Morcha plan for Delhi and day in hills - Last minute brush-up on talks strategy

Amar Lama, the leader of the Delhi delegation TT, Darjeeling, Aug. 10: A 12-member Gorkha Janmukti Morcha delegation today held a two-and-a-half-hour brainstorming session in New Delhi to fine-tune the strategy to be adopted tomorrow at the third round of tripartite meeting. This time, the Morcha has decided to counter the government’s “why Gorkhaland” with a “why not”. Instead of speaking on statehood, the hill party will filed the question why not Gorkhaland. “We had held a meeting with Jaswant Singh recently and we are fully prepared for the talks starting at 10.30am tomorrow,” said Amar Lama, a central committee member and leader of the delegation. In Darjeeling, Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said the party would not speak on or discuss any issue other than Gorkhaland. “The team has been briefed by Bimal Gurung to speak only on the demand of Gorkhaland. The state government has also agreed to discuss the issue,” said Giri. The strategy had been finalised by the Morcha’s Study Forum after a three-day deliberation in Deolo, Kalimpong. In the hills, the All-Transport Joint Action Committee has asked taxi drivers to park their vehicles at 10.30am for two hours to help form a human chain from Lebong to Siliguri tomorrow. “Since the roads are narrow at various points along NH55 and at various railway intersections, we appeal to the taxi drivers to park their vehicles at the respective motor stands,” said Sanjeev Tamang, the secretary of the committee. The committee is an umbrella organisation of taxi syndicates affiliated to the Morcha. The party has asked the hill people to form the human chain along the highway for an hour from 11.19am to express solidarity with the demand on Gorkhaland. Although there was no explanation as to why 11.19am was chosen, many of the Morcha programmes usually stick to that timing. Another human chain is also likely to be formed from Kalimpong to Siliguri along NH31A during the same time. The highway is the arterial link between Sikkim and the rest of the country. The Janmukti Sishu Siksha Karmasuchi Sahayak/Sahayika Sangathan, a Morcha frontal body of non-formal teachers, appealed to all Sishu Siksha Kendra and Madhyamik Siksha Kendra staff to take part in the human chain. The association has asked its members from Darjeeling to assemble at the Ghum railway station at 9am tomorrow. “Our members from Mirik and Kurseong are requested to gather at the Kurseong motor stand while those from Kalimpong should assemble at Damber Chowk around the same time,” said Sushila Alay, a member of the association. The Janmukti Asthai Karmachari Sangathan has already asked its members residing near the highways to take a day off and participate in the rally. Apart from the human chain, the town committee of the Morcha has decided to organise all-faith meetings from tomorrow at Chowrastha. “The prayer meeting from 9am to 6pm every day will continue till August 17 with a break on August 15. The meeting is being organised for Gorkhaland and also for a successful tripartite meeting,” said Dinesh Gurung, the Morcha convener. The party is expected to announce a new agitation programme. On Sunday, the Bharatiya Gorkha Bhutpurba Sainik Morcha’s Darjeeling town committee also organised a prayer at the Mahakal temple here for a “successful” meeting. Darjeeling SDO takes charge A procession taken out by members of the Morcha town committee in support of the demand for Gorkhaland in Darjeeling on Monday. Picture by Suman Tamang TT, Darjeeling, Aug. 10: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today ended its stand-off with the state government with the former chairman of the Darjeeling Municipality handing over the charges of the civic body to the subdivisional officer. “Under directions from the party we have decided to hand over the charges to the Darjeeling SDO. The party took the stand to avoid inconvenience to the general public,” said Pemba Tshering Ola, the former chairman of the municipality. The chairpersons of Kalimpong and Kurseong municipalities are also expected to hand over charges to the respective SDOs soon. As no elections could be held to the three hill municipalities last month in the absence of a single nomination, the government formed a four-member committee headed by the SDOs to run the civic bodies. The other members in the committee include the chairman, vice-chairman and a representative from the directorate of the local bodies. The SDO was designated the sole signing authority in all financial transactions. The Morcha, the dominant party in the hills which had linked the civic elections to implementation of the three-tier panchayat system, had refused to accept the new arrangement. However the government snubbed the Morcha proposal to allow its councillors to continue in office. This resulted in a stand-off between the party and the government. Bharat Kumar Biswas, the SDO of Darjeeling, said: “I had assumed charge on July 14, but a physical verification of files could not take place and hence I am assuming physical charge from today.” He added that a meeting of the four-member committee would be held tomorrow to delegate powers to the other members. As of today, the municipality has around Rs 20.65 crore for the centrally-funded Integrated Housing and Slum Development Project. The work order for this project, which entails construction of 890 houses, is yet to be issued. The Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council has sanctioned Rs 1.5 crore to the municipality for restoration of infrastructure following the devastation caused by Cyclone Aila. Asked about the action that government would take against the chairman for withdrawing salaries on August 3, Biswas said “it is beyond my knowledge”. On August 3, the chairman had signed the salary cheques, which were cleared by the State Bank of India, Darjeeling branch, even though he had ceased to be the signing authority. Asok Bhattacharya, minister, municipal affairs, had said the withdrawal amounted to defalcation of funds. “With due respect to the minister, I would like to clarify that signing on salary cheques for the employees is not defalcation of funds as salaries have been disbursed. I hope the minister will withdraw his statement,” said Ola. PIX: SAMIRAN PAUL