborty, vice-president of the United Forum of Small Tea Growers’ Associations.