GJMM rejects meet disruption charges SNS,KURSEONG, 8 SEPT: The GJMM leadership has rejected the allegation that they had upset an AIGL meeting in Darjeeling yesterday. “We have no objection to the AIGL holding a public rally in the Hills. They can freely host their meetings but they should understand they do not have the right to mislead the people about the 11 August tripartite talks on Gorkhaland since they were not a participant,” said the GJMM spokesperson Mr Harka Bahadur Chhetri today. He also rejected the AIGL chief Mr Madan Tamang's allegation that the GJMM with help from the West Bengal government had abandoned the Gorkhaland demand. “Instead, we believe the AIGL is trying to mislead the people of the hills with the help of the West Bengal government,” Mr Chhetri said. In Darjeeling Mr Tamang said today that he had had a meeting with the Darjeeling district magistrate and the DM had assured the AIGL that the incident of upseeting yesterday's meeting would be discussed in an administrative meeting on 11 September. “We would announce our future programme after 11 September,” Mr Tamang said. CM plea for peace & votes TT, Siliguri, Sept. 8: Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today iterated that the state government would never allow the division of Bengal, confirming again that the Left Front is against formation of the separate state of Gorkhaland. Bhattacharjee, who arrived here with wife Meera on a two-day visit, addressed a public meeting at Baghajatin Park in the run up to the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) elections scheduled for Sunday. “Often, we see a dark cloud of tension hovering over Siliguri and the Darjeeling district as a whole. In the hills, attempts are being made to create tension, which is affecting the peace and amity in Siliguri,” he said. “We will, not at any cost, allow any division of the district and state and Siliguri, which has emerged as the key city of north Bengal, will continue to remain peaceful.” “During talks with leaders of the hills (Gorkha Janmukti Morcha), we have repeatedly asked them why they are raising such demands and have appealed to them to stay together as we have been doing for so many years. Like them, we, too, want development, employment and improvement of socio-economic conditions. There will be no benefit by lighting a fire. It is always better to stay together,” Bhattacharjee said. Extending the same appeal to the Adivasis, the chief minister said: “We have also told the tribals that we should stay together. Nothing positive happened after the creation of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.” In recent times, the Adivasis led by the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad have been demanding special status for the Dooars and the Terai and calling strikes to press for various other demands. In his speech, Bhattacharjee also touched upon development issues and urged the audience to think and then decide on whom they want to see in power at the civic body. “Relentless efforts on our part in different levels have made Siliguri what it is today. Everything, right from infrastructure to literacy to education, culture, industry, trade and commerce, Siliguri is moving ahead in month and year,” he said. “On one side, we have been working for development and for maintenance of peace and amity among people of all caste and creed. On the other side, there are parties like the Trinamul Congress and Congress, who are trying to create rift among the people and an environment of tension and violence to jeopardise development of the city. They are playing with fire and making irresponsible comments. The people of Siliguri will stop them from such acts,” he added. The railway land, a key issue for all political parties who have fielded candidates at the civic polls, was also raised. “We have always worked with pro-poor policies and in Siliguri, our concern is to ensure that the poor have land rights of their homes. None of them will be evicted from the railway land and we will continue to work for them. “The traders here are worried whether they can continue their business in peace in Siliguri. I want to assure them that we will not allow any political party to create unpleasant situations that will affect the trade and commerce of Siliguri,” he said. Labelling Trinamul as a “rowdy party”, Bhattacharjee urged for votes from the audience while concluding his speech. “It is up to you to draw the future of Siliguri and decide whether you want peace and tranquillity, supplemented with development or witness clashes, law and order problems and highhandedness of criminals,” he said. Tomorrow, the chief minister will attend a meeting of the North Bengal Development Council at the NHPC rest house near Tinbatti More. Manipal shuts down after clash,- VC says efforts are on to open tech institute in 10 days - Eight students injured

Sikkim Armed Police personnel burst tear gas shells on the campus on Monday. Picture by Prabin Khaling TT, Gangtok, Sept. 8: The Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology has been shut down till further orders after a series of clashes between boarders and day scholars since Sunday culminated into a raging brick battle this morning, forcing police to burst tear-gas shells and conduct a lathi-charge on the campus. Eight students were injured. All of them were released from Singtam District Hospital after first aid. The police stormed a boys’ hostel this morning after a constable was injured by a brick missile hurled from one of them, sources said. The SMIT authorities said arrangements would be made for those wanting to leave the hostels. Those unwilling can stay back. Throughout the day a 300-strong mob blocked the roads leading out of the campus, making it impossible to shift the boarders — 4,000 of them — from the two boys’ and one girls’ hostel, the police said. They said if needed the transfer of the boarders would be done with the help of the army. However, the army has not been called yet. Personnel of the Sikkim police, Sikkim Armed Police and the Indian Reserve Battalion have been deployed. Some of the injured students at the Singtam district hospital. Pictures by Prabin Khaling A fourth year BTech student of mechanical engineering and a resident of Calcutta’s Lake Gardens, not wanting to be named, said: “We have been told that we will be escorted to Siliguri at 4.30am tomorrow by the army. I have been in touch with my parents and I will return to Calcutta either by flight or take a train. We had examinations till September 24, but now as the institute is shut for the next few days we will return only after Durga Puja.” The student said around 30 per cent of the boarders is from Bengal. Bengal home secretary Ardhendu Sen said if the SMIT authorities want the Bengal government’s help to evacuate students from the state, it would be extended. “However, we have not received any such proposal till now from them. If students from Bengal face any problems, we are there to help them,” Sen told The Telegraph in Calcutta. Senior police officers and S.S. Pabla, the vice-chancellor of Sikkim Manipal University to which the SMIT is affiliated, were busy negotiating with the students to restore normality on the campus, 44km from here at Mazitar near the Bengal-Sikkim border town of Rangpo. According to senior students of the SMIT, trouble first broke out on Sunday afternoon over a volleyball match being held as part Swasmitnam, an inter-departmental festival. The fight started with a squabble between a boarder and a day scholar over a foul committed in the match. “It was a trivial issue, but soon snowballed. Three students, Ujjwal Kumar, Jitender and Gautam Jha, were beaten up by day scholars (on Sunday) who had brought in outsiders. The police instead of taking the three boys to the hospital for treatment, took them to Rangpo police station,” a fourth year student of the electrical and electronics department alleged. He blamed hostel superintendent Kamal Thakur, and chief warden A.C. Mishra for not taking care of the injured students. “We are being targeted by outsiders and the authorities are blind to this,” the student said. There was violence last night as well when a mob stormed the campus and another clash broke out. The police had claimed the situation was under control, but there was another brick battle at 8am today. A senior officer of the state armed police said last night a battalion of 115 policemen was posted on the campus and more forces were deployed after the morning’s violence. A constable who was injured in the brick battle (Prabin Khaling) “At present we are negotiating with the students and we do not want to use force on them. The institute will be shut till further orders. The trouble started with an altercation between a local boy (day scholar) and a boarder over a friendly volleyball match,” said N. Sridhar Rao, the deputy inspector-general (range) who is camping on the campus. The superintendent of police of East Sikkim, M.S. Tuli, is also there. An officer said the local boys have been demanding that 20 of the boarders involved in the clash be identified and rusticated. “Eight students from both sides have been injured,” the officer said. Sikkim human resource development secretary R. Telang said the situation was being monitored. “We will intervene only if the SMIT authorities fail to restore normality,” Telang said. Vice-chancellor Pabla said the institute would be shut till further orders. “But it is likely to open within 10 days. An inquiry will be conducted against all involved in the incident.” Volleyball match at Manipal turns violent SNS,GANGTOK, 8 SEPT: A misunderstanding among students during a volleyball match on Sunday at the Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology campus at Mazitar near Rangpo in East Sikkim turned violent after the students split into groups of “locals” and “non-locals” and clashed among themselves. On Monday evening, two outstation students were allegedly assaulted by the so-called locals in the college premises. They were attacked with sharp weapons and cycle chains. Following the incident, the police held five students including one local. They were released today. The situation took a nasty turn thereafter and resorted to rioting in the wee hours today. The Sikkim Police and the State Armed police had to fire tear gas shells to keep the situation under control. The rioters pelted stones at each other and a few from both sides sustained injuries. Some policemen were also injured during the clash. Both sides have demanded action against the other. The administration had a meeting with the Sikkim Manipal University officials and decided to keep the institute close for 10 days or till further notice. The Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology is a constituent college of the Sikkim Manipal University. All outstation boarders have been sent home. The director of the technical education department also visited the spot to take stock of the situation, later during the day. According to Dr.Surjit Singh Pabla, Vice Chancellor, Sikkim Manipal University, required action would be taken against those found guilty after a detailed investigation. Roadblock on open school plea - Students squat on highway to protest parishad education strike in Dooars TT, Alipurduar, Sept. 8: More than 500 students and guardians of government and private schools in Gayarkata blocked NH31C for nearly five hours today to protest against the indefinite education strike started by the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad in the Terai and the Dooars yesterday. Hundreds of vehicles, mostly long-distance trucks and buses, were stranded on the highway as a result of the blockade. The protesters did not even allow two wheelers to ply on the road during the agitation. The Parishad has shut around 1,000 education institutions in the region demanding recruitment of teachers in Hindi medium schools. The strike has affected classes in other institutions which have different medium of instructions. Around 10 this morning, students of a kindergarten school at Gayarkata in Banarhat, 75km from here, squatted on benches on the middle of the highway. Immediately, students of other schools and their guardians followed suit. The traffic on NH31C that connects Siliguri with Assam via Dooars was disrupted for nearly five hours. Officials from Banarhat police station who reached the spot requested the protesters to withdraw the blockade but the students insisted that the schools should open tomorrow. After long persuasion, the agitation was withdrawn around 2.30pm when the block development officer of Dhupguri, Hasdeep Singh, assured the guardians that efforts were on to open the institutions tomorrow. “The district magistrate had sent us here with a message that we are in touch with the Parishad to withdraw its strike and trying our best open the schools tomorrow,” Singh said. He was accompanied by additional district magistrate of Jalpaiguri (land reforms). Subir Shikdar, a guardian, accused the Parishad of calling the strike on its whims without taking into consideration the loss of classes in other schools. “The Parishad should talk to the government to fulfil its demand instead of harassing the students who will have to write tests soon. The BDO assured us that he would talk to the higher authorities to open the schools and if necessary would apply force. Only then, we lifted the blockade. If the administration fails to take any step, we will start a larger movement,” Shikdar said. The pradhan of Gayarkata gram panchayat, Manohor Mandal, said the administration should have taken steps when the Parishad announced the strike. Rajesh Lakra, the secretary of the Dooars Terai Co-ordination Committee of the Parishad, however, refused to budge. “We have nothing to do as our children in tea gardens are suffering since Independence. Although a large number of our children are studying in Hindi medium schools in the Dooars, the teachers often are not fluent in the language. The teachers themselves have been educated in schools with a different medium of instruction. So our children cannot follow what is being taught in class,” he said. Earlier, the Parishad had sought the recruitment of local boys with requisite qualification and those who have been educated in Hindi medium schools. The Parishad leader sought the cooperation of all sections of people keeping in mind the problems of the tribal children. “This kind of agitation (strike) will help pressure the government and we do not have any plans to withdraw the strike,” Lakra said. Reopen date Alipurduar: Chamurchi Tea Estate in Banarhat will reopen on October 1 after a gap of over eight years. The decision was taken at a meeting in Jalpaiguri district magistrate’s office on Tuesday. The new management also attended the meeting. The garden, closed since March 2001, has 1,074 workers. Monsoon fury spurs fear of relocation Schoolchildren cross the washed out road at Chibbo busti near Kalimpong on Monday. (CF Lepcha) Rajeev Ravidas, TT, Kalimpong, Sept. 7: The damage caused by the monsoon to Chibbo busti and its adjoining areas on the outskirts of the town has raised fear of relocation among its 10,000-odd residents. The entire area from Durpin on the top to Poshyor below has turned into a sinking zone, thanks to the rains. The heavy downpour of August 15 and 19 in particular caused major damage in the area. In fact, the road link to both Upper and Lower Chibbo villages has been snapped since the night of August 19. It will take months to restore the link as a huge portion of the road has been washed away by a landslide at Upper Chibbo. Three vehicles have been stuck in the village since then. The local people have erected a makeshift bamboo bridge that can only be crossed on foot. Chibbo though is not a remote village but almost a suburb and adjoins Wards 17 and 19 of the municipality. So alarmed are the people of the area that recently they formed the Chibbo Protection and Monitoring Committee (CPMC) to spread awareness about their plight. “The entire area is sinking. We either have to leave and relocate elsewhere or the government must put in place a comprehensive plan to save the area from impending doom,” said Suren Pandey, the CPMC spokesperson. The CPMC has also joined hands with Save The Hills, a local NGO engaged in espousing the landslide issue, to help project their case to the world, including the government agencies. “If we don’t act now, we will be perished. It is not only Chibbo which is under threat, but also the adjoining areas like Wards 17 and 19, Tanekbusti, Poshyor, 3 Mile and 4 Mile,” said Pandey. Praful Rao, the NGO president, has admitted that the entire western face of the town has become very unstable. “A combination of various factors like lack of proper drainage and anthropogenic causes have accelerated the degeneration to an alarming rate where if no long-term solution is sought, the prospect of relocating everyone in Chibbo-Poshyor becomes very real,” he said. Bengal home secretary Ardhendu Sen, who was here on August 27, stressed the need for a thorough study on the hills before a master plan is prepared to battle landslides. “We will have to identify an agency which can do the job and take the help of engineering colleges and universities,” Sen had said in a meeting with the NGO and senior officials. Today, Rao echoed Sen. A comprehensive study of the area was needed to find a long-term solution to the problem, he said.“I know this will require time and money, but half-hearted and piecemeal actions in the present situation will be of no help.” School soccer TT, Calcutta: The Eveready Industries India Ltd will organise an inter-school football tournament in East Sikkim’s Rhenock from September 10 to promote young players in the hills of Bengal and Sikkim. Twenty-five teams from Kalimpong, Kurseong, Gangtok, Pedong, Pakeyong, Rhenock and Namchi are likely to participate in 12th Eveready Give Me Red Challenge Cup.

BJP and Allies Boycott PAC meet Convened by Convened by Jaswant

IE, 7Sep, New Delhi:BJP's tussle with expelled leader Jaswant Singh cast a shadow on the first meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament which saw a virtual boycott by the BJP and some of its allies like Shiv Sena.

Representatives of BJP, Shiv Sena and Swatantra Bharat Paksh (SBP) kept away in protest against Singh's continuance as its chairman despite being asked to step down.

"We stayed away as it was NDA's directive," said Shiv Sena representative in PAC, Anandrao Adsul. Though BJP leaders refrained from making a formal statement, the party members are said to have been asked to stay away.

Adsul indicated that the boycott would continue till Singh headed the panel. BJP leaders said they were aware that he could not be removed as per rules, which say it cannot be done unless the Speaker finds him unable to discharge duties.

As such, they were adopting a "wait and watch" attitude.

Asked whether BJP and its allies have boycotted the meeting, Singh refused to react, saying, "ask the officials".

While JD(U) MP N K Singh attended, BJP MPs Yashwant Sinha, Gopinath Munde, Shanta Kumar and Narayan Singh Kesari, besides Sharad Joshi (SBP) kept away. Sinha and Munde cited prior engagements for not attending the meeting.

While some BJP leaders said the party had not formally told its members to skip the meeting, they will keep away till "some progress" is made in this regard.

BJP faced an embarrassing situation when Singh rejected its request to step down from the post after he was expelled from the party on August 19 following controversy over his book on M A Jinnah.

N K Singh described today's meeting as a "good beginning especially when we have lost a lot of time as the committee should have started functioning from April itself".

He said the chairman has decided to set up seven sub-groups which would be assisted by nodal officers from the Comptroller and Auditor General's office.