DARJEELING HILLS: Sleepless in city over shutdown in the hills – Security and food shortage prime concern of guardians with wards in strike-hit Darjeeling schools
Posted by barunroy on July 14, 2009
FROM THE TELEGRAPH
BY MEGHDEEP BHATTACHARYYA
Schoolchildren during a previous shutdown in the hills
Anirban Chakraborty (name changed) took a “very difficult decision” last weekend: to pull his son out of the Kurseong school where he has studied from Class III to VIII.
“I had first contemplated shifting him from St Anthony’s in Kurseong to St Michael’s in Siliguri during a weeklong strike a year ago. My mind was made up when the latest indefinite strike was announced,” said Chakraborty, the general manager of a publishing firm in Calcutta.
But Chakraborty, who could not beat the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s deadline to “evacuate” children from hostels by Monday noon, will have to wait for the strike to end for his son to switch schools. Till then, he can only worry.
Chakraborty is not the only city-based parent spending sleepless nights worrying about children studying in schools in the Darjeeling hills.
Edwina Payne, 44, said she would have brought back son Matthew from Darjeeling for good — he is a Class VII student of St Joseph’s School at North Point — had he been guaranteed a seat in a Calcutta school “of the same standard”.
“I am really worried about Matty. He’s had a lot of trouble adjusting to the turmoil in the hills over the past year. I want him back but which good school in the city will take him midway through an academic session?” she wondered.
The number of schoolchildren from Calcutta studying in the hills has dwindled over the years, but they still constitute more than 25 per cent of the nearly 6,000 students staying in hostels there. Sources in Darjeeling said the majority of boarders remained in their hostels when the shutdown began on Monday.
Legislator and educationist Barry O’Brien, who initiated a discussion on the subject in the Assembly on Monday, said he feared that most hostels would run out of rations if the strike continued for more than a week. “I have urged the ministers concerned (Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and school education minister Partha Dey) to take immediate action. The security and future of so many children is at stake.”
Father D.A. Howard, the rector of St Paul’s in Darjeeling, said schools faced “logistical problems” in contacting parents at short notice to request them to “evacuate” their children before the strike began.
Father Kinley Tshering, the principal and rector of St Joseph’s, said the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha should have consulted schools before declaring the strike. “Apart from Bengal, our students come from Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, Bangladesh and other Asian countries. It (the shutdown) will ruin the reputation of the 13 schools that are over a century old and have been providing quality education.”
Prakash mani Pradhan said
This is my appeal to all the political party to not to support such type of aggitation as this is creating a lot of loss for us. Our main source of income is from education. Most of the students are from different places like Kolkata, Bihar, Orissa, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Thiland, Nepal. If we continue our aggitation in this fasion then I think we will loss our everything and at the end of the day we will have nothing. This is my appeal to all the heads of the institutions not to close their schools and colleges.
rishi said
gurung ko bolo. he has learnt this from his erstwhile marxist dadas.
Kirat said
whats the problem with GJMM now, no clashes with Bengalis, nor Adhivasis…..why shutdowns? these GJMM people have started fighting amongst themselves like kukkur & biralu, the recent incidents at Mirik & panighatta….sala kaam napako haru…… why r u idiots troubling the school students?…..Darjeeling is ruined!!!!!! theres no hope, even if we achieve Gorkhaland.
FACT: there was 1 Ghising during GNLF’s reign but there seem to be several Ghisings & Ghisingnis this time, in every nook & corner, just imagine what the situation will be like? it will be a total chaos….
Kirat said
Darjeeling is a ‘Bhirma jane Grru’, people! please wish us “HAIIII”
Kirat said
#4
Sorry! its Goru not Grru.
pema lama said
Hope BG can read our blogs.
Sanity said
To repeat what was said yesterday:
The Bengal government has started floating open tenders all over Darjeeling through DGHC and other government agencies. This is not to develop Darjeeling (why would it?) but to make the Gorkhas fight each other and finally stamp out the Gorkhaland movement. You will see in the coming days numerous tenders being floated open in Darjeeling. The government will do this and give an indication to the GNLF to apply for these tenders. Whatever it is people in Darjeeling need money, so all will apply and the result – fight between the Gorkhas. The Bengal government kills “three” birds with one stone – (1) Gorkhas get divided, (2) Gorkhaland demand fizzles out, and (3) the government says we did try to develop Darjeeling. The Bengal government is succeeding – the GJM-GNLF fight has broken out (and we are lost in our debate on how the strike causes us inconveniences!). We are certainly like the “bhirma-janey goru” unable to see who is driving us into the bhir.
patleybaskounpad said
#7
a tender is floated..people apply..where does the GJMM or the GNLF come in all this? unless people want them to come…
this is really strange…money is sanctioned to repair roads, schools, hospitals and then suddenly people make it a party issue and squabble over it…no wonder we give opportunity to the WB govt. to use us like that…
Sanity said
#8.
A tender is floated and people from the GNLF camp apply because they have been instructed by the Bengal government to do so. Why else would the Bengal government be so kind to the hills now? When GNLF was in power in Darjeeling did they allow any person from the opposition party to apply for any tender? As happened in Mirik, the tender was floated in Mirik but the GNLF leader, Rajen Mukhia, came from Panighatta to apply. As all must be aware that GNLF leaders have been barred from entering the hills. This led to the fight and later the police charge and then the strike. Perfect planning.
And Rajen Mukhia was not arrested – he was escorted safely out of Panighatta to Siliguri. The double standard of the West Bengal government is too apparent. Their police can opnely beat old Gorkha army personnel but goes on to save a man who opposes Gorkhaland.
timepass uncle said
#3 Earlier Ghising was a foolish leader and his followers were also fools. But this time the leader Bimal Gurung only is foolish all his followers, advisors are intellectuals. now i could realised y ghising did not take the intellectuals in his fold in the earlier part of the agitation.
Hari said
#7 “Tender is floated to make people fight each other”
The same person accuses me of speaking obsene words. Man what logic. See what people like these need is not obsene words but ELECTRIC shocks.
Cant you read what bloggers earlier have written. Dont you get the message?????
professionally raped said
We should all understand that we are all very good in giving our postmortem comments. Tender or no tender, diplomacy and double standard of the WB govt and the the bold step of apparently oppositionless GJMM: does it hold any good for people like us? By the looks of how things are going lately do you think GL will happen??? And even if it happens- don’t you think there will be greater killing amongst our kith and kin our petty matters? The funds meant for the welfare state will be squandered and gobbled much like what the locust does to the standing crop. There will be bloody battle between Jat-Path, Education system will be dismantled block by block (it has already started) the situation here will no less be like a hostile territory.
Do you think these bongs will allow us live in peace after that–after having known us and our mentality like the back of their palm!!
Why did we love to hate Ghising? and why are we doing the same to BG?? Do you think these guys think and act on their own will??? Come on…. there are greater players somewhere these guys are just pawns who has our faith, and we?? just to puny….
professionally raped said
We should all understand that we are all very good in giving our postmortem comments. Tender or no tender, diplomacy and double standard of the WB govt and the the bold step of apparently oppositionless GJMM: does it hold any good for people like us? By the looks of how things are going lately do you think GL will happen??? And even if it happens- don’t you think there will be greater killing amongst our kith and kin our petty matters? The funds meant for the welfare state will be squandered and gobbled much like what the locust does to the standing crop. There will be bloody battle between Jat-Path, Education system will be dismantled block by block (it has already started) the situation here will no less be like a hostile territory.
Do you think these bongs will allow us live in peace after that–after having known us and our mentality like the back of their palm!!
Why did we love to hate Ghising? and why are we doing the same to BG?? Do you think these guys think and act on their own will??? Come on…. there are greater players somewhere these guys are just pawns who has our faith, and we?? just too puny….