Morcha shuffled before battle - Party gets ready for next round of agitation, new committees formed for turf expansion

THE TELEGRAPH: Darjeeling, June 30: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has overhauled its structure with special attention to the Dooars and Siliguri to strengthen the party ahead of the next phase of the Gorkhaland agitation. However, the Morcha has decided to go slow in calling a strike at present as it wants rehabilitation works following last month’s landslides to get over first. The party, which has been on the back foot in the Dooars region largely because of opposition from the predominant Adivasi community, has decided to rebuild its base by changing the entire organisational structure in that area. “We had only three conveners for the Dooars but we will now have three committees of 10 members each for middle, eastern and western Dooars to oversee party activities,” said Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the Morcha, after the central committee meeting in Darjeeling today. The Morcha is also looking at restructuring its Siliguri subdivision committee, as it faces stiff resistance in the trade hub. A five-member central committee has been put in place for Siliguri. Rajen Lohar, an Adivasi, and Santosh Rasaily from Panighatta in the Terai, have been included in the party’s central committee. L.B. Rai, a former chairman of Mirik Municipality, has been given charge of Soureni, the native place of GNLF chief Subash Ghisingh, while Bijoy Sundas and Francis Dewan have been made organising secretaries for Kalimpong subdivision. Laxman Rai and Sushil Dixit have been selected organising secretaries for Kurseong while Madan Rai has been given a similar responsibility for Gorubathan. Gorubathan falls within Kalimpong subdivision but given the fact that it borders the Dooars, the Morcha has created a new post for the block. In fact, there were no posts of organising secretaries for Kalimpong and Kurseong which suggests that the party is seriously looking at strengthening itself before launching any agitation. The Morcha which has been functioning without a subdivisional committee in Darjeeling will now have a five-member panel to look after party activities.Binay Tamang has been made assistant secretary while Harka Bahadur Chhetri and Rohit Sharma have been made the new media and publicity secretaries. “The changes have been made to strengthen the party before the start of the next phase of agitation which will depend on the Parliament session that starts from July 2,” said Giri.He said although no strike has been announced as of yet, such an option was always a part of the long term strategy. “Strikes are definitely a tool to highlight our agitation. Even though we have not called one, we will still ask our supporters to be prepared for it.” “Lot of people are in distress because of the landslides and we want quality work to be done as fast as possible,” Giri added. GJMM goes soft on ‘Gorkhaland’ for now Bappaditya Paul, Statesman News Service: SILIGURI, 30 JUNE: Conceding the BJP's suggestion for a review of the fast track approach to Gorkhaland, the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) has decided to steer away from any aggressive agitation in the immediate future. Instead, the Hill party would now focus on a drawn-out campaign in New Delhi for the demanded statehood, while keeping the momentum alive in Darjeeling through milder agitations. The development took place at a meeting of the GJMM Central Committee held at its Singmari headquarters in Darjeeling today, chaired by the party supremo Mr Bimal Gurung. “In today's meeting, the president mainly announced some reshuffling in the party organisation, but no decision was taken to begin any major agitation immediately,” the GJMM general secretary Mr Roshan Giri announced. Today's development is in contradiction to the GJMM chief's announcement earlier this month, when he asked the Hill people to prepare for a ‘long-shutdown'. “We are not going for an indefinite bandh immediately. Instead, beginning on the first week of July, the various frontal organisations of our party would resort to other form of agitations to impress upon the Centre to convene the third round of tripartite talks at the earliest date possible. In case the Centre does pay any heed, there could also be a one-day token strike in Darjeeling Hills by mid July,” said Mr Harkabahadur Chhetri, the new press and publicity secretary of the GJMM, after today's reshuffle. The previous incumbent of the post, Mr Binay Tamang, has been moved to the central committee as an assistant secretary. The party has also inducted eight new members into the central committee, designating them as organisational secretaries. Besides this, two existing committee members have also been recalled and made advisors instead. Meanwhile, according to the GJMM, the party's ally BJP's Darjeeling MP Mr Jaswant Singh is scheduled to raise the Gorkhaland issue in the Lok Sabha during the Budget Session commencing 2 July. “Mr Singh would also facilitate a national level seminar on the Gorkhaland demand in New Delhi with influential political and press personalities, which would take place in July. Also, journalists Mr Arun Shourie and Mr Vir Sangvi would visit the Darjeeling Hills to assess the statehood demand," Mr Chhetri added. BA results published in 30 days Students of Siliguri College of Commerce check the exam results. Picture by Kundan Yolmo The Telegraph: Siliguri, June 30: The North Bengal University (NBU) today published the results of BA, BSc and BCom Part III (honours) examinations under the 1+1+1 system, 12 days earlier than last year. While the pass percentage of BA is 87.63, that of BSc is 85.47. In the BCom stream, 91.97 per cent of the 673 students who had appeared for the exam passed. “With the untiring efforts of my colleagues in the varsity’s examination branch, the teachers of different colleges and the university and the active guidance from the vice-chancellor, we could publish the results within 30 days of the completion of the exams. Last year, it had taken 12 more days to publish the results,” said Susanta Das, the controller of examinations. “We have expedited the publication of the results, keeping in mind the fact that students have to meet the admission deadline of other universities for post-graduate courses,” said Das. There are 72 colleges under the varsity and 58 of them offer honours courses. While 10,135 candidates had attended BA Part III (honours) exams this year, the number of students who had written BSc is 909. The official said there had been a slight decline in the pass percentage (2.7 per cent for BA, 2.6 for BSc and 0.08 for BCom). The candidates can seek the re-assessment of the answer scripts before July 14. “The mark-sheets will be sent to all colleges today itself so that the students can apply for the re-assessment as early as possible. We will try our best to publish the re-assessment results soon,” he said. The varsity will start distributing forms for all its post-graduate courses from tomorrow. SWINE FLUE TALLY 109 New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) Five more people, including a 12-year-old girl, tested positive for swine flu Tuesday taking the total number of cases reported so far to 109, the health ministry said. At least 70 patients have been discharged after being fully cured. “A total of 739 persons have been tested so far of which 109 are positive for Influenza A H1N1. The situation is being monitored,” a health ministry statement said. The ministry said that 211 out of the 739 people were identified through entry screening, 27 through contact tracing and the rest were self reported. “Of the 109 positive cases, 70 have been discharged. Rest of them remain admitted to the identified health facility,” it added. Of the five new cases, two were reported in Bangalore, two in Mumbai and one in Delhi. The two cases in Bangalore are a 38-year-old woman and her 12-year-old daughter. Both of them had returned from New Jersey June 25. In Mumbai, one of those who tested positive for swine flu is a 30-year-old man who travelled from London. The other is a 28-year-old man who flew in from Chile via Johannesburg.The patient in Delhi is a 55-year-old man who had returned from Sydney. According to World Health Organization, 116 countries have reported 70,893 laboratory confirmed cases of influenza A (H1N1). There have been 311 deaths. THOSE ARRESTED IN LALGARH ARE NOT OUTRIGHT MAOISTS Kolkata, June 30 (IANS) Conceding that none of the 22 villagers arrested by security forces during the Lalgarh operation were “outright Maoists”, the West Bengal government Tuesday said all of them will be prosecuted under the Indian Penal Code and not according to the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Declaring that charges framed under the UAPA on two of those arrested from Bankura will be withdrawn, state Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said they would also be tried under the IPC provisions. Sen said the government has asked the Bankura police superintendent to withdraw the charges under the UAPA slapped on Kanchan Murmu and Gopinath Murmu, who were caught while hiding in a bush with the detonating wire of a landmine Sunday. “They will be prosecuted under sections of IPC. The 20 other villagers, who were arrested, will also be treated accordingly,” he told reporters. “None of those arrested so far in Lalgarh are outright Maoists,” he said. The top bureaucrat said the state government also did not consider Chhatradhar Mahato, the leader of the Maoist-backed agitating tribal body, People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCAPA), as one officially linked to the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had Monday told a cabinet core committee that police needed to take permission of the home secretary before arresting anyone under the UAPA. Sen, however, said Maoist leaders Kishanji alias Koteswar Rao, Bikash and Sashadhar Mahato could be tried under the stringent UAPA. TRINMUL MLAs WALKOUT OVER LALGARH ATROCITIES Kolkata, June 30 (IANS) The legislators of West Bengal’s main opposition Trinamool Congress Tuesday walked out of the state assembly, protesting against “atrocities” by the joint security forces on innocent villagers of Lalgarh during the operation to flush out Maoists. Trinamool members were upset after an adjournment motion called by a party member on the issue was rejected by Speaker H.A. Halim. Raising slogans against the state’s Left Front government, members of the party and its alliance partner Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) walked out of the house. “People of Lalgarh are not getting food, water, power and clothes. Police and members of the ruling CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) are torturing the innocent people in the name of flushing out the Maoists,” Leader of Opposition Partha Chattopadhyay of the Trinamool Congress told reporters later. The Congress did not join the walkout, but its legislative party leader Manas Bhuniya later slammed the state government for “committing atrocities” on tribals in the troubled zone of West Midnapore district. The state government has launched a massive security operation to flush out Maoist guerrillas from Lalgarh, an enclave 200 km west of this metropolis, after the rebels made the area a virtual “free zone” by torching police camps and offices of the CPI-M and drove out the civil administration. After 13 days of the operation, the security forces, comprising central paramilitary troopers and state armed policemen, have reclaimed almost the entire stretch that was held by the rebels. I'm Ready to own responsibility for Babri Mosque demolition: Uma Bharati Bhopal, June 30 (ANI): Former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti on Tuesday volunteered to own responsibility for the demolition of Babri mosque at Ayodhya and said that she would have no problem even if she was hanged on the issue. Reacting to the submission of the Liberhan Commission report on the demolition of the mosque, Uma Bharti said: “Like a good commander, I am ready to own the responsibility of the Babri masjid’s demolition and I have no problem even if I will be hanged on the issue.” “The report, which has been submitted to the Prime Minister after 17 years of the constitution of the Commission, is an attempt to appease Muslim community,” Bharati alleged. “The UPA government led by Congress was unable to find a single person responsible for the massacre of 20,000 Sikhs at the behest of Congress after the death of the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. By doing so they deliberately wanted to term us culprits with an intention to divide Hindus and Muslims for political gains,” Uma alleged. Uma, however, appealed to the BJP leaders not to apologise for the demolition of Babri mosque as they themselves invited large number of people at Ayodhya for starting the ‘Karseva’. (ANI)