DARJEELING HILLS: GJM withdraws strike, so does ABAVP

BY BARUN ROY

DARJEELING:  Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has withdrawn the strike it had declared in Darjeeling Hills after clashes in Dooars Terai with the cadres and supporters of Akhil Bharatiya Adhivasi Vikash Parishad. Today, clashes between supporters of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and Democratic Youth Federation of India, the youth wing of Communist Party of India Marxists were witnessed at Salugara. Supporters and cadres of Akhil Bharatiya Adhivasi Vikash Parishad burnt a motorcycle of a GJM supporter near Malbazaar. Akhil Bharatiya Adhivasi Vikash Parishad supporters also set fire and ransacked houses of GJM supporters though IPC Section 144 was said to be in purview in the Dooars Terai. 

Bimal Gurung, President, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in Darjeeling has meanwhile declared that it would be Gorkha Janmukti Morcha which will be collecting ‘taxes’ from the people in the Hills instead of the State Government. He also declared that 10,000 Gorkhaland Personnel will be deployed in the Hills. 

ROY’S MUSINGS: Its time to see things beyond the veil of political conspiracies

BY BARUN ROY

In the chaos of the world’s largest democracy that we are so proud of,  it seems, now we have the right to bear arms. A group of more than hundred youths, male and female, carrying the colours of Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad stood brandishing bows and arrows, khukuris, rods, batons  a mere distance away from a contingent of West Bengal Police. Yet not a single individual was arrested.  More of such armed groups barricaded through out Malbazaar area waiting for the Gorkha Janmukti Nari Morcha procession. The plan was simple. Stop the procession and mount an attack. Stones would be pelted and if both the groups were to be in an arms distance weapons would be used. The bows and arrows would come handy in mounting an agressive aerial attack. The date for the Akhil Bharatiya Adhivasi Vikash Parishad strike and the Gorkha Janmukti Nari Morcha ‘Dooars March’ had been set months earlier. The State Intelligence Bureau knew everything that were to occur and so did the police, the local administration and the Writers Building… But did they do anything? No!

The Police did not disband any of the marauding hordes of ABAVP cadres. IPC Section 144 should have been clamped down before the armed groups of ABAVP started marching around. The IPC Section 144 should have been clamped down before the contingent of Gorkha Janmukti Nari Morcha reached the Dooars. But then again, the West Bengal Police did not react. Instead Police personnels were kept in between the two groups ‘in a bid’ to stop violence! This move by the State Government, the local adminsitration and the West Bengal Police smacks of incompetence. While the Communist Party of India Marxists may have wanted such clashes to occur for political reasons, the State Government and the Police answerable to the people of the state and not a political party must  take necessary steps for such things from happening in the future.

The West Bengal Government must think beyond the lines of the party ideology and the party objectives. It must learn to act and react like a people’s Government. The State Government functionaries like the Local Government, the Police and the Intelligence Bureau are there to protect the interest of the people and not the interest of the political bosses. What occurred at Dooars could have severe, long lasting and unwarranted consequences and the Government must take full responsibility for it.

ESSAY: Gorkhas, the valiant soldiers

BY B. K. SHARMA

Born in brahmin family of gorkha communty in Srinagar, B. K. Sharma is presently working for socio-political uplift of the gorkha community in Kashmir

“As I Write these last words, my thoughts return to you, who were my comrades the stubborn and indomitable peasants of Nepal. Once more I hear the laughter with which you greeted every hardship. Once more I see you in your bivouac or about your fires, on forced march or in the trenches, now shivering with wet and cold, now scorched by a pitiless and burning sun, uncomplaning you endure hunger and thirst and wounds and at last your unwavering lines disappear into the smoke and wrath of battle. Bravest of the brave, most generous of the generous never had a country more faithful friends than you.” This eloquent and glowing tribute to the gallent Gorkhas is by Professor sir Ralph Turner, first director of the school of Oriental and African studies in the University of London and is quoted by Major Duncan Forbes in is book ‘JOHNNY GURKHA’

These men of small and stocky build and robust and sturdy character displayed their mettle in the two world wars so extraordinarly that they won renown throughtout Europe and Asia as the most dreaded fighting men of the world and Field Marshall SHFJ Manek Shah said about them “if a man says he is not afraid of dying, then he is either lying or a Gorkha” I am reproducing here their brief history and gallantry

The Gorkhas originally belong to Nepal, a sovereign state in the mid-levels of the Himalayas. but one can hardly draw a line of demarcation between India and Nepal as the peole of both countries share much in common. They are devoted to same religion, inherit same culture and traditions and have same Devnagri script for their languages with slight change of accent in speech. And what is more, history gives evidence that the Nepalese of today are the Indians of yesterday. when Alla ud-din Khilji invaded Chittor it was the Rajputs who put up fiercest resistance but Chittor fell in 1303 A-D and those who survived trekked northwards to the hills. There they found Magar and Gurung tribes tilling lands and tending herds of cattle in the high pastures. These tribes were from Mongolian stock and were devoted to Budhism. The Rajputs had brought with them the Brahmins also who later conveted these original inhabitants of the hills into Hinduism.

SIKKIM: Death of chickens in South Sikkim triggers bird flu fear

FROM MYNEWS.IN

By Gautam Sangwan

Gangtok: Around 30 chickens have died in rural areas of Ravangla subdivision in South Sikkim in the past two days triggering fears of bird flu outbreak in the state.

Official sources here said the chickens had died in three areas of Ravangla and its adjoining areas. The first death of chickens was reported on January 14 after which State Animal Husbandry officials had taken the samples to Bhopal as the cause of the deaths.

The Story of Narsimha Death of chickens in South Sikkim triggers bird flu fear Impact of Poverty on Children Child Rights and You (CRY) Runs for Rights at the Mumbai Marathon Rahul to visit Amethi with British foreign secy.

The entry points to the above areas where the deaths of the chickens took place had been sealed and selling of even local chicken and eggs completely banned in Ravangla subdivision and its peripheral areas, sources added.

The State Animal Husbandry was circulating a circular for the ban on selling of chicken products in the suspected areas of South Sikkim. The department had requested the people not to get panicky till the laboratory reports come from Bhopal.

PALAMPUR: Nepalese held for eating dog meat

FROM THE TRIBUNE

The police had arrested a Nepalese, who had allegedly killed dogs and consumed its meat in a past few days. In the past few days, a number of stray dogs got missing from the Aima, Budnla and Ghuggar areas of the town. On Tuesday evening a few youths noticed a person eating meat of dogs and skins lying and they lodged a complaint with the police. Palampur DSP Rakesh Singh personally reached on the spot on Wednesday and arrested the person along with the dead animal, which he was about to consume. He said the arrested person was being sent for a medical examination.

DARJEELING HILLS: Bandh paralysed life in Darjeeling hill

FROM ALL INDIA RADIO

In West Bengal, the normal life was paralysed in three hill sub divisions Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong of Darjeeling district since late evening yesterday following bandh called by Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha protesting against the attack on the Morcha supporters by the activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Parishad at Mal Bazar in Jupaiguri district yesterday afternoon. According to police, the incident occurred when both the groups clashed as flouting prohibitary orders that have been imposed since Thursday night in Malbazar. Police first resorted to lathi charge to disperse both the groups engaged in clash, failing to bring the situation under control police fired several rounds in air and lobbed tear gas shells and rubber bullets in which about 25 people including the police officials were injured. Police pickets have been set in the area. Situation is under control but the simmering tension still prevails, police said.

DARJEELING:Hill bandh after Gorkhaland clash

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Morcha supporters in Malbazar. Picture by Biplab Basak

Jan. 16: The Dooars and Darjeeling shut down today after clashes between Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters and those opposing its demand for Gorkhaland left over a hundred injured.

One of them, Rajesh Mahato of Malbazar in Japlaiguri, took a bullet in his leg. It was not clear who fired but a Morcha leader armed with a gun was among 10 people arrested.

The anti-Morcha Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad has called an indefinite Dooars bandh from tomorrow.

Darjeeling, too, shut down after hearing about the clashes. Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said the “bandh would be on till Saturday evening”, when the outfit will decide whether to continue.

Party supporters blocked roads across the hills. Hund-reds of tourists trying to come down were stuck because of the rush and the roadblocks.

The Adivasi outfit, which has been opposing the Morcha demand to include the Dooars in the state it wants, had called a strike in the Dooars today to thwart the hill outfit’s public meeting at Nagrakata. They also set up roadblocks at the two main entry points to the Dooars despite prohibitory orders under Section 144 that were in force since last night.

The clash started when Morcha supporters, who marched on flouting the Section 144, came face to face with the Adivasis.

Police said they had taken tea garden routes to escape its barricades.

Tear gas shells had to be lobbed when the two groups started throwing stones at each other.

In Nagrakata, about 20km from Malbazar, an anti-Gorkhaland mob attacked two Morcha members on a two-wheeler and set the vehicle on fire. They also torched four makeshift shops and a Morcha dais.

A heavily-bandaged Nirmal Kumar Dey alleged that a Morcha supporter had beaten him up. At the Gorubathan health centre, where 104 people were treated, Abhinash Gurung, 18, said he was struck by a stone. Eight people were admitted to the centre and 26 were referred to Kalimpong, Darjeeling and Siliguri.

SIKKIM: BJP has no good intentions for the Indian Nepali community: STBA

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK, January 15: Sikkim Tamang Buddhist Association (STBA) has strongly condemned the ‘Nepal citizen’ allegations leveled by BJP against Chief Minister Pawan Chamling.

Recently BJP in charge for Sikkim and other Northeastern States, Harendra Pratap had alleged that the Chief Minister holds dual citizenship of Nepal and India and thus should be ‘disqualified from his Constitutional post’.

This is a conspiracy to defame our leader which we strongly condemn, said KN Tamang, STBA general secretary today in a press statement.

STBA added that the persons behind the allegations have taken politics to a new low of condemnation. The society must be vigilant against such persons who have cast suspicions on the whole Indian Nepali community for their evil personal interests, the body said. They have no good intentions for the Indian Nepali community and they are anti-Indian Nepali forces, the body added.

SIKKIM: Rescued minors handed over to their parents

BY MINGMA BHUTIA

GANGTOK, January 15: West Sikkim police has handed over three minor girls who had been kidnapped to New Delhi to their respective parents at Chota-Samdong under Soreng subdivision.

The three minors had been allegedly taken by one Srijana Subba of nearby Aarubotey village to New Delhi on promise of jobs following which the parents lodged kidnapping charges at Soreng police station on January 3.

West Sikkim police then had rescued the girls from a New Delhi locality on January 6 in close coordination with Delhi police. The lady, Srijana Subba was also arrested.

A team from Soreng police station had left for New Delhi the next day and brought the girls and the accused lady on January 13. The rescued girls were handed over to their parents the same day.

The accused lady was produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate at Geyzing who forwarded her to police custody till January 17. Further investigations are on, it is informed.

SIKKIM: ‘Sikkim needs political agendas, not wrong messages’

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK, January 15: “Pawan Chamling cannot have citizenship from Nepal because he is the senior most Chief Minister of India. He has been accepted as man of development in the country. At this stage, a harsh wrong message has been given to the society of the State by leveling serious non-political allegations against him purely on jealously basis”, stated Bhim Dahal, TN Sharma, Prem Karki and Mohan Dung Mali in a joint press statement issued today in their individual capacities as Sikkimese persons.

Reminding that they had been condemning the ‘dual citizenship’ allegations made by BJP against the Chief Minister, the quartet said in their joint press statement that time has come that they must also condemn the ‘baseless’ allegations as ‘an individual, a conscious Indian citizen and a self respecting Sikkimese person’.

All the four are senior functionaries in the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) party.

DARJEELING HILLS: Strike carries on to second day

BY BARUN ROY

Darjeeling: Yesterday’s stike carried on today with commercial, government and non governmental enterprises shutting doors and vehicles staying out of the road. At present no offical call for strike has been made by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha but it is beleived that such call will be made today by noon. Situation in Darjeeling Hills is calm and no untoward situation has been so far reported.

IPC Section 144 is still in purview in Dooars Terai and situation there though tense is still said to be under control.

PHOTO FEATURE: GJM Central Committee members meet Jairam

Members of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha Central Committee submits a memorandum to Jairam Ramesh, a Union Minister. Photo by Himalaya Darpan

PHOTO FEATURE: Trouble in Dooars

Click on the images to enlarge. All photos by Himalaya Darpan

  7. Shopkeepers shut down shutters and doors

8. Nari Morcha taking out a procession

9-10.ABAVP cadres armed and in ta mood for confrontation

11. Agitated Morcha supporters
12. Police trying to bring calm

PHOTO FEATURE: ABAVP, GJM clash at Dooars Terai

ALL PHOTOS BY HIMALAYA DARPAN

Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad supporters waiting for GJM procession armed with weapons.

In the mood for confrontation, an Adivasi youth brandishes his khukuri

 

A Gorkha Janmukti Nari Morcha procession making its way at Nagarkatta.

Police barricade between the GJM and the ABAVP at Malbazaar.

Adivasi youths burns a motorcycle of a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporter

INTERNATIONAL: BIG MONEY!

BIG MONEY ~ A Zimbabwean government daily newspaper shows the newly unveiled hundred trillion dollar note on Friday as the country battles with inflation which is rapidly eroding the value of the local currency. Inflation was last reported at 231 million percent in July, but the Washington think-tank Cato Institute has estimated it now at 89.7 sextillion percent ~ a figure expressed with 21 zeroes. – AFP

SIKKIM: Govt vehicle kills one

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

GANGTOK, Jan. 16: A 21-year-old man was run over by a Sikkim government vehicle on NH31 near Tadong today, Another woman was injured in the mishap, reports our Gangtok  correspondent.

Man Bahadur Rai, a resident of Parbing Ranka, died on the spot and Mundri Devi of Tadong has been admitted to Central Referral Hospital, police said.

The driver of the Tata Indica, a government employee, has been arrested and a case registered against him. The police said the driver had lost control over the vehicle and hit the two pedestrians near the Tadong school.

 

DARJEELING: Ramesh plea for tech college

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Jairam Ramesh

Darjeeling, Jan. 16: Jairam Ramesh has asked the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation to consider setting up an engineering college at Tung in  Kurseong.

The proposal by the Union minister of state for power has also raised the possibility of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) withdrawing its strike from the NHPC sites.

“I have requested the Morcha to hold talks with the NHPC management soon. I hope things will be sorted out. I have directed the corporation to consider a proposal to establish an engineering college in Tung near Kurseong,” said Ramesh.

The minister added that the NHPC had joined hands with the National Thermal Power Corporation to set up an engineering college in Himachal Pradesh.

Work for the NHPC projects on the Teesta at Kalijhora and 27 Mile in the  Kalimpong subdivision have been closed for over a month because of the Morcha  agitation.

“I want the NHPC to develop skills of local people. The residents of the area must benefit from the power projects,” Ramesh said after laying the foundation stone for the Darjeeling Tea Centre of Excellence at the Planter’s Club here. “I am very sensitive to local issues.”

The minister said he was in Bihar recently and found out that an 840mw coal-based power station was giving only 79mw to the home state. “This is unacceptable to me.”

DARJEEELING: Park for branded brew buyers – Minister wants land to be identified by February 10

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Darjeeling, Jan. 16: Union minister of state for commerce and power Jairam Ramesh today announced a Darjeeling GI Tea Park in the hills with an initial investment of Rs 10 crore.

“I want the land for the park to be identified by February 10 and the first phase of work completed within 12 months. The activities in the centre would be cleaning, grading, sorting and packaging,” said Ramesh.

“If such a centre can be set up in Germany, it can definitely be done within the Darjeeling Tea growing area. I always believe that the local people should be involved in any value addition activity that will contribute to the local economy,” said Ramesh.

A planter explained that a tea park was a centre that catered for the needs of buyers. “Once we export our products to different countries, it is not that they start selling them in the condition that they receive the goods. They are sorted and graded according to needs and checked to see if the certification process has been completed. Once set up, the tea park will perform all these functions. It will help provide custom-made product.”

The minister said the  Kurseong-based Darjeeling Tea Research Centre had been allotted Rs 5.5 crore in the 11th Plan. “This is a significant amount for the centre and I hope it will be beneficial for the industry.”

SILIGURI: Passes for Bayern football match

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Siliguri, Jan. 16: Football lovers in town will have to collect entry passes instead of buying tickets to see FC Bayern Munich II match against Mayor’s XI here on Wednesday.

“No tickets will be sold for the match. We will distribute entry passes on a first-come-first-serve basis from our office as well as other ticket counters from 11am tomorrow. The passes are must for spectators to get inside the stadium,” said an official of the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad (SMKP).

Urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya had earlier announced that the match tickets would be priced Rs 5 for students and Rs 10 and Rs 20 for others. The SMKP was also supposed to print 200 tickets for Rs 500 each to raise funds.

The SMKP official said they came to know this morning that no tickets were being sold for the German team’s two matches against East Bengal to be played in Barasat and Calcutta tomorrow and on Monday. “Following suit, we, too, decided not to print any tickets for the match in Siliguri.”

The German team will arrive here on Tuesday to play the match at Kanchenjungha Stadium the next day.

KALIMPONG: Net users mull legal recourse – Kalimpong without broadband for five days

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

An empty cyber café in Kalimpong. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha

Kalimpong, Jan. 16: Users of the BSNL’s broadband Internet, especially cyber café owners, here are contemplating seeking compensation from the telecom corporation following break down of its services for the last five days.

Although the connectivity was restored briefly yesterday afternoon, it went down again this morning.

A team of cyber café owners and hoteliers met the sub-divisional telecom authorities yesterday and complained about the loss of business. They also threatened to take legal recourse if the broadband connectivity was not restored immediately.

The BSNL officials, however, were not able to give an assurance as to how early the problem would be rectified. “The breakdown is because of the frequent snapping of our optical fibre cable (OFC) in the Lava-Gorubathan stretch as a private company is laying the cable there,” explained Pradip Kumar Das, the BSNL’s sub-divisional engineer (internal), Kalimpong.

DOOARS TERAI: Dooars traders fear losses

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

A long line of vehicles on Darjeeling waiting to come down after the Morcha declared a bandh. Picture by Suman Tamang

Siliguri, Jan. 16: Tourists may not have moved out of the Dooars this afternoon after the violence broke out at Malbazar, but tour operators and resort owners fear that if the situation continues they may suffer losses.

“The inflow of tourists in the hills has substantially gone down in the past one year. While some of them are going to other destinations, many are coming to the Dooars,” said Kamal Bhowmik, the secretary of the Lataguri Resort Owners’ Association.

“Although today’s incident did not have any effect in the Gorumara-Lataguri-Chapramari belt, we have an apprehension that if such situation continues in the Dooars, the inflow of tourists may come down in the region as well,” he added.

After the  Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) revived the Gorkhaland movement in Darjeeling and the party issued a vacate-the-hill diktat last summer, the inflow of visitors declined in Darjeeling  while it increased in the Dooars.

“Banking on the rise in the number of tourists, we increased the accommodations in several forest guest houses,” a senior official said.

“A number of new sites were developed and lodges were opened. Also, private resorts mushroomed in and around Lataguri. But if such clashes continue, we doubt how many tourists will come to the Dooars,” he added.

On June 11, clashes occurred in Malbazar and Odlabari between Morcha  supporters and their rivals, which led to strike and imposition of Section 144. The same day, Morcha  members had attacked two vehicles carrying tourists to Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary and had torched one of the cars.

DARJEELING HILLS: Decision on hill bandh period today – Roads choked as shutdown news spreads

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Morcha supporters in front of the Sadar police station on Friday. (Suman Tamang)

Darjeeling, Jan. 16: An air of uncertainty hung over Darjeeling  with shops downing shutters one by one as news of the clash between Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and anti-Gorkhaland supporters in Malbazar trickled in before noon. By afternoon the hill station had shut down completely.

For the moment, the bandh will be till tomorrow evening, Morcha  general secretary Roshan Giri said. “As of now, we have decided to continue the strike till tomorrow evening after which we will make further announcements,” said Giri. He, however, did not mention the exact time when the bandh would be withdrawn.

The general secretary after consulting party president Bimal Gurung announced that road blockades would be organised across the hills.

As Morcha  supporters started bringing out a rally in various parts of the town around noon, many people trying to leave the hill station were caught in a traffic jam. Some Morcha  supporters demonstrated in front of the Sadar police station.

However, after about 30 minutes, vehicles were allowed to ply for the next two hours till 2.30pm. By then, the shops in town had started downing shutters. Even after the blockade was lifted, many Morcha  supporters stopped vehicles at various places like Kurseong for a brief period. Although traffic was allowed till late in the evening, many vehicles remained stranded on NH55 because of jam.