DARJEELING HILLS: Bandh relaxed in Siliguri, hunger strike in Dooars from tomorrow

FROM THE HINDU

Siliguri (PTI): The agitation for Gorkhaland threatened to spill over to the plains of Dooars even as a semblance of normalcy returned to the paralysed Darjeeling hills with a 12-hour relaxation allowed for the second day today during the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha sponsored indefinite bandh.

The relaxation was declared from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. to allow people to pick up essentials and to celebrate the raising of the demand for creation of a separte Gorkhaland state by BJP leader Jaswant Singh in Parliament yesterday, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri told reporters.

He said that GJM leadership was also happy as 19 GJM supporters and leaders arrested in connection with Panighata incident on July 10 were granted bail on Friday.

However, the GJM had decided to continue its movement for a separate State, Mr. Giri said.

He said the GJM central committee meeting on Friday also decided to start a relay hunger strike in central, east and western Dooars from Sunday to press for their three point charter of demands.

NEPAL: Vice Prez vents anger over SC verdict

FROM SOUTH ASIAN MEDIA NET

KATHMANDU, July 24: Vice President Paramananda Jha has expressed his displeasure over the Supreme Court verdict nullifying the oath of office he took in the Hindi language, saying the judgment was biased and predictable.

In an interview to Republica at his residence at Kumarigal, Kathmandu following the verdict, the judge-turned vice president said, “It is an unwelcome verdict. The justices assumed that a non-Nepali speaking person cannot be president and vice-president of Nepal.”

Jha said that the verdict involved conflict interest as Chief Justice Min Bahadur Rayamajhee was a member of the Judicial Council that formed a committee to probe a controversial order passed by Jha in 2006. Then a temporary justice at the apex court, Jha was then demoted for the flawed order releasing an alleged drug smuggler.

“Presence of Rayamajhee on the bench involved conflict of interest,” Jha said.

Jha also questioned the competence of Rayamajhee and Balaram KC despite the fact that the duo are two of the most competent incumbent judges. “They did not know the law and the context of Nepal.”

When asked whether he would go to office following the court verdict, he said he would go to office on Sunday as usual. “No one can stop me,” Jha, whose mother tongue is Maithili, said in English, with a copy of the verdict in his hand.

About the taking of a fresh oath, he said that he has reservations about it and will decide later. He would first ask for an interpreter before taking a new oath as he does not know Nepali at all. “Politically speaking, I do not understand Nepali. No one can compel me to take oath in Nepali,” the vice president said in fluent Nepali.

NATIONAL: President inaugurates Helpline portal to address grievances

FROM SIKKIM REPORTER

New Delhi: President Pratibha Devisingh Patil Friday inaugurated the Rashtrapati Bhavan Helpline Portal to make the process of sending grievances to the President easier.

The Portal at URL http://helpline.rb.nic.in, inauguarated at a function in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, is quite user friendly. Its highlights include lodging of request/ grievance by clicking ‘Lodge a Request/Grievance’ from any place, any time on 24X7basis after which a Unique Registration Number (URN) is generated for every request/grievance.

Citizens can also track the status of their request/grievance online and receive acknowledgement via e-mail. Instant and easy communication between nodal Public Grievance officers of Government Organizations would also be easy.

It also integrates Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS). It has Automatic Online Data transmission facilities between Ministries/Department/Organization and the subordinate organizations. Moreover, there would be constant updating on the status of request/grievance received and acted upon by the President’s Secretariat.

Other special features of the portal include lodging of lengthy e-petitions, enabling supplementary attachment of scanned documents and also additional mode of acknowledgement through e-mails. Once the request/grievance is scrutinized by the Helpline Main Desk at Rashtrapati Bhavan, it assigns them to appropriate grievance category and decides on the action required.

SIKKIM: Sevoke-Rangpo rail project to be completed by Dec 2015

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK (PIB): The Railways have set a target of December 2015 for the completion of Sevoke-Rangpo rail project for which plan outlay has been fixed at Rs 10 crore in 2009-10.

The final location survey contract has already been awarded.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways, E Ahamed informed about the sections that have been completed during the last five years in North East States. These are Samuktala-New Bongaigaon of New Jalpaiguri-New Bongaigaon Gauge Conversion (61 kms), Alipurduar-Bamanhat Gauge Conversion (80 kms), Manu-Agartala of Kumarghat-Agartala New Line (89 kms) and Senchoa-Silghat Gauge Conversion (62 kms).

In all, 16 projects fully/partly in North Eastern Region are in progress which includes New Maynaguri-Jogighopa, Sevoke-Rangpo. Gauge conversion is also on which includes New Jalpaiguri-Siliguri-New Bongaigaon.

SIKKIM: American Dragons conclude their experiential trip of Sikkim

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK: The Himalayan State of Sikkim has its fair share of dragon mythologies due its proximity with Bhutan ‘The Kingdom of Dragon’ and Tibet Autonomous Region. These legends are being brought to life by Directorate of Handloom and Handicraft where local youths are being trained in the traditional art of carving woodcrafts of the dragons.

Interestingly, Sikkim has attracted the attentions of an atypical dragon from the far West-‘Where There Be Dragons’, a commercial venture based in Colorado in USA which specializes in sending students for ‘experiential trips’ in several nations as part of Dragon programmes.

The company’s Dragons programmes are authentic, rugged and profound learning adventures that expose the beautiful and complex realities of the countries in which the students are sent for learning trips in exotic corners of the world including the Himalayan regions as part of ‘Himalayan Studies Semester’ which is a college accredited abroad programme focusing on culture and religion.

In this ‘Himalayan Studies Semester’, the company has designed a special Dragon programme for Sikkim during summer break and has been sending batches of students along with their instructors annually to the Himalayan State for experiencing and learning on ground levels.

“The students are here to learn about the culture, spirituality, religious practices and getting to know about the local communities through homestays in rural areas”, said Germaine Barlett-Graff, the instructor of the American study group sent by ‘Where There Be Dragons’.

As another instructor Dan Meyer puts it that earlier the company used to focus its programmes in Nepal but due to the political turmoil in the recent years, the company has now detoured to Sikkim where American students have been regularly visiting this State since 2004.

Due to the political circumstances in Nepal we started thinking alternatives, Sikkim was the logical choice for the Dragons programme and we started bringing students here, said Mr. Meyer.

A total of nine students which included seven girls in the age group of 15 to 19 years and studying in Grade 10 to first year in college had come to Kalimpong and Sikkim for a month long study trip this summer.

The trip concluded today and the students today packed up and left for Kolkatta from where they will catch a flight to USA.

SIKKIM: Liquor shops reel under bandh aftermath

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK, July 24: All business establishments including fast food shops and liquor shops have been hit hard even as the weeklong bandh on the National Highway 31 A have been called off two days back.

There are more then 25 liquor shops and six bar outlets, out of which 10 liquor shops completely depend on tourists and local passengers. However, these shops have been affected due to negligent or no tourist inflow at this time.

Liquor sold in Sikkim attracts huge buyers as it is not only cheap maintains good quality as compared to other States. “Loss to liquor shops is also loss to government by way of revenue generation,” said businessmen here.

In Rangpo area alone, the per day transition of liquor come around Rs 7 to 8 lakhs but has drastically dwindled to Rs 2 to 2.5 lakhs per day. This means the State Government is also losing around Rs 3 lakhs revenue per day.

SIKKIM: OT Lepcha raise demands for sports academy & other sports facilities in Sikkim

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

O. T. Lepcha

GANGTOK, July 24: The lone Rajya Sabha MP from Sikkim OT Lepcha today requested the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs to establish a Sports Academy in Sikkim and help in establishing other sports campuses besides extending support to Sonam Gyatso Mountaineering Institute so that young boys and girls of Sikkim can show their potential in the international arena and enhance the prestige of the nation.

Moving his resolutions on ‘urgent public importance’ in the Rajya Sabha today, Mr. Lepcha urged the government to prepare an action plan for the all round development of the State of Sikkim, to connect the State with air and rail link at the earliest and also to improve the road infrastructure in the State by acceding to the proposal received from the State Government so as to bring the people of Sikkim in the mainstream of the country.

Mr. Lepcha has also urged the government to consider appointment of the people of Sikkim to Constitutional posts and in other higher authorities as well as to develop Sikkim as an international tourist destination in view of its vast potential and to reserve the natural reserves of the State.

PHOTO FEATURE: Nari Morcha procession at Kurseong

Members of Gorkha Janmukti Nari Morcha during a procession at Kurseong. Photo by Himalaya Darpan

DOOARS TERAI: GJM stir spreads to Terai

FROM TIMES OF INDIA

PUTONG (KURSEONG): Barely an hour’s drive from Siliguri, beyond Bagdogra and the military garrison of Bengdubi, the road starts to climb through dense forests. This is an alternative road towards Mirik and Darjeeling thereafter, normally used by tourists who reach Bagdogra by air. The Naxalbari block of Siliguri subdivision ends on the banks of the Balasone soon after the Tirhanna tea estate. Kurseong subdivision starts beyond this. The small settlement of Putong rests on the steep slopes, amid picturesque settings. Residents largely of Nepali origin tend to the Putong tea estate.

Till recently, the Gorkhaland agitation had not left much of a mark on the residents. But things have changed. Three residents of Putong were among the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) supporters arrested from Panighata. One of them, Poonam Sharma, is a college student. This was the launching pad the GJM leadership was waiting for. On Thursday, leaders from Kurseong turned up at Putong with relief for the families of those arrested.

During the short programme, the village headman vowed to fight the “oppression” of the state government. “I will fight to the death for Gorkhaland,” he said as villagers cheered. Family members of Sharma, Diwas Rai and Bimal Tamang the two others who have been arrested wept and narrated their woes to the leaders. Apart from clothes and food, they also received some cash.

“You have witnessed how dissent starts. The arrested GJM workers have been kept in a cramped cell. There is no explanation as to why a case of Kurseong has been shifted to Siliguri. There is a strike here as well, but we have decided not to resort to violence. That is what the West Bengal government wants us to do. We are being labeled communal. Have we done anything against any community? Today, we are receiving support from Bengalis, Marwaris and Biharis. I am a teacher at a Bengali-medium school. Can I afford to be communal? Our demands are very much within the Constitution. Have new states not been formed elsewhere in the country,” said C B Singh, president of the GJM’s Kurseong subdivision committee.

Vice-president Kamal Thapa went a step further and said international borders would be more secure once Gorkhaland becomes a reality. “The unchecked infiltration will come to an end,” he said.

“When you go to Delhi and people ask you where you are from, you say West Bengal. When the same question is asked of us, don’t we have the right to say Gorkhaland? Is it too much to ask for? The state government is trying to stall dialogue. They do not realize that the Centre will be the one deciding our fate,” Singh added.

INSPIRATIONAL STORIES: Climb every mountain, follow every dream…

FROM DECCAN HERALD

Nivedita Choudhuri writes about Helen Jones, a 66-year-old retired teacher from England who came on a hiking trip to Darjeeling and ended up setting up a school.

Intrepid grandmother Helen Jones has gone through a life-changing experience after setting up a school for disadvantaged children in Darjeeling. The 66-year-old retired teacher from Middlesbrough, England, joined forces with some friends four years ago to establish Roseberry School. She is now set to embark on a 100-mile sponsored walk in August to raise cash for the school.

Helen, a former physics teacher and deputy head-teacher of a community college in north Yorkshire, loves to travel. She is also fond of plants and gardens and has a large garden of her own that she opens to the public for charity. She visited India for the first time in 2002 to look for plants in Darjeeling and Sikkim. Her guide persuaded her to spend some time in the area teaching. Helen was bowled over by the proposal, but she was shocked by the state of the schools she visited. She took home the memory of hundreds of children walking miles to school along mountain roads each day.

Back home, Helen had for many years been raising money for charities by giving slideshows about her travels. She decided to put her money to good use by sponsoring a school in Darjeeling, thus giving back something to the community which had given her so much pleasure. After a few months, her guide and his wife informed her of a disused building in Darjeeling where Helen could set up her school. Helped by a close circle of friends, Helen launched School Aid India with the dream of opening a school.

During the following winter, Helen’s guide got a team together to renovate the building which provides two tiny classrooms in the Toong Soong area of Darjeeling on a steeply sloping hillside. It is blessed with a small flat area outside for the children to play. The building was only just ready by the end of February 2007 to open its doors in March. Helen’s aim is to admit 15 disadvantaged children from the local area each year, starting at pre-school age. Teaching is through the medium of English and the teachers are drawn from the local community and all must have a teaching qualification.

Highest quality

Helen wants to provide the highest quality education possible for the children until the age of 10. After that, if there is enough money, grants will be given to the children to attend secondary school. At the start of this school year, the school had 52 pupils and four teachers in four classes.

NEW DELHI: Jaswant’s humour has Lok Sabha in splits

FROM TIMES OF INDIA

NEW DELHI: Trust senior BJP MP Jaswant Singh to bring up it up in Parliament: the tax exemption for senior citizens in this budget was not enough for even a “bottle of whiskey” for himself, is what he told finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, sitting across, sending him and the rest of the lower House into peels of laughter.

At his humorous best, Singh’s thoroughly enjoyable speech had the House thumping their desks in appreciation. The speaker after him, Congress Sandeep Dikshit, congratulated him for the speech which made “a drab subject like finance bill” lively and was an inspiration for younger members like him, before starting on his theme of budgeting for more for environmental purposes.

If there were any reports of Singh being upset with the party, the Darjeeling MP put all that to rest and came out in great spirit while initiating the debate on the finance bill spreading a rare spirit of bonhomie across the floor of the House.

The finance ministry was the place where he “lost all his hair”, the balding Singh told “Pranab Babu” while suggesting points of criticism of the budget, to which the finance minister enjoying every bit of the humour coming from the Opposition bench said, he had “already lost his”, implying he had no worries on that account.

He said that the finance ministry needs to move over from being a financial management ministry to a “ministry for economic development”. The Planning Commission should be abolished or the ministry merged with the Plan panel since finance ministers and Planning Commission chairmen have always been “squabbling”.

Singh also suggested that railways should merge with finance ministry. Though “I don’t intend to create trouble between you and the railway minister”, he added, again generating laughter, on all sides, with most members and probably Pranab Babu himself considering facing fiesty Mamata Banerjee on this.

On the issue of low rains this season, Singh called himself a “a failed farmer”. “I keep some cattle…come from a single-crop land and depend only on rain water for irrigation… therefore I know…,” he said, while asking the FM to take steps in view of the apprehension of drought.

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS: Jaswant Singh on Darjeeling

THE HIMALAYAN BEACON [BEACON ONLINE] EXCLUSIVE

Friday, July 24, 2009 / Sravana 2, 1931 (Saka)

THE FINANCE (NO.2) BILL, 2009

THE MINISTER OF FINANCE (SHRI PRANAB MUKHERJEE) moving the Finance Bill for consideration, said: The Finance Bill is a unique Bill in the sense that some part of it becomes operational the moment it is introduced and after that the hon. Members get the time for discussing the Budget in details. Demands for Grants are passed and after that the Finance Bill is taken up for consideration by the House. So, at this stage there is no scope for making any observation. With these words I beg that the Bill be taken into consideration.

SHRI JASWANT SINGH: initiating the discussion on Finance Bill said: If the finances and the economy of the country are sound, then only one can advocate for common man’s benefit and then only, the Aam Admi will benefit. From the President’s Address to the Joint Session of Parliament, a lot of things flow. The entire policy of the Government flows and the Budget also flows in its totality from that. The Finance Bill is the child of the Budget. The Budget, in a sense, is the instrument of the fiscal policy of the Government. Important objective of the Finance Bill is impart the country’s public life a degree of purity.

Paragraph 73 of the Budget speech relates to cyclone Aila. Mr. Finance Minister have allocated an additional sum of Rs. 1,000 crore for meeting the requirements arisen due to cyclone Aila. I do not think Rs.1,000 crore is adequate. The Left Front Government is the most parochial in the application of that money when it comes to the Darjeeling Hill area. The entire definition of “disaster” or “calamity” is different. The cyclone has resulted in devastation in the hill districts, landslides, house collapse and deaths were its consequences. It is in this context that I appeal to the Finance Minister, to allot a sum larger than Rs.1,000 crore. Allot a sum that is directly the hill areas of Darjeeling because for the last thirty years the Left Front Government has neglected Darjeeling Hill area as never before.

NEPAL: I don’t know Nepali – Nepal Vice President

FROM IANS

By Sudeshna Sarkar

Kathmandu, July 24 : Caught in a fresh row over the use of Hindi language, Nepal’s vice president Parmanand Jha Friday virtually defied the order of the Supreme Court asking him to take oath of office once again in Nepali, saying he did not know Nepali.

‘Nowhere does the constitution of Nepal say that you have to know Nepali to be the president or vice president of Nepal,’ the 65-year-old former Supreme Court judge said after the apex court ruled his taking the oath last year in Hindi was unconstitutional and against legal provisions.

”I don’t speak Nepali,’ Jha said. ‘I can’t write Nepali. I speak Maithili, Avadhi and Bhojpuri. If I am compelled to take the oath of office again, I will take it in English.’

Jha said the court verdict was muddled, clubbing the president and vice president with the prime minister, who is a political appointee, while the other two are non-political.

‘In the absence of the president, the vice president becomes the head of state,’ Jha said. ‘The Supreme Court decision will affect the government as well as the judiciary.’

He also said that at a time when the country should concentrate on taking the peace process to its conclusion and drafting a new constitution, the apex court ruling added fuel to fire.

Jha, who was elected Nepal’s first vice president July 2008 after the former Hindu kingdom became a secular federal republic, created a controversy when he took oath of office in Hindi, the language spoken by Madhesis.

He also wore the ‘dhoti’ and ‘kurta’, regarded as Indian clothes.

NEPAL: Hindi oath illegal, says Nepal court

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Kathmandu, July 24: Nepal’s Supreme Court today ruled that the oath of office taken in Hindi by Vice-President Parmanand Jha a year ago was unconstitutional.

A joint bench, comprising of Chief Justice Min Bahadur Rayamajhi and Justice Balram KC, concluded that since the oath that Jha took in Hindi was unconstitutional, he must repeat it once again in the Nepali language.

The court said the Interim Constitution has clearly said that all oaths should be taken in Nepali, which is the official language. “Since the oath taken by Jha was not in accordance with the existing constitutional provisions, the Supreme Court has scrapped the same,” apex court spokesperson Hemanta Rawal said.

Jha, himself a former judge, angered Nepalis who live in the hills by taking his oath of office in Hindi. He also wore a dhoti and kurta instead of the Nepali national attire of daura suruwal.

NEPAL: No model is ideal – PM Nepal

FROM SOUTH ASIAN MEDIA NET

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has said that while writing a new constitution the country should develop a model of governance based on the ground reality in our society and not just copy from some other country.

“No model of governance — presidential, prime ministerial, mixed or otherwise — has been established as ideal in the world. Each has its merits and demerits. Therefore we have to come up with the best model based on the ground reality in our society,” Prime Minister Nepal said at a function organized in Kathmandu on Friday.

He said that some of the countries that adopted a presidential system such as in the United States are unhappy with the system. Likewise, other countries adopting a mixed system like Sri Lanka´s also have their grievances against that model, he said.

While giving importance to constitutional supremacy and rule of law in the new constitution, the democratic system will be given a central role, he said, adding, “There is no alternative to adopting democratic practice”.

LONDON: Lumley To Get State Welcome In Nepal

FROM HEARTKENT.CO.UK

Thousands of Gurkhas are travelling to Kathmandu to welcome “daughter of Nepal” Joanna Lumley to their home country.

The British actress makes her first visit to the Himalayan nation on Sunday and is set to receive a state welcome.

“We are proud and honoured to have her in our country. She is truly a daughter of Nepal,” said Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen’s Organisation’s (GAESO) Krishna Kumar Rai.

Lumley is expected to be greeted by around 3,000 Gurkhas at the airport.

She will be given a traditional Gurkha welcome, with five girls dressed in garlands performing the reception.

Leader of the welcome committee Anuradha Koirala, a campaigner for human rights, chose five orphans and homeless girls to welcome Lumley.

The actress will then make her way to City Hall for a public reception, where thousands more are expected to greet her.

Britain’s first Gurkha councillor Dhan Gurung, who is going with her, said: “Her father is from Nepal and she is one of our sisters now. So she is going to meet her family, Nepal.”

During her six-day trip Lumley will meet the President and Prime Minister at the king’s palace. She will also visit three Gurkha communities.

Organisers say they expect thousands of veterans to travel to meet her, many of them coming on foot from remote areas of the country.

“She is like a goddess to the Gurkhas,” said Falklands war veteran Gyanendra Rai.

Mr Rai was one of several Gurkhas who was refused the right to settle in Britain, despite fighting for the British in 1982 and being seriously injured.

“I don’t have the words to describe how happy I am that Joanna Lumley is coming to Nepal,” he said.

Lumley masterminded the campaign to get residency for the Gurkhas and was the rallying voice for the men she called the “bravest of the brave”.

SIKKIM: Infuriated parents slam St Thomas School authorities for overlooking assault on girl

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK: Infuriated parents of the students of St Thomas School here today slammed the school authorities for overlooking an incident of physical assault on a girl student on July 21.

According to the protesting parents, a girl student from the school was allegedly assaulted by three of the students two days back in the school store room. They added that no action has been taken by the authorities despite their repeated complaints.

Today, the parents and guardians of the students got together at the school premises and demanded expulsion of the three alleged students.

However, no FIR has been lodged by the protesting parents on the incident.

“We want the school authority to ensure that our students are safe in the school in future,” said one of the parents while talking with the media today.

At the same time, the parents complained about several other bottle necks in the functioning of the school. “The class rooms are over crowded with almost 40-50 students and there is very less chance for individual attention,” they said.

Later this afternoon, a meeting between the School Management Committee, the victim’s parents and the aggrieved guardian representatives was held at the school.

Interacting with media persons after the meeting, the Principal of the School Sister Rupa said the victim has identified one of the three boys who had assaulted her. He has been suspended from the school, Sister Rupa said.

SIKKIM: Lepcha Language Poetry Competition to be held on July 26

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK: A State level Lepcha Language Poetry Competition is scheduled to be held at Janata Bhawan here on July 26.

The date and the venue were decided in a meeting of Sikkim Lepcha Youth Association held here yesterday.

Earlier the organization had decided to hold the competition at Tashi Namgyal Senior Secondary School but had to be cancelled due to the sudden engagement of the School Auditorium for the Central Examination and also because of its remoteness from the main town, adds a press release issued by the association president Ongden Tshering Lepcha.

The organisation has at the same time regretted over the change of venue.

SIKKIM: Traffic on NH 31 A returns to normalcy

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

RANGPO: Sikkim bound traffic on the National Highway 31-A has returned to normalcy today even as the Gorkh Janmukti Morch had withdrawn the blockade on the NH -31A yesterday.

The private bus service between Siliguri and Sikkim was also restored from today. Yesterday, only around 15 buses plied between Siliguri and Sikkim.

On the other side of Rangpo, shops and business establishments at NH 31 A from Rangpo, Darjeeling area to Tarkhola, Kirney, Melli, Teesta, 29 Mile, Rambi, Lohapool to Sevoke Road was completely closed.

It is informed that the Morcha has not lifted bandh on business establishments along the Highway.

Official figures estimate Rs 10 crore loss to Sikkim’s exchequer in a day due to the bandh.

DARJEELING HILLS: 12-hour relief for Hills today

FROM THE STATESMAN

SILIGURI, 24 JULY: The GJMM has relaxed the ongoing bandh in the Darjeeling hills for 12 hours tomorrow. According to the party general secretary Mr Roshan Giri, the bandh had been relaxed to give the people a reprieve. “Moreover, the defence of the Gorkhaland cause by our elected Parliamentarian Mr Jaswant Singh in the Lok Sabha today prompted us to relax the bandh,” he said.

He, however, denied that today’s release on bail of 20 GJMM supporters allegedly involved in the recent GJMM-GNLF clash at Panighatta had influenced the bandh relaxation decision.

Meanwhile, the Left Front constituents are contemplating to urge chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to convene an all-party meeting at the earliest to take stock of the developing situation in the Darjeeling hills in view of the indefinite bandh.

Speaking on the dragging imbroglio in the hills, the Forward Bloc general secretary Mr Debabrata Biswas said over phone from New Delhi that the state government should convene an all-party meeting without losing time to discuss the spell of lawlessness prevailing in the hills. “We would urge the chief minister to take initiatives. All the parties including the GJMM should be invited,” he said.

Taking strong exception to the “anarchy-like situation” in the hills, the FB leader said that the state could under no circumstances abdicate its paramount role as the law- enforcing agency. “The state government should sound all the political parties regarding the intractable tangle and if a consensus emerges it should act firmly to stem the growing tide of lawlessness in the sensitive region,” Mr Biswas asserted.

Echoing the view, the state CPI secretary Mr Manju Kumar Majumder said that convening an all-party meet on the crisis was becoming imperative with the situation in the hills spiraling out of the administrative control of the state government. “We know that to act firmly in this politically volatile situation might prove difficult for the beleaguered state government but something should be done,” he said.

DOOARS TERAI: ABAVP threatens to ‘paralyse’ Siliguri

FROM THE STATESMAN

SILIGURI, 24 JULY: The Terai unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad today threatened to “paralyse” Siliguri if the district administration failed to force the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha to withdraw its bandh programme from certain areas in Siliguri sub-division, which have an admixture of Adivasi population.

The ABAVP served a representation to the Siliguri SDO on the issue today stating it would act if the problem was not resolved by Sunday.

“In addition to the Darjeeling hills, the GJMM has extended its bandh programme to the Tirihanna and Belgachi tea estates under the Naxalbari police station in Siliguri sub-division. The workers of these tea estates are suffering due to the bandh and the administration is doing nothing to sort it out,” said an ABAVP leader Mr Rajesh Toppo.

According to him, the students of those areas were being victimized by the strike that came into force on 13 July.

SILIGURI: Hilsa, momo and thukpa for footballers

FROM THE STATESMAN

SILIGURI, 24 JULY: To forge friendship and fraternity among the young of the Hills and plains, the Indian Football Association, West Bengal District Sports Association and Siliguri Mahakuma Krira Parishad (SMKP) are planning to offer a fraternity cuisine to the participants from Siliguri, Darjeeling, Birbhum, Burdwan, Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar, Murshidabad, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur in the Haripada Dutta Sub-Junior Inter-School Football Tournament to be played in Siliguri from 27 July.

Mr Subhankar Mitra, a senior member of the organising committee said: “We plan to serve Bangladeshi hilsa, momo and thukpa, to the players during the tournament. The menu we believe, would work as a binding force among the participants from different culture.

According to Mr. Subhashish Ghosh, assistant secretary, SMKP, a big consignment of Bangladeshi hilsa, which was being imported from Bangladesh, would reach Siliguri via Kolkata on 26 July for the purpose.

“We have been awarded the tournament after five years. We want to make it a memorable experience for all and use the opportunity to iron the creases in the hill-plain relationship because of the Gorkhaland movement,” he said.

SILIGURI: Film screening to mark DHR’s anniversary

FROM THE STATESMAN

SILIGURI, 24 JULY: The world-renowned Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) would observe its 128th anniversary on 23 August in Siliguri.

The DHR authority and the North Bengal Science Centre would jointly organise the week-long observance.

The programme would showcase several rare photographs connected with the heritage train’s century-long journey through the hilly terrain. This apart, a film depicting the toy train’s chequered career would be shown.

Informing this, the DHR director Mr Subrata Nath said the programme aims to arouse the tourists’ interest in the DHR’s luminous history.

“This railway fascinates tourists, yet if asked about the history behind it most of them would plead ignorance.

“We want to enlighten them on its socio-economic and historical importance. And for those who are interested to probe deeper, we would provide a plethora of exciting information,” Mr Nath said.

The DHR director further said that the photographs were being collected principally from the Kurseong archives. “Besides, rare collections preserved in the Tindharia and Sukna DHR offices would also be displayed.”

SIKKIM: Fresh demands surging for Gorkhaland

FROM THE STATESMAN

GANGTOK, 24 JULY: The Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh, an apolitical body, has urged the SDF led state government to table a resolution for a separate Gorkhaland state in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly. The Assembly would meet for the Budget Session beginning on 27 July.

Describing the statement of BJP MP, Mrs Sushma Swaraj in the Lok Sabha as a positive development, the BGP working president, Mr CK Shrestha said that it would go a long way in creating an atmosphere for the creation of Gorkhaland.

Mr Shrestha further informed that the BGP would soon meet Mr Luizinho Faleiro, Sikkim state in-charge of the Congress party to seek the Congress party’s support for the Gorkhaland cause.

Attributing the confusion over the identity of the Gorkhas in the country to the 1950 Indo-Nepal treaty, Mr Shrestha stressed on securing an exclusive Nepali language channel in Doordarshan.

The BGP also demanded to be empowered with the authority to issue Gorkha certificate to those aspiring to join the armed forces.

PHOTO FEATURE: Sikkim rhubarb

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A Rheum nobile or Sikkim rhubarb, an endangered plant that grows in the Himalyas. This plant was photographed on Thursday in the Tamzey Valley in North Sikkim. It grows generally upto an altitude of 15,00ft. The leaves of the plant are eaten by local people either raw or pickled, while the stem is used as medicine. Picture by Prabin Khaling