GJM DECLARES 12 Hr BANDH RELAXATION Kolkata, July 24 (PTI): In a brief respite for the people reeling under the indefinite bandh which entered the 12th day in Darjeeling Hills, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha tonight declared relaxation of the shutdown from 6 am to 6 pm tomorrow. The 12-hr relaxation would enable the people purchase essentials and do monetary transaction in banks, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri told PTI over phone. While markets and banks would be open during the period, vehicles would ply normally till 6 pm, as the bandh would again be clamped afterwards, Giri said. Asked if GJM would participate in talks convened by the Centre on August 11, Giri affirmed his organisation was open to talks. The state Home Secretary said talks should first take place at the official level before holding dialogues at the political level, Giri said. The GJM had been insisting on political level talks on a separate state of Gorkhaland as two earlier rounds of the tripartite meetings were held at the secretary level. "We also demand that the state should accept our plea for transfer of senior police officials including Inspector General, North Bengal, K L Tamta for their high handedness and brutal police lathicharge on GJM activists at Panighata on July 10," he said. GJM TO RELAX BANDH ENS, KOLKATA, 24 JULY: The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) on Friday announced that it would be relaxing the ongoing indefinite strike in the Darjeeling Hills for 12 hours on Saturday. This comes after the outfit softened its stance and said that it was ready to participate in the next round of tripartite talks scheduled to be held on August 11 in New Delhi. The GJM also announced that its supporters would be resuming relay hunger strikes in the Dooars where clashes erupted between the outfit’s supporters and tribals earlier this year. “We’ve announced relaxation of the bandh to ease the hardship faced by the people and enable them to replenish their supplies of essential commodities. Our supporters will go on a hunger strike at three places, including Kalchini in the Dooars in Jalpaiguri district, from tomorrow as the state government hasn’t kept its promises,” said Roshan Giri, general secretary of the outfit. In New Delhi, senior BJP leader and MP from Darjeeling, Jaswant Singh demanded creation of a separate Gorkhaland in the Lok Sabha and accused the Left Front government in the state of ignoring the Hills. “What wrong have the Gorkhas done to not to deserve a separate state?” Singh said and added that it would be “grave injustice” to national security and the people there if the Darjeeling Hills are not given the importance of a hill state. 12-hour relief from strike in hills today

TT, Darjeeling, July 24: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today announced a 12-hour relaxation in its indefinite strike tomorrow. Announcing the decision, Morcha general secretary, Roshan Giri said the strike would be relaxed from 6am to 6pm. “The people as well as the tea gardens need to stock up on essential items.” The party has also decided to distribute rice and cooking oil to people living below poverty line in a move aimed at mitigating the hassles they are facing because of the indefinite strike. Bimal Gurung, the president of the Morcha, said: “We will distribute rice and oil to families living below poverty line at various places like Darjeeling, Ghum, Kalimpong and Kurseong. The strike has inconvenienced our supporters but we have to carry on with the agitation for a greater cause.” Sources said the Morcha had stocked at least 2,500 quintals of rice for the distribution on Sunday. The amount of edible oil it has in its possession is, however, not yet known. The edible items will be distributed at the Gymkhana Club in Darjeeling. With the strike entering its 12th day, most of the residents are going without green vegetables and are relying largely on potatoes. Green vegetables are rare in most households and many residents of the town are seen going to villagers to buy whatever green vegetables they can lay their hands on. “Things are not cheap in the villages also. The farmers have hiked the prices of vegetables they grow,” said a resident of the town. “Even though, there was a 10-hour relaxation in the strike on Monday, we could not buy more essential items as the town had run out of supplies,” said Kubirman Rai, a resident. Traders said even though they had placed the orders, the supplies could not reach in time. “The relaxation was only till 6pm while our stocks arrived around 4pm. It took us a lot of time to unload the items because of crowds and we could not sell out our commodities on time,” said another trader. The Morcha’s initiative to deliver rice and oil is expected to help some families but many said another day-long relaxation was very much needed. Many tea planters also said even though the gardens had been kept out of the bandh’s purview, the distribution of rationed items was stopped. This is largely because the Morcha has not allowed movement of other vehicles carrying either fuel or ration to ply in the gardens. 12-hour relief for Hills today Statesman News Service ,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. Taking a slightly different stance on the matter, the state PWD minister and a senior RSP leader Mr Khisti Goswami said that the state government should wait and watch till the third round of tripartite dialogue was held. “If the stalemate drags on even after the parleys, an all-party meeting should be convened to prevail over the state government to intervene to uphold the rule of law in the strife-scarred region,” Mr Goswami said. Commenting on the matter, the CPI-M state committee member and an influential local leader Mr Jibesh Sarkar said that they would comment after studying the senior Left leaders’ assessment on the issue. Bandh on August 11 to protest tripartite talks Children play on a deserted street in Darjeeling on Friday. Picture by Suman Tamang TT, Siliguri, July 24: An apolitical Bengali organisation has called a 24-hour strike across the state on August 11 to protest against the tripartite talks involving the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in New Delhi on the day. However, observers said the bandh called by the Bangla O Bangla Bhasa Bachaon Committee will have little impact on the state, except in Siliguri subdivision and some parts of neighbouring Jalpaiguri district where anti-Morcha feeling runs high. Mukunda Majumdar, the president of the committee, said today: “We oppose not only the formation of Gorkhaland but also the conferment of special status under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution on the Darjeeling hills. The committee considers any move in either direction as the partition of Bengal. As the Centre has included these issues in the agenda of the meeting to be convened on August 11, we have decided to observe a 24-hour strike across Bengal on that day. Apart from the Morcha and the Centre, the third party to participate in the talks is the Bengal government. Whenever the committee had called the strikes on similar issues in the past, only Siliguri subdivision and some parts of neighbouring Jalpaiguri district were affected. “There were reasons for the strike remaining limited to Siliguri and Jalpaiguri. The committee lacks organisational strength and has only a handful of supporters, even less than the Amra Bangali which has some base in at least two districts.” “However in Siliguri and adjoining Jalpaiguri, it is not the organisation but the anti-Morcha stance which contributes in making the protests called by the committee a success,” said an observer. In the Dooars, the impact of the strike depends on the decision of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad, which of late, has emerged as the guiding force of the tribal population in the region. “If the Parishad supports the strike, it would be total. Otherwise, the impact will be minimal,” said a person who has been closely monitoring the situation in the hills and the plains. Traders have come out against the strike call. “We oppose any form of protest as it affects business. Our members are already incurring losses because of the ongoing strike in the hills and now another bandh is thrust on us, which means further losses,” said Biswajit Das, the general secretary of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, North Bengal. Pranab Mani, the secretary of the Siliguri Inter-District Minibus Owners’ Association, said since two weeks were left for August 11, they had time to sit and decide. Fresh demands surging for Gorkhaland SNS, 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. Mr Shreshtha informed that the new BGP National Council, National Executive and National office bearers would be elected during the triennial National Convention of the BGP to be held in Siliguri in October this year. Tribals give ultimatum to clear Terai roads Threat of blockade & shutdown in Siliguri Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad demonstrate on NH55 at Dagapur near Siliguri on Friday. They were protesting against the halt in traffic because of the Morcha strike. Picture by Kundan Yolmo TT, Siliguri, July 24: The Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad today told the state government to restore transport movement in the Terai by Monday or else, face blockades and closure of offices and educational institutions in Siliguri. “Ever since the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha launched its indefinite strike in the three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling district on July 13, the residents living just outside Siliguri have been facing problems. Schools are open in Dagapur, Salbari Panchanoi, Belgachi, Hanskowa and tea estates of Naxalbari. But thousands of children have to walk around six-eight kilometres everyday to attend classes as no vehicle is plying in these areas,” said Rajesh Toppo, the working secretary of the Parishad at Dagapur near here. Places like Dagapur and Naxalbari are not in the three subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong where the indefinite strike is being enforced. But roads leading to the hills from Siliguri pass through these areas and as the Morcha is halting traffic, people living there, too, have to bear the brunt of the bandh. “We will submit a memorandum addressed to the Siliguri subdivisional officer through the inspector-in-charge of Pradhannagar police station this evening, offering two days (Saturday and Sunday) to regularise the traffic on NH55 and state highways which pass through the Terai. If our demand is not met, we will walk to Siliguri on Monday and close down educational institutions and cripple traffic across the town. Our people can no longer face the inconveniences caused by the Morcha strike. The administration should initiate steps to bring normalcy, instead of sitting idle and allowing the Morcha a free hand,” said the Parishad leader at a news conference. Another Parishad leader, Samuel Bag, was also present. “The Morcha supporters are using vehicles with party flags perched on them to reach markets. Common people like us, on the other hand, have to walk miles to buy essential items. We carry grocery items and vegetables either on bicycles or heads. Why should we face such troubles when we live in the Siliguri subdivision where the Morcha is not enforcing the bandh? It is high time that the government acted to resolve the problem,” said Bag. The Parishad also demanded “appropriate administrative steps” to ensure that there were no law and order problems when the Morcha launches hunger strikes at Metelli, Birpara and Kalchini in the Dooars tomorrow. Release All 19 supporters of the Morcha, who had been arrested for allegedly attacking the house of a local GNLF leader and policemen at Panighata on July 10, were released on bail on Friday. The bail was granted by the court of additional chief judicial magistrate in Siliguri. “After the hearing, the judge, Amit Chakraborty, released all the 19 people on bail against a security of Rs 2,000 each,” said Manik Verma, the lawyer who represented the Morcha supporters. “However, they will have to appear in the court after 14 days,” said Verma. ABAVP threatens to ‘paralyse’ Siliguri SNS, 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. “Under the circumstances, the ABVP would block all major roads in the sub-division from Monday if the administration fails to dissuade the GJMM,” he added. I DONT KNOW NEPALI- NEPAL VP Sudeshna Sarkar, Kathmandu, July 24 (IANS) 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 and reviled by Nepal’s hill community. There were violent protests after the incident, with the Maoist party demanding Jha’s resignation. Though the protests stopped, an ultra-nationalistic lawyer, Balkrishna Neupane, filed a suit in Supreme Court the same month, challenging the use of Hindi and asking Jha to be sworn again in Nepali. हङकङमा १९६औं भानुजयन्ती देवराज राई, हङकङ /एचकेनेपाल डट कम- ‘आफ्नो भाषा, साहित्य र संस्कृतिको सम्वृद्धिसँगै नेपाली समाज बसाऔँ’ भन्ने अभियोजना बोकेर हरेक वर्ष हङकङमा आयोजना हुँदै आएको भानु जयन्ती यो वर्ष पनि नेपालीहरुको व्यापाक उपस्थितिमा सोमवार साँझ भव्यरुपमा सम्पन्न भएको छ। नेपाली विद्यार्थी, अभिभावक, शिक्षक, संघसंस्थाका प्रतिनिधि, विभिन्न विद्यालयका प्रधानाध्यापकहरुको उपस्थितिमा नेपाली साहित्यका आदिकवि भानुभक्त आचार्यको १९६औं जन्मजयन्ती धुमधाम मनाइएको हो। युनलङ टाउन हलको सभाहलमा सम्पन्न भानु जयन्तीको मूख्य आकर्षण रामायणको सम्पूर्ण कथालाई विभिन्न विद्यालयका विद्यार्थीहरुले गरेका प्रस्तुती थिए। व्यापक उपस्थितिका कारण बस्ने सिट अभावले उभिएरै नेपालीले भानुजयन्ती २००९ कार्यक्रम अवलोकन गरे। तस्वीरः जगतअम्बु गुरूङ, एचकेनेपाल डट कम नेपाली भाषा, साहित्य र संस्कृति नै आफ्ना सक्कलि पहिचानहरु हुन्। नेपाली भाषा, साहित्य र संस्कृतिको जगेर्ना नै आफ्नै जगेर्ना हो भन्दै भानुजयन्ती विशेषरुपमा मनाइएको थियो। भानुजयन्तीमा भानुभक्त तथा नेपाली भाषालाई सम्बोधन हुने खालका विविध सांस्कृतिक कार्यक्रमहरु प्रस्तुत भएका थिए। हङकङ नेपलिज फाउण्डेशनको संयोजन तथा हङकङ नेपाली साहित्य परिषद्को आयोजनामा भएको कार्यक्रममा विभिन्न सरकारी विद्यालयहरुमा अध्ययनरत नेपाली विधार्थी एवं शिक्षकहरूको व्यापक सक्रियता थियो। सुन्दर साजसज्जा भएको कार्यक्रममा भानुभक्तको जीवनी तथा नेपाली भाषाकै सेरोफेरोमा रहेर बालबालिकाहरुले आफ्ना मौलिक गीत, कविताहरु वाचन गरेका थिए। टिके प्राथमिक विद्यालय, पीएच केन्द्रीय प्राथमिक विद्यालय, बेथल हाईस्कुल, पिके कलेज, सर एलिस कादुरी माध्यमिक विद्यालय, आईकेटी माध्यमिक विद्यालय चाईवानका नेपाली विधार्थीहरुले कविता, जीवनी र नृत्यहरु प्रस्तुत गरेका थिए। भानुभक्तद्वारा लिखित भानुभक्तिय प्रश्नोत्तरी, भक्तमालाको केही अंशहरुसमेत पाठ गरिएको थियो। कार्यक्रममा भानुभक्तको देन तथा नेपाली संस्कृति झल्कने नृत्यहरु प्रस्तुत गरिएका थिए। हङकङ नेपाली साहित्य परिषद्का अध्यक्ष एकराज राईले कार्यक्रमको आयोजनाबारे जानकारी मन्तव्य दिएपछि सुरू भएको कार्यक्रममा नेपालबाहिर नेपाली भाषाको महत्व, हङकङमा नेपाली भाषाको विकासक्रमबारे विभिन्न विद्यालयका नेपाली शिक्षकहरुले आफ्ना धारणा व्यक्त गरेका थिए। कार्यक्रममा स्थानीय सरकारी विद्यालय पीएच केन्द्रीय प्राथमिक विद्यालयका प्रधानाध्यापक चोङ का लेउङले भानुभक्तको तस्बीरमा माल्यर्पण गरी सम्मान व्यक्त गरेका थिए। विभिन्न विद्यालयहरुले भानुजयन्तीलाई आफ्नो वार्षिक कार्यक्रम पुस्तिकामा प्रकाशित गरेका छन्। नेपाली भाषालाई स्थापना गर्नका लागि वातावरण तयार भैरहेको अवस्थामा सम्बन्धित विद्यालयका चिनिया मूलका शिक्षक, विदेशी मूलका शिक्षकहरुले कार्यक्रम सफल बनाउनका लागि विशेष भूमिका निर्वाह गरेका थिए। नन्दलाल थकरले धन्यवादसहित अन्त्यौलि गरेको भानुजयन्ती कार्यक्रमलाई एचकेनेपाल डट कमले अफिसियल मिडियाका रूपमा सघाएको थियो।