ROY’S MUSINGS: Is the Winter setting in on the Gorkhaland Movement?

The Gorkhaland Movement, it seems is being quietly put into a semi-perpetual hibernation though Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is still found firing its guns WRITES BARUN ROY 

The winter has set in on Darjeeling Hills and the veil of frost has been more severe than ever before.

“On a normal November day, the temperature would be around 12 degree Celsius. It was 10 degree Celsius this year and the first week of December has already dipped the mercury to 8 degree Celsius. The winter will be severe this year,” says Sonam Bhutia, an amateur meteorologist.

“I left Darjeeling on the last week of November. My parents cannot bear Darjeeling  winter and hence we relocate to Siliguri every year during the winters,” says Radhika Lama, a contractual lecturer at a local college in Darjeeling .

“Darjeeling  is almost deserted during the winters every year. People migrate down to Siliguri and the surrounding areas to spend the winter,” says Biplov Das, owner cum manager of a hotel situated at Clubside, Darjeeling . “The few tourists who dare to come are the foreigners and they too leave within a few days. This year the winter is very bad and the roads are almost deserted even though most of the schools and colleges are still open. You will have to look around in the last weeks of December or the first week of January, a majority of people in Darjeeling  would have disappeared so to say,” saying Das laughs as he pours himself a cup of tea from a thermos flask.

“If the Government does not understand our demand and takes us lightly it would be something that the nation will one day repent. If the Government cannot declare Gorkhaland then they will have to declare Darjeeling  Hills as No Man’s Land,” speaking to the sizeable populace gathered at Vah Tukvar yesterday, Bimal Gurung’s use of words were reminiscent of Subash Ghisingh who talked about No Man’s Land during the first Gorkhaland movement. The chill was experienced by all not just in the air that one breathed but in the movement that Gorkha Janmukti Morcha was supposedly spearheading.

“I want to tell the cadres and the leaders of our party that we are not here for the development funds offered by the Government. We will have to now breathe in a fresh breath of life in our struggle by declaring the Second Phase of our movement. Due to the present law and order situation in the nation, the terrorists’ attacks and so on we are not being able to initiate aggressive agitational programmes but this does not in any way mean that we are still not determined and completely devoted to the cause of Gorkhaland,” Gurung said.

“The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has steadily started finding itself in a no man’s land of its own. The terrorist attack in Mumbai may have stunned the nation but more than that it has forced the Government and the Parties to be more resolute towards any organization, individual or parties that seem to threaten the security and the solidarity of the nation. This means, issues like Gorkhaland, Telangana and Vidarbha have been placed into a backburner while both the State Governments and the Central Government tackles the more conspicuous and immediate problem of Terrorism,” said V. Rao, a prominent Journalist from Hyderabad over the phone. V. Rao is one of the few journalists who have been engaged in a comparative study of the Telangana Statehood Movement and the Gorkhaland Movement.

LIVING HERITAGE: Save Me & Me Too

With the highest-density tiger population in India, the Corbett Forest Department is doing a good job of conservation. But what seems to be endangered here is Jim Corbett himself WRITES JYOTI THAPA MANI

This article was originally published on Business World

Heritage can be broadly classified in two categories. The ‘living’ and the ‘dead’. The living includes our flora and fauna, the environment, people and cultural traditions that have been carried down through centuries. The dead includes archeological monuments and sites. The Corbett National Tiger Reserve includes both. What makes this tiger reserve so special is Jim Corbett and Kumaon. The quaintness of Corbett’s period is aptly captured in his book, Man-eaters of Kumaon. Kumaon is now in Uttarakhand. Visitors constantly seek that era even 52 years after his death in Kenya.

‘A tiger is a large-hearted gentleman with boundless courage, and when he is exterminated… as exterminated he will be unless public opinion rallies to his support. India will be the poorest for having lost the finest of her fauna’. Corbett’s legendary message hangs as a forlorn board above a window in the powerless room called the Corbett Museum in Dhikala. Nevertheless, the ex-railway officer-turned-hunter-turned conservationist, moustachioed old bachelor, would be rather pleased to know that his message has not been in vain.

Corbett Museum, Dhikala: The museum that houses treasures of the regional fauna is soon to be demolished. These rare specimens of taxidermy will need a new home. Photo by Jyoti Thapa Mani. Click on the image to enlarge

Today, the Corbett National Park boasts of the highest density of tiger population in India, and supposedly in the world. The tiger is a solitary animal, master of his territory of an average 10-15 sq. km. So, with a total core and buffer area of 1,318.54 sq. km and a tiger pug-count of 155, the Corbett National Park is houseful.

JIM CORBETT’S HERITAGE: The Corbett museum at Dhikala (top), his home at Kaladhungi (middle), and snake and tiger embryos on a sliver of broken glass. The Corbett Park was named Hailey Park in 1936, renamed Ramaganga Park in 1947 and finally named Jim Corbett National Park in 1956. The crumbling museum is too nondescript to catch anyone’s attention and looks like one of those ‘abandoned’ structures condemned to die as soon as possible to clear the area.

The upbeat mood is crackling in the reserve; forest guards with wireless sets, stray hamlets in the reserve bounded by solar-powered fencing, locals talking of food chain and ecological balances. Only 30 jeeps carrying visitors with pricked ears and eyes peeled for tiger sighting, are allowed twice a day within restricted areas. But the tigers know the human beat very well because sightings are as rare and unexpected as a rainbow in the sky. But fresh pugmarks and other signs of the wild indicate that the Panthera Tigris is watching you from somewhere, that is if it isn’t slumbering away. Rajiv Bhartari, the director of forest at Corbett National Tiger Reserve, and his team’s committed efforts have notched an 80 per cent rise in tourist arrivals this year from 87,000 to 140,000. The success is evident from the number of hotels and shops that are fast mushrooming. Plans for 2008 include physical upgradations, full renovation of all seven internal resthouses, development of tiger reserve in the Pauri Garhwal area, and involvement of villagers in hospitality and community development. The jeep safaris are to be changed to softer activities including elephant safaris. But Corbett’s personal heritage seems to have found no takers.

ROY’S MUSINGS: Its Time to Rethink things – Part One

BY BARUN ROY

In a nation that is reeling under the attack of terrorists, who, it seems are now adapt at attacking any city at will and with deadly efficiency… In a nation that is facing electoral showdown in the form of State Assembly Elections and the Lok Sabha General Elections next year, can we expect anything to come out of the Second Tripartite Meeting, if at all, it is to be held in New Delhi between the Union Government, State Government and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha? Bimal Gurung, the celebrated Founder and President of the Gorkha People’s Liberation Front (Gorkha Janmukti Morcha – GJM) has started seemingly found himself submerged in a quagmire that he help create. Exactly, one year ago when Gorkha Janmutki Morcha had risen up in defiance of Gorkha National Liberation Front, I had sat down face to face with Bimal Gurung and inquired about his plans. He had told me that ‘Gorkhaland will be inaugurated on the 10th of March 2010.’ Taken back and accepting the fact that the GJM President might need to retrace what he had just said, I had asked him, if he had really meant what he said. He had replied, “What I have said is said. You should not doubt me.’ The date of Gorkhaland’s inauguration on the 10th of March 2010 has today subsequently been postponed until 10th of May 2010 but of what I must accept, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha President laid a trap for everyone including himself and his party when he set a date to his ‘Gandhian Revolution’ that day.

The Gorkhaland movement is a legitimate movement of the Indian Nepali speaking Gorkhas. As bonafide citizens of the Indian Union they have every right to demand for and attain all rights offered to them by the Indian Constitution as do any other Indian of any ethnicity. The West Bengal Government however, has been so far able to frustrate all the attempts of the Gorkhas in Darjeeling Hills and beyond aspiring for a separate state of Gorkhaland. The State Government’s philosophy which is also essentially the philosophy of the Communist Party of India Marxist is that ‘the second division of Bengal cannot be allowed at any cost’. To a patriotic Bengali who wants to keep the present Map of West Bengal intact, this philosophy originates from the feeling of Bengali Nationalism which parallels the carving of a separate state of Gorkhaland from Bengal with the attempted 1905 division of the United Province of Bengal into East and West Bengal by Lord Curzon. An attempt of the same magnitude had been made in 1911 but failed. In essence, this failure was solely due to the resolute protest made by the Bengali Nationalists including the legendary Rashbehari Bose who described the attempt to divide ‘Bangla bhumi’ as ‘an evil intent of an evil Government.’ After independence however, India was divided into India and Pakistan and East Pakistan ultimately carved out of united Bengal. Thus ending the vision of Pan Bangala the extended Bangalistan and dividing the unified Bengali psyche into a pan Islamic Bengali Nation and the Socialist Marxist State of Indian West Bengal. It might not be utterly wrong to say thence, today that the rise of Bengali Nationalism and the stubborn resistance offered by the Bengali political institutions divided in all quarters but united in their opposition to the formation of Gorkhaland – that Bengal cannot again be divided and Bengali Nationalists will resist it till the end. In the eyes of a Bengali nationalist the further division of Bengal will only lead to the total destruction of the state of Bengal and with it the ultimate assimilation of Bengali nation into the potpourri of Indian ethno-cultural soup where no ingredient can possess their unique identity any more.

In essence the said idea have already taken roots and Bengali intelligentsia, politicians, commoners and elite alike have started at least trying to listen to what Pan Nationalist organizations like Amra Bangali have to say.

PROFILE: A Great Messanger of Peace and Non Violence – Fujii Guruji

BY BHAKTARAJ SUNUWAR 

Bhaktaraj Sunuwar is a devoted writer and has been since been contributing to numerous papers. He writes on issues involving a wide range of interests. Bhaktaraj is based in Darjeeling

Guru Nichidatsu Fujii

The most venerable Nichidatsu Fujii, the founder and teacher of Nipponzan Myohoji, was born on August 6, 1885 in Aso Kyushu, Island of Japan. He became a Buddhist monk at the age of 19, at a crucial time when dominating phase and tendency of military superiority was upheld by Japan in the global scenario in the pretext of modernising the country. He resalised that his purpose in life would have to be the role cause of world peace and tranquility. He spent his time in studying and practising the ascetic value most sincerely and consistently. 

He was born to an extremely poor peasant family. He finished his elementary school by the time the Sino-Japanese War ended (1894-1895). he also attended the Agricultural High School for professional education. But at the same time he remained attached to the Buddhist Temples. After his graduation from High School in 1903, he was initiated in Joonji Temple by late Venerable Nichiei Adachi as a novice. Anti-Buddhist Campaign and repression measures were still rampant in the country. people were discouraged from entering the Order of monks. His father had actually expected him to be a civil servant in future, but at last his mother conceded to her son’s desire to become a monk fearing that he might desert his home and family forever if continued to exert pressure against his will. 

He was an ardent follower of Nichiren Daishonin a 13th Century Buddhist Prophet and monk. He vehemently challenged the policy and practices of the Government, besides accusing the irrelevant religious practices prevalent during that tim. Nichiren Daishonin had also denounced all those misleading practices devoid of a true Buddhist teaching. 

Peace Pagoda at Darjeeling constructed by Guru Nichidatsu Fujii. Click on the image to enlarge

He started his first mission of Asian tour to propagate the doctrine in Korean peninsula, which was then ruled over by Japan. Then he visited Dairen, Manchuria, North China and so on. While on his foreign preaching mission the Great Kanto Earthquake in Harbin of September 1, 1923 forced him to stop his overseas mission and came back to Tokyo in early October. He set up Nihonzan Temples in a number of places after returning to Japan due to earthquake. The first Nihonzan Myohoji Temple in Japan was built by him at the foot of a renowned Mt. Fuji. His beloved mother Mina Fujii died  at Nihonzan Myohoji [Japan Buddha Sangha] in Atami in February 1930. He erected a memorial tower for her on Mt. Minobu. has father had died in Korea in 1919.

SIKKIM: Sikkim govt gives directive on explosive storage, sale

FROM ZEE NEWS

Gangtok, Dec 06: Taking serious note of the recovery of explosives from public places across Sikkim in recent months, the state government has directed the departments concerned and licence holders to maintain record of the explosive materials in their possession.

A proper record relating to the issue and use of explosives/detonators shall be maintained and unused ones shall be taken back by the issuing authority, the state government said in its directive.

The authorities issuing the detonators/explosives were also directed to submit monthly report to the respective district magistrates, it said.

The state government has threatened to take action against non-compliance of the provisions of law relating to storage, issue and use of explosives and any unauthorised possession of the same.

Under a sensitisation programme, the roads and bridges department will also conduct a training programme for 50-60 persons for proper blasting or firing of explosives, it said.

BENGAL: Buddhadeb rules out Gorkhaland state

FROM SIFY NEWS

Kolkata: Ruling out a separate Gorkhaland state as demanded by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Saturday said he would not permit the division of the state.

“I do not want divisions within West Bengal and will try my best not allow anyone to divide the state,” he said, addressing the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) peasants wing, All India Kishan Sabha’s (AIKS) district conference in Darjeeling, the epicentre of the Gorkhaland state issue.

Bhattacharjee termed poverty the root of terrorism and called for an united fight against it.

“Poverty is the root of terrorism. I am not saying this for the masterminds of terrorism but the young boys who fall into their trap for pecuniary pressure and become their cadre. Hence we have to stress on overall economic development of the state and the country,” he said. At the same time, he condemned terrorists as “inhuman”.

“Even after understanding the root of terrorism, I must say that what the terrorists have done in Mumbai is shameful and condemnable. They are inhuman”.

Reminding the audience that 16 years back this day (Dec 6,1992) the Babri Masjid was destroyed by Hindu nationalists in Ayodhya, Bhattacharjee said: “We are reaping what we have sowed.”

INTERNATIONAL: Bhutan “very serious” towards resolving refugee crisis

FROM NEPAL NEWS

The government of Bhutan is very serious regarding finding an amicable solution to the Bhutanese refugee crisis and has formed a high-level team comprising of government ministers for this, a senior Bhutanese minister said Friday.

Dr Pema Gyamtsho, Minister for Agriculture of the Royal government of Bhutan told Nepalnews.com that the protracted crisis has been an “embarrassment” for the Himalayan Kingdom “as much as any other party concerned”, and hoped that the new-round of talks that is soon going to start between Bhutan and Nepal on the issue will bear fruit.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had met with his Bhutanese counterpart at the sidelines of SAARC summit in Sri Lankan capital Colombo right after assuming office and thereafter at the BIMSTEC meeting in Thailand. On both these occasions, Bhutanese Prime Minister reportedly pledged Bhutan’s commitment to resolving this problem by agreeing to resume the stalled talks.

Minister Gyamtsho, however, said that political stability in Nepal was necessary for the talks to become successful, adding that frequent changes in the government in Nepal in the past was the main reason the high-level talks between the two countries couldn’t make any headway.

“We should understand that it is not always Bhutan to blame for failure of the talks,” he added.

The Bhutanese minister even went so far as saying that the Nepalese media has been biased in its coverage of the Bhutanese refugee crisis till now, always reporting one-side of the story, hence portraying Bhutan in a very negative light.

According to him, Bhutan wants to see the refugee problem resolved as much as Nepal or any other parties involved, but the “negative coverage” [by the Nepalese media] has become a major hindrance to realize this goal.

“This negative coverage should stop if Nepal wants to see the problem resolved,” Dr Gyamtsho said, “the Nepalese press should try to administer positive energy into the whole process so as to derive positive results.”

INTERNATIONAL: Nepal begins voting for Indian Idol

FROM IANS

By Sudeshna Sarkar

Kathmandu, Dec 6 : In 2007, when Darjeeling boy Prashant Tamang won the popular contest Indian Idol 3, India’s northern neighbour Nepal played a decisive role in the victory with Nepalis raising money to send SMS votes for the Nepali-origin contestant.

This year, with another Nepali-origin contestant Kapil Thapa being in the fray, Nepal could once again prove to be the clinching factor with the Himalayan republic, for the first time in the history of the four-year contest, beginning to vote directly.

From Friday night, people from Nepal, who have been watching the show on Sony, began to vote directly, courtesy a deal struck between a media house and a private mobile telephone service provider.

“Experience a plethora of emotions, coupled with contestants’ tears and joys, heartbreak and jubilation,” said the International Media Network Private Ltd, that has become the “official voting partner for Nepal”.

“The people of Nepal had a big hand in Prashant’s win,” the announcement said.

“Neighbours or friends or cousins who were India-bound were plied with cash to vote for Prashant. Those living on the Nepal-India border crossed over to vote for their favourite contestant.”

With the fourth edition of the show having whittled down to 14 finalists, the media company says it has along with TV Max Pvt Ld, the distributors of Sony in Nepal, has jointly acquired “exclusive voting rights from Nepal”.

“This year Nepali fans of Indian Idol need not go to all this trouble to vote for the next Indian Idol,” the announcement said. “So from Dec 5 let your votes do the talking for you and you decide who gets to be the next Indian Idol.”

The company also says that multiple SMSes can be sent during the voting period, which lasts for 12 hours every week from Friday night to Saturday till the grand finale.

The announcement adds that the 14 contestants now in the fray include Kapil Thapa, an Indian of Nepali origin who is from Dehra Dun.

The announcement has given rise to mixed reactions.

NATIONAL: Bhutia excited at Maradona’s visit

FROM SIKKIM REPORTER

International Football Legend Maradona and Indian Football Star Bhaichung Bhutia

Kolkata: Having grown up watching Diego Maradona, Indian football captain Bhaichung Bhutia is all excited to see his one-time idol during the Argentine legend’s two-day trip to the city, beginning late Friday night.

Bhaichung, who was a 10-year-old kid when the iconic Argentine led his country to the FIFA World Cup in 1986, said Maradona is somebody who has inspired everybody.

In fact, the Indian ace is born in a year (1976) which has got equal importance for Maradona, who made his professional debut in the same year on October 20.

Inspired by Maradona’s maverick shows in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups, where Argentina were the champions and runners-up respectively, Bhaichung too made his foray into national football beginning with his stellar performance in 1992 Subrato Cup.

“Maradona is everybody’s hero. I have grown watching him. It’s really nice to see him coming to India for the first time I, too, am excited about his Kolkata trip. I am waiting to meet him which will be for the first time,” Bhaichung, who donned Indian cap for the first time in 1992 in a sub-junior tournament in the erstwhile Dacca, told reporters.

Bhutia and Dulal Biswas will lead two teams in an exhibition match at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan (YBK) in Salt Lake Stadium tomorrow, which will be watched by the football legend himself. At the YBK, a grand felicitation awaits Maradona who will land in Kolkata late night.

“We will meet him during the match… We are all excited to see him in person,” added Bhutia.

While Bhutia’s team will be coached by Karim Bencherifa and Stanley Rosario, Subrata Bhattacharya and Shabbir Ali will coach Biswas’ team.

However, the Indian skipper was not sure whether Maradona’s visit will help to develop the sport in India, even as the current Argentine national coach insisted on conducting a football clinic at the Mohun Bagan ground where U-12 boys from the hosts club and Bhowanipore will attend.

Maradona, in fact, has been brought in by the Celebrity Management Group (CMG) to lay the foundation stone of the Maheshtala-located Indian Football School near Kolkata.

SIKKIM: Junior pugilists display ‘raw courage’ at the preliminary bouts

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

Sub-Junior National Boxing Championship in progress at Gangtok. A Sikkim Express Photo

GANGTOK, December 5: For the participating junior pugilists, boxing is all about raw courage and guts.

The juniors (under 16) showed some finesse and plenty of spirit at the preliminary bouts played at the inaugural day of the 24th edition of Sub-Junior National Boxing Championship which began here at Paljor Stadium premise.

The opening day of the Championship began and ended with a flurry of punches as opponents stood toe-to-toe and tried to smash each other to smithereens at the duo outdoor rings laid out at football field of the stadium.
While Sikkim’s new entry at the current championship Bishal Thapa ousted MD Kasif Raja of Kerala with 20 game points in the junior boys (under-46 kgs) weight category, Sishir Rai, another debutant lost to Amit, a talented boxer from Haryana in the 32 kgs junior boys’ event.

As many as 40 bouts were played at the duo boxing ring till late in the evening.

The Sikkim Amateur Boxing Association (SABA) has organized the championship of national stature at Gangtok for the second time, the first being the junior women and men boxing championship conducted in 2002.
The hour long inaugural function saw a lively march past display by the participating teams, ceremonial hoisting of the (Indian Amateur Boxing Federation) IABF’s official flag along with a host of traditional cultural dance performances by local students and the most entertaining of all-the yak dance performed by the artists from State Culture Department.

State UD&HD Minister DD Bhutia, who graced the occasion as the chief guest declared the week long boxing tourney open amidst thunderous applause from the participants and the spectators gathered at the stadium.

SIKKIM: SGPP to put forward Sherpa candidates in BL seats

Declaring BL seats as tribal seats is the simplest solution to LT issue: GM Rai

 

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

G M Rai, President, Sikkim Gorkha Prajatantrik Party (SGPP) Photo by Sikkim Express. Click on the image to enlarge

GANGTOK: Rooted firm on its ‘one man-one vote-one value’ plank since 2004, Sikkim Gorkha Prajatantrik Party (SGPP) today announced that it will put forward Sherpa candidates in all the 12 Bhutia Lepcha (BL) constituencies and 1 Sangha seat in the forthcoming State Assembly elections.

“Sherpa candidates of our party will contest in all the 13 BL seats in the upcoming State Assembly elections”, said SGPP president GM Rai in a press meet here. Right now, we are busy finalizing the party candidates and carrying on the public contact mission, he said.

Since its inception in 2003 as Gorkha Apex Committee and later in 2004 in a morphed avatar as SGPP, the party has been campaigning one a single point agenda – ending, what it said, the ‘parity’ system in Sikkim in place since the Chogyal era.

Putting up Sherpa candidates in the BL seats forms the key strategy of the SGPP in the coming elections to this end.

“Our Sherpa candidates will contest from BL seats and once we form the government with majority, all these undemocratic systems will be done away with”, said the SGPP president.

The system, Mr. Rai said, was the 13 BL seats which he said is in the ratio of 1: 4. “The 13 seats given to the minority communities have made majority 80 percent community second class citizens in Sikkim”, he said. The population of the Bhutia Lepcha community is hardly 20 percent in the State and yet these two communities enjoy 40 percent representation in the Assembly, he said. The Bhutia Lepcha communities should be given reservation as per the population and not the present 12 seats, he added.

The SGPP president also committed to make the BL seats as ST seats once his party wins the elections and forms the government. This will also solve the Limboo Tamang (LT) seat reservation issue, he said.

“The simplest solution to the LT seat reservation issue is to declare the BL seats as tribal seats and this will automatically solve the burning issue of parity system”, Mr. Rai said. The LT communities can be easily accommodated in the 13 BL seats, he added.

On the Burman Commission report, Mr. Rai said that SGPP supports only one proposal of the report. We support the only recommendation for making all Nepali communities as tribals and we reject all the other proposals including the expansion of the House to 40, he said.

“Thirty two seats is enough for Sikkim”, said Mr. Rai.

The party president also made it clear that once SGPP government is there, the Revenue Order No 1 will be amended by allowing all three ethnic communities – Bhutias, Lepchas and ‘Gurkhas’- to buy or sell land with them. We will also review the old laws of Sikkim protected under Article 371 F, he said.

“We are doing politics for the coming elections but we are doing for the coming generations. Our candidates will not try to win for themselves but they will try to win for the Gorkha community”, Mr. Rai said. He also made it clear that it is their right to talk and deliver justice to their community.

DARJEELING: Morcha shutters on govt offices

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Vah Tukvar (Darjeeling), Dec. 6: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has called an indefinite bandh in all state government offices and a complete halt to development projects in the hills from Monday in a bid to infuse fresh enthusiasm in the sagging Gorkhaland movement.

At a meeting with party leaders here, about 20km from Darjeeling town, Morcha president Bimal Gurung said many supporters who had bagged government contracts for development projects were showing signs of “betrayal”.

“Many of you are now betraying the cause and are only interested in running after the government’s funds and building (your own) houses. I am not telling this to the people but you are representatives of the party and must give all your time (to the Gorkhaland cause) for the next 16 months.”

Gurung has promised the new state to his supporters by March 10, 2010.

“If you have invested a lot of money (in the projects), I do not care,” said Gurung. “I am only bothered about Gorkhaland and nothing else.”

The Morcha women’s wing has been told to ensure that all development work comes to a stop.

It is not yet clear whether the strike would affect tourism because when government offices were shut down during the previous phase of the agitation, sites like Tiger Hill, Nightingale Park, Rock Gardens and Gangamaya Park were kept open but entrance fees were not collected.