12 Hr RECESS ALLOWED
KalimNews, Kalimpong, 24 July: A break in the Indefinite strike called by GJMM is allowed in the Hill areas of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong.12 hour relaxation in the ongoing strike is declared after the Central Committee meeting of GJMM. All shops , business establishments and banks will remain open and transport vehicles will ply on the road from 6am to 6pm on 25th July. Meanwhile, some of the accused arrested in the cases of Mirik and Panighatta violence are granted bail by Siliguri court today.
Indefinite Strike started from the noon of 13th July and a day's break of 10 hrs on 20th July was allowed. From 20th Schools and tea garden as well as medicinal plantations were excluded from the bandh. But schools were again closed down from 22nd July after opening for two days and this time suprisingly it was jointly declared by JSTO and GJVM. It was in protest against Pranab Mukherjee's anti Gorkhaland statement.
NH 31A was excluded from strike on 18th July but later it announced relief from 18th till 23rd July to all vehicles having SK number. Again from 22nd July GJMM announced withdrawl of Bandh in NH 31A just after the announcement of deployment of central Forces to clear the highway.
GOVT QUESTIONED BY JASWANT ON GORKHALAND
KalimNews, Lok Sabha, 24 July: Jaswant Singh MP from Darjeeling raised the demand of Darjeeling as the legitimate demand of Gorkhas during the question hour of Lok Sabha today. Commenting on the Finance Minister’s report he appealed for allocation of more relief fund a sum larger than Rs.1000 crore for the disaster caused by Aila in the Darjeeling Hills.
He also emphasized that the fund should be directly applicable to the Hill areas of Darjeeling. He stated that Govt. of West Bengal has neglected it for the last 30 years as never before that’s why the demand of Gorkhaland is remerged. He blamed that Govt. of West Bengal is parochial in terms of application and use of the relief fund is concerned. He also stressed that the Govt. should redress the situation urgently and seriously.
He also highlighted that Darjeeling is the only District of the country that adjoins four neighbouring nations they are Bhutan, Nepal, China and Bangladesh. He also appealed that as Sikkim has been connected by border road it too should be given priority as bordering area and border road should be allocated to Darjeeling area also.
Jaswant also questioned the Finance Minister that what wrong has the Gorkha done that they are deprived and donot deserve to have a state of their own. He questioned though they have sacrificed their life for the country, living in the border, fighting for the country the why their demand is refused. He stressed that Govt should take interest in the matter and see to it that the grievances are redressed and Gorkhaland is formed.
For Video on Quick time of the speech CLICK HERE and DOWN LOAD IT.
Rediff News, July 24,Accusing the Left Front government in West Bengal of ignoring Darjeeling Hills, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh on Friday demanded the creation of a separate Gorkhaland. Singh also demanded more funds under the Cyclone Aila package. Initiating a debate on the Finance Bill in the Lok Sabha, the Darjeeling Member of Parliament wondered, "What wrong have the Gorkhas done not to deserve a separate state." Welcoming the tripartite talks on the issue, he said the demand for Gorkhaland has been one of the oldest demands of the region. He said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had also served as a defence minister and should understand the special importance of Darjeeling district, which shares international boundaries with Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh and China. Singh said 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. He said while he was not against the development of border roads in Sikkim, Darjeeling should also be provided with similar infrastructure. Singh, a former commissioned officer of the Indian Army , said the officer cadre should not be left out under the one-rank, one-pension announced by the government. He said officers were the first ones to get killed in operations as they led their men in battle. "They also leave behind widows," he added.Jaswant Singh demands creation of Gorkhaland
Rashtrapati Bhavan Helpline inaugurated
Delhi, 24 July
(PIB):The President of India, Smt. Pratibha
Devisingh Patil inaugurated the Rashtrapati Bhavan Helpline Portal at Rashtrapati Bhavan today.
The portal at the internet URL http://helpline.rb.nic.in seeks to make the process of sending grievances to the President easier. The portal is user friendly and its highlights are as follows:
· Lodging of request/grievance by clicking “Lodge a Request/Grievance” from any place any time (24X7) basis.
· Generation of Unique Registration Number (URN) for every request/grievance.
· Citizen can track the status of their request/grievance real time online.
· Acknowledgement by e-mail, if provided.
· Instant and easy communication between nodal Public Grievance officers of Government Organizations.
· Integration with Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS).
· Automatic Online Data transmission between Ministries/Department/
· Constant update on the status of request/grievance received and acted upon by the President’s Secretariat.
Its special features are:
· Enables lodging of lengthy e-petitions.
· Enables supplementary attachment of scanned documents.
· Additional mode of acknowledgement through e-mails.
· On submission of registration form, petitioner gets a Unique Registration Number (URN).
Once the request/grievance is scrutinized by the Helpline Main Desk at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the following actions would take place:-
· Scrutinize requests/grievances and assign appropriate grievance category.
· Decide on action required.
· Online forwarding of requests/grievances to Ministries/Departments/State Governments.
· Reminders sent electronically.
· Action taken is update on the ‘Updates Action Form’ at Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) level.
· The action taken report is reviewed by the higher authority before closure under the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS). (pib)
Railway Projects in North Eastern States (Sevoke-Rangpo )
Rajya Sabha, 24 July: 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. Final Location Survey contract has already been awarded. In a written reply Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways, Shri E. Ahamed informed that the following sections have been completed during the last five years in North East States :
· Samuktala-New Bongaigaon of New Jalpaiguri-New Bongaigaon Gauge Conversion–61 Km.
· Alipurduar-Bamanhat Gauge Conversion – 80 Km
· Manu-Agartala of Kumarghat-Agartala New Line – 89 Km.
· Senchoa-Silghat Gauge Conversion – 62 Km.
In all, 16 projects fully/partly in North Eastern Region are in progress which include . New Maynaguri-Jogighopa, Sevoke-Rangpo. Gauge conversion is also on which includes New Jalpaiguri-Siliguri-New Bongaigaon. (PIB)
GJM to consider request for calling off indefinite strike
GJM General Secretary Roshan Giri also demanded immediate release of 20 of their activists, who had been arrested on charges of torching houses of rival GNLF supporters.
''West Bengal Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen, in a letter, has requested us to call off the shutdown and restore normalcy. The third round tripartite meeting is slated for August 11. It has also been assured that the Gorkhaland issue will be raised during the talks. We will consider his request,'' Mr Giri said.
Life remained disrupted in the hills since July 13 after the GJM called indefinite bandh to press for their various demands, the chief of them being creation of a separate state Gorkhaland.
Only the tea gardens functioned normally while all shops and business establishments, schools and educational institutions remained closed. However, NH 31A, the lifline of Sikkim, remained open for traffic movement.
Meanwhile, the Bangla Bhasha Bachao Committee (BBBC), which is against the formation of a separate state, today called for a 24-hour statewide bandh on August 11 protesting against the tripartite meeting to be held in New Delhi.
TRIPARTITE MEETS GJM UNDER PRESSURE
The Economic Times, SILIGURI, 24 July: The tripartite meet on Gorkhaland slated for August 11 has increased pressure on GJM leaders from the tactical point of view.
| We need some time to decide our standpoint at the meet, said Roshan Giri, GJM general secretary. We have received the state government s letter and discussing on that, he said while talking on the letter sent to their leadership by state chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, urging withdrawal of the indefinite bandh. |
Already under tremendous pressure from large sections of the population, who have suffered due to the bandh, GJM has already let Sikkim bound NH31A to go out of the bandh ambit.
It is clear that tactically, the state government is now interested in keeping the ball in GJM court before the next tripartite meet. We do not want to create any confusion on the issue of GJM s response to CM s letter, said state chief secretary AM Chakroborty, when asked whether the state would take up any aggressive step if the GJM fails to respond positively to CM s letter.
A large section of the hill population, without any political leaning, think the next meet will not do anything significant on development of Gorkhaland. Naturally, they have already started expressing their views against the bandh; Something most unusual in hills.
At the same time, middle and lower level workers of the party, who have so far maintained a presence all along the hills, are highly enthusiastic about outcome of the meet.
But we cannot say anything about the outcome. We will present our side at the meet and fight till we get Gorkhaland, was the only response of Mr. Giri when asked what would be his next step after the meet. But this much is clear, failing to churn out something highly positive would put him and other GJM top leadership under tremendous pressure. (The economics times)
Gorkhas stall NHPC project in Darjeeling
We have called for this strike because this project is a central government project in Bengal. Through this strike, we want to pressurize not just the Bengal Government but the Central Government as well. We want our message to reach the Central Government, said Dilip Chhetri, block president, GJM.
The GJM says that the closure of the project is part of their movement and a way to put pressure on the Central Government, which they allege, does not pay heed to their demands.
The low dam project of the NHPC on the Teesta River, slated for completion in 2010, was set to generate electricity for the states of West Bengal, parts of Jharkhand, Bihar and also to Bhutan and Nepal.
As per reports, the NHPC is expecting a loss of rupees 15 crores a month due to the strike. The tripartite talks involving the West Bengal Government and the GJM is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on August 11.
Earlier, the Centre had proposed to hold the talks on August 24, but the GJM wanted it to be preponed. The last tripartite meeting between the three sides took place on December 29 last year where it was decided to take forward the talks after the Lok Sabha polls.
GJM Welcomes Talks with WB Govt
Kolkata (PTI), 24 July: The Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha on Friday welcomed the West Bengal government's willingness to discuss the Gorkhaland issue.
"They, in a letter, requested us to withdraw the bandh. They have also said that they are ready to discuss Gorkhaland.We welcome it. It is a positive development," GJM General Secretary, Roshan Giri, told PTI from Darjeeling over phone.
He said that things were moving in the right direction after the state government's response to GJM's terms for holding the third round of tripartite talks.
Mr. Giri said that it was also a welcome gesture that the Centre had preponed the tripartite talks to August 11 from August 24.
GJM had been insisting on political level talks on a separate state of Gorkhaland, after two earlier round of the tripartite meetings were held at the secretary level.
"They have also requested us to go for official-level talks at the tripartite discussions before the political-level dialogue," he said.
Asked why they would participate in the talks while going ahead with the indefinite bandh, he said "Talks are a different issue. Talks will solve the crisis."
Centre told to tread in hills with caution
TT, Darjeeling, July 23: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today alleged that the Bengal government was trying to create another Lalgarh by deploying paramilitary forces and asked the people not to be overawed by their presence.
Addressing a public meeting at Chowrastha, Puran Thami, the general secretary of the Yuva Morcha, said: “We are not demanding anything unconstitutional. The state government is trying to create a situation similar to Lalgarh by deploying the CRPF. The Centre should also tread in Darjeeling with caution as we are now in the midst of a peaceful agitation.”
The Darjeeling district magistrate had declared on Tuesday that seven companies of paramilitary forces would be deployed in the hills to maintain law and order.
The Morcha today organised rallies in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong in support of Gorkhaland. Hundreds of people participated in the rally, braving a steady drizzle.
Reacting to the request by the state urban minister, Asok Bhattacharya, to the Centre to ban the Gorkhaland Personnel, Colonel (retd) J.N. Dixit, the president of the Darjeeling unit of the ex-serviceman association, said the GLP was not unconstitutional.
“If the BJP can set up the RSS and the Congress can form the Seva Dal, why can’t the Morcha have the GLP? The question of banning the GLP does not arise at all and we will continue to support it,” said Dixit. The GLP youths are being trained up by the association of retired soldiers.
Dixit said even if the paramilitary forces were deployed in the hills, the GLP were there to protect the hill people. “The hills have 55,000 ex-servicemen, along with 25,000 Gorkhaland Personnel. This is definitely not a small number. We will continue to follow a non-violent agitation in the hills come what may,” said Dixit.
The Morcha also reiterated its demand for the transfer of K.L. Tamta, inspector-general of police, north Bengal. Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the party, alleged that the officer was trying to derail the Morcha’s movement.
“Tamta used to visit Rajen Mukhia’s house (GNLF leader at Panighatta) and plotted a conspiracy against the Morcha, along with Zia-ul Haq, a CPM leader of Chamurchi when our agitation had started in the Dooars,” alleged Giri.
Giri said they had genuine grievances against Tamta and alleged that the officer was working at the behest of Asok Bhattacharya. “We had complained about Tamta even at the second tripartite meeting on December 29,” said Giri
Yesterday, the Morcha announced that its strike would continue in the hills as the demands to remove Tamta and the release of 19 of their supporters in the July 10 incident in Panighata were not met.
BJP asks GJMM to attend talks minus rider
SILIGURI, 23 JULY: The Bharatiya Janata Party leadership has asked the GJMM to participate in the tripartite talks slated on 11 August without insisting too much on the Gorkhaland agenda. “Besides, the hill-based outfit should reconsider the indefinite shutdown in the interests of the common people,” commented the BJP leaders. The GJMM, however, seems determined to get on with the indefinite bandh until the party's demands relating to the transfer of the inspector general of police, north Bengal, Mr KL Tamta and two other police officials are met. “We are not withdrawing the bandh right now,” the GJMM general secretary Mr Roshan Giri made clear today The BJP executive committee member in charge of Sikkim and other northeastern states, Mr Harendra Prasad said that the GJMM should look for another way to pursue its statehood demand other than doggedly getting on with the indefinite bandh. “The GJMM should take part in the dialogue with a positive approach,” he added. He further said that an indefinite bandh might prove detrimental to the interest of the common people. “Bandh is not the only means of pursuing a popular demand. They might intensify economic blockade as part of the non-co-operation movement,” the senior BJP leader commented. Reiterating BJP's stand on the Gorkhaland issue, the party state president Mr Satyabrata Mukherjee said that his party had not committed to the Gorkhaland cause. “Our manifesto avers that we would look into the grievances of the Gorkha populace apart from the Adivasis and the Kamtapuris inhabiting north Bengal,” he said. Asking the GJMM not to insist on the statehood issue, Mr Mukherjee said that the GJMM should not believe they would get Gorkhaland in one go. “The party should display patience while pursuing the demand,” he said. Echoing the view, the former Union minister and a senior BJP leader Mr Tapan Shikdar said that the unflinching pursuance of the Gorkhaland agenda in course of the talks on the part of the GJMM might spike progress of the parleys. “They should instead negotiate with some amount of flexibility and sagacity,” Mr Sikdar said. ;SNS
SIMMERING HILLS- (Editorial, Staesman News service, 24 July 09)
NO one expects a Union minister, still less a Chief Minister, to readily endorse a statehood demand. There was nothing dramatic, therefore, in Mr Pranab Mukherjee ruling out a state of Gorkhaland. There is nothing particularly novel either in his assertion that the Centre is “willing to grant the Sixth Schedule status to the Darjeeling Hills”. Altogether, and perhaps somewhat unwittingly, the finance minister has confirmed the extent of feet-dragging on the issue over time. The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which affords a fair measure of autonomy to the local administration, is at best a second best option. The fact of the matter is that the provision has been before Parliament for at least the past five years. It is a measure of the overwhelming indecisiveness that the mainstream parties ~ the BJP is now ever more vocal on statehood ~ have failed to reach a consensus on the Sixth Schedule........ For More... CLICK HERE
Gardens close for fuel crunch
VIVEK CHHETRI.TT, Darjeeling , July 23: Tea gardens across the hills are shutting down despite being exempted from the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s strike, largely because of lack of coal and fuel supplies to their factories.
Sources said Dooteriya-Kalaj Valley tea garden had stopped plucking today and the management engaged the workers in other activities like weeding as fuel and coal were short on supply.
“I have been told that Happy Valley, Nagri Farm and Chongtong gardens will also be closing from tomorrow,” said, Sandeep Mukherjee, secretary, Darjeeling Tea Association.
The Morcha had kept the gardens out of the purview of the indefinite strike from Monday. Even though the party had given a 10-hour relaxation on that day, planters said they could not take advantage of that.
“Word had spread that Siliguri would be closing on Monday as a counter move to the Morcha’s relaxation. Apprehending law and order problems in the plains, most garden trucks did not go down. Moreover, tankers also refused to come up the hills, citing that the relaxation was too short for them to return,” said Mukherjee.
While the management of the smaller gardens claimed that they could pull through for another “week”, estates of medium and larger size that employ around 800-odd workers on an average said they were finding it increasingly difficult to run the factories. “Tea leaves cannot be kept for long without being processed after plucking,” said Mukherjee.
Even though the amount of fuel and coal needed by the garden entirely depends on the plucking done on any particular day, sources said a m edium-sized garden usually needs around 250-300 litres of diesel and about a truckload of coal a day.
“I had written a letter to Bimal Gurung on Tuesday thanking him for the relaxation and highlighting the problems we are likely to face. We will also write to him tomorrow about the crisis we are facing,” said Mukherjee.
Even though the Morcha has kept the gardens open, movement of vehicles within the garden has been restricted. “We also need to transport made tea to meet our demands,” said a tea official.
The 86 gardens in Darjeeling produce about 9.5 million kg of made tea annually.
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TT, Siliguri, July 23: The GNLF today slammed the state government for its failure in reining in the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and not delivering on the promise that law and order would be maintained in the hills. “We are surprised to see the prolonged silence on the part of the government. The officials and ministers are sitting idle and only delivering some moral talk on what the Morcha should not do, instead of taking any concrete step to reinstate the rule of law in the hills,” said Rajen Mukhia, a GNLF leader from Panighata. He was released on bail yesterday after his arrest on July 10, along with two others. “Whenever we had approached officials or ministers, seeking restoration of law and order in the hills or pointing out Morcha’s atrocities, we were assured that the government would not allow the flouting of rules and security would be intensified,” said a senior leader of the GNLF, who did not want to be named. “But on the ground, the presence of police and administration is hardly visible.” Balkrishna Sharma, convener of the Terai branch of GNLF-affiliated Himalayan Plantation Workers’ Union, said many leaders had proposed the reactivation of the party in the hills and the launch of a movement against the Morcha. “But the party president, Subhash Ghisingh still preaches tolerance and asked them to wait and watch. He feels if we, too, take to the street, there will be bloodshed.” GJM PIPES DOWN ON TALKS , WANTS 'BAD' COPS SHIFTED ENS, Kolkata 24 July:The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) on Thursday softened its stand further and indicated its approval of the state government’s offer to hold the third round of tripartite talks scheduled on August 11.Recently, the GJM leaders had exempted tea gardens, cinchona plantations and others from the purview of the bandh and opened up NH 31 A, the vital road link to the neighbouring Sikkim. However, the GJM stood firm on its demand for action against the three IPS officers, including IGP (north Bengal) K L Tamta, for the lathicharge on its supporters in Kurseong on July 10. “We are keen on talks. We want the talks to be held and have made it clear that the talks should be at the political level, but the state government has requested that these be held at the secretary level for the present. Now, we are deliberating on this issue and the result will be positive for all,” said GJM general secretary Roshan Giri. Earlier, the GJM had ruled out any dialogue but political-level talks. “We demand the release of 19 GJM supporters at present in jail and transfer of Tamta, additional SP (Headquarters) A Chaturvedi and SDPO Kurseong Partha Pal. Till these demands are met, the bandh will continue. Nobody wants a bandh but the government should hear us out and try and solve our problem,” Giri said, adding a letter has been faxed to the chief minister, chief secretary and home secretary demanding action against the police officers. Objecting to statements issued by Urban Development Minister Ashok Bhattacharjee that the talks could be held only when the bandh is called off, Giri said: “We would prefer statements from the CM. We don’t heed much to others.” On July 8, the GJM had allegedly attacked GNLF leader Rajen Mukhia’s house in Kurseong following which three of their supporters were arrested. In retaliation to the arrests, GJM supporters had allegedly set fire to Mukhia’s residence on July 10. A subsequent procession to Mukhia’s house demanding his arrest was disallowed by the state administration. When the GJM supporters refused to disperse, police resorted to a lathicharge. School molest
TT, Gangtok, July 23: A school was shut down till Saturday after infuriated parents and guardians gheraoed it today, demanding the expulsion of three Class V boys who had allegedly molested and beaten up a three-year-old girl of the nursery section last Tuesday. No FIR was filed by the guardians of the victim. The parents said they had decided not to act as the accused boys were all minors and wanted the school to take steps to punish them. The angry parents gathered in front of the school and demanded that the boys be sacked. A large police force was present at the school. Later in the afternoon, the parents of the victim, some of the agitating guardians and the school management committee met. After the meeting, the school principal said the girl had identified one of the boys and he has been suspended from the institute. He also said the school would remain shut till Saturday. CHRISTIAN GROUP TO MARK AUG 23 AS PEACE DAY Bhubaneswar July 23 (IANS) To “forget the past and build a cohesive society”, a Christian group in Orissa Thursday said it will mark as peace and harmony day Aug 23, when a Hindu leader was murdered last year triggering communal riots in the state.
“Peace and harmony were shattered following the gruesome murder of Swami (Laxmanananda Saraswati). Let us forget the past and build a cohesive society, ravaged by some criminals,” Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Raphael Cheenath told reporters. “It is the evil design of the criminals to divide the civil society on religious lines, which should be thwarted”, he said. He appealed to the state government to ensure security of minority communities and places of worship on the “sensitive day” in the state. Christian community will take out peace marches, religious interactions in different parts of the state, expressing solidarity with all communities. Orissa’s Kandhamal district, some 200 km from here, witnessed communal violence following the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Saraswati and four of his aides Aug 23 last year. Over 25,000 Christians were forced to flee after their houses were attacked by mobs. Although no communal violence has been reported from the region since October last year, nearly 1,200 people are still living in three government-run relief camps. |
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