Appeal to withdraw hungerstrike 

KalimNews: Home Ministry has appealed GJMM to withdraw hungerstrike. In its press release it says that Government of India welcomes the decision of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) to withdraw the call for Bandh in the Darjeeling Hill area. The Government has taken note of the demands of the GJM. The Government is seized of the matter and next round of tripartite talks with the representative of the GJM and the State Government is scheduled to be held on 21st December, 2009 at Darjeeling under the Chairmanship of Union Home Secretary. It is imperative that the talks are held in a conducive atmosphere. MHA, therefore, appeals to GJM to call off the ongoing hunger strike immediately.

Meanwhile  3 teacher and 1 employee of an Office who were the participants of indefinite hunger strike in Kalimpong since six days were given saline this afternoon after they developed dehydration an gastroenteritis and related complications. Condition of the most of the participants are critical.

Talks on hill state? ‘Not exactly’

Morcha supporters sing bhajans praying for the health of those on fast. (Suman Tamang) TT, Dec.16: Bengal home secretary Ardhendu Sen said in Delhi today that the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s statehood demand “will not exactly” be discussed at the tripartite meeting in Darjeeling on December 21. Sen’s statement, after a meeting with Union home secretary G.K. Pillai, made it clear that the state government was firm in its stand of not bowing to the Morcha’s “only demand” — Gorkhaland. Emerging from the meeting, Sen said: “There are many issues that can be discussed which they (Morcha) think are important, but we will not exactly be discussing Gorkhaland.” At the tripartite meeting, Sen said, efforts will be directed at trying to find “other” ways of solving the problem. The state home secretary was in Delhi for preparatory talks before the fourth round of negotiations against the backdrop of renewed unrest in the hills since Union home minister P. Chidambaram’s promise to start the process of granting statehood to Telangana. The Morcha reacted angrily to Sen’s statement. “The state government cannot set terms and conditions for the talks,” central committee member Amar Lama said. “They are only one of the three parties in the talks. We have only one agenda for the talks — creation of Gorkhaland.” Sources in the Union home ministry indicated that the Centre, too, was not in a mood to yield to the Gorkhas’ statehood demand, more so in the wake of the Andhra Pradesh backlash after the Telangana promise. Sen indicated that the Morcha’s “only agenda” did not figure in the government’s. Appealing to the Morcha to call off its indefinite hunger strike that started on Friday, he said the December 21 meeting would essentially be a follow-up to the third round of talks. Issues like development and panchayat elections will be discussed in Darjeeling, he added. The Morcha appeared to be in no mood to end its fast, though two of the protesters had to be hospitalised today from Darjeeling and Kalchini, in the Dooars. Home minister Chidambaram had appealed to the Morcha yesterday to end its supporters’ fast unto death. Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri, now in Delhi, said any decision (to withdraw the fast or not) would be taken by president Bimal Gurung. “For now, the hunger strike is on in Darjeeling and at Jantar Mantar (Delhi).” In Calcutta, the state chief secretary said the hunger strike and the shutdown enforced on government offices in the hills were “spoiling” the talks atmosphere. A Left Front meeting decided to hold a rally at Brigade Parade Grounds on February 7 to oppose the demand for Gorkhaland. The CPM alleged that there was a “conspiracy” at the Centre to divide Bengal and that all Left parties would be mobilised at the national-level to oppose such a move. “The Centre’s flip-flop on Telangana is sending a wrong message,” a CPM leader said. “A pragmatic decision should be taken to ensure the divisive ripples do not spread.” Talks on Alternative to  Gorkha Council likely Marcus Dam, TH,KOLKATA: Even though the leadership of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) continues to insist that the tripartite talks scheduled to be held in Darjeeling on December 21 should revolve around its demand for a separate State, questions have been raised of that happening. Instead, chances are that the discussions will be focussing on the formation of an alternative administrative arrangement to replace the existing Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), if the past three rounds of talks among the Centre, the West Bengal government and the GJM leadership are anything to go by. The issues to be taken up at the talks were discussed at a meeting between the Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai and West Bengal Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen in New Delhi on Wednesday. The latter made the State’s stand clear on the political impasse in the Darjeeling Hills. The West Bengal government, however, believes that the on-going agitation by the GJM that includes a “fast-unto-death” programme by some of its activists that entered its sixth day is not conducive to the holding of talks as things stand currently. “Such agitations are vitiating the atmosphere prior to the holding of the tripartite talks,” State Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakrabarti said here. “Either there be discussions or there be an agitation. Both cannot happen at the same time,” he asserted. Less emphasis was placed in the past discussions on the issue of a separate Gorkhaland State. Instead what had been stressed on was the formation of a new set-up with greater administrative and financial powers than the DGHC. It was also decided at the last tripartite talks on August 11 in New Delhi that the DGHC Act 1988 will be repealed once a decision on the body to replace it is taken. The GJM leadership had welcomed the outcome of the last discussions as it has been consistently demanding the scrapping of the DGHC Act. 2 in hospital, 4 on drip TT, Dec. 16: Two persons were hospitalised — one in Kurseong and the other in Kalchini — after they developed complications on the sixth day of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s indefinite hunger strike. The condition of quite a few others deteriorated, too, but only four from Kalimpong have agreed to saline drips. Elsewhere, in Darjeeling, where the temperature was 13 degrees Celsius during the day, and in the plains, the condition of at least eight of the protesters is said to be serious. However, none of them have agreed to medical aid. Nirmal Kumar Pradhan was admitted to the Kurseong subdivisional hospital last night. The Morcha has replaced him with Pasang Sherpa. “Pradhan developed serious renal and heart problems and police admitted him to the hospital,” said Pradip Pradhan, a Morcha vice-president.

Gorkhaland Stir- Blockade could affect talks Kolkata, Dec 16 (IANS) The West Bengal government Wednesday said the ongoing agitation by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) for a separate Gorkhaland state could affect the congenial environment before the Dec 21 tripartite meeting in Darjeeling. 'The ongoing fast-unto-death and other agitations staged by the GJM supporters might affect the environment before the tripartite talks,' state Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty told reporters here. He said the GJM leadership cannot simultaneously continue the protests and hold tripartite talks over the Gorkhaland issue. 'Either they have to carry on with their agitation or they have to take part in the process of tripartite dialogue. Both can't go hand in hand,' Chakraborty made it clear. 'They have to choose either of these two,' he said. GJM activists, headed by their party president Bimal Gurung, have been pressing for a separate Gorkhaland state out of the state's northern region. The GJM leadership Tuesday said they would carry out blockades in front of government offices in West Bengal's Darjeeling Hills to press their separate Gorkhaland state demand. Tourists must for state cause: Fest organisers - Club appeals to political parties for bandh-free January A rally taken out by Morcha supporters in Darjeeling on Wednesday. Picture by Suman Tamang TT, Darjeeling, Dec. 16: Organisers of Maneybhanjyan Tourist Festival have appealed to all political parties not to call general strikes during the first half of January despite heightened fervour for the demand for Gorkhaland, underlining that tourism continues to be the economic mainstay in the hills. Tenzee Bhutia, the president of Reunited Club which is organising the festival, said: “We had earlier planned the event in October but could not hold it because of political problems. We have made all arrangements for a three-day festival from January 8. We, therefore, appeal to all political parties to refrain from calling a strike during that period.” The festival is scheduled at Maneybhanjyan, 28km from here, and the organisers have lined up cultural events, games and horse rides for tourists through forested and hilly trails. “We have got a confirmation from at least 40 to 50 tourists who want to come for the festival. All lodges around Maneybhanjyan have also offered to provide some discount,” said Tamling Sherpa, the secretary of the club. Tourists can avail of horse riding and go till Dooteria, 19km from Maneybhanjyan. However, Maneybhanjyan, which is the starting point of all treks to Sandakphu, is more known for its Land Rovers. Six of Series I, six of Series II and 12 of the 109S model operate in the area at a time when they are virtually off the roads in most parts of the world. “We or the club might not be directly involved with tourism, but the people of Maneybhanjyan indirectly benefit from the industry. If more tourists come to Darjeeling, it will strengthen the statehood demand as they will know the difference in culture among the hills and the plains,” said Bhutia, adding that they would be formally making a request to political leaders in a day or two. Going by Morcha indications, the mood is unrelenting at the moment. The students’ wing today said if the December 21 talks fail they would sit on hunger strike along National Highway 55. The students are also of the opinion that if the closure of offices fails to impact, then the employees should think of resigning en masse. However, the Morcha has decided to spare the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway from the office shutdown purview “for the convenience of the tourists”. Strike threat from Adivasis TT, Siliguri, Dec. 16: The Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad today threatened to launch an indefinite strike in the Dooars and Terai regions from December 27, if the Jalpaiguri district police do not withdraw cases pending against seven of their members, including a leader. They have also threatened to launch an intensive movement for the Sixth Schedule status for the region and also in protest against the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s demand to include the foothills in the Gorkhaland that they want. “We are convening a public meeting at Metelli on December 20, where our all-India president and other leaders will be present, to discuss the special status and the Gorkhaland demand,” said John Barla, president of the Dooars-Terai Regional Unit of the Parishad. “We have been opposing the Morcha stand on the Terai and Dooars, tooth and nail, and will continue to do so.” The Parishad leaders said they were closely monitoring the development in the hills. “We are maintaining a wait-and-watch policy. However, if we get a hint of any development during or after the tripartite talks that Dooars and Terai would be included in Gorkhaland, instant movements would be launched in the region. Instructions have been passed to our supporters,” Barla said. The indefinite strike threat, Barla said, was because of the arrest of Raju Bara, a Parishad leader, and six others accused of creating tension and ransacking some houses in Kalchini. “We want the police to release them and withdraw the charges which are baseless. If the police and administration fail to do so by December 27, we would have no other option but to launch an indefinite strike,” he said. Kamtapur cry stops traffic, shuts offices TT,Cooch Behar, Dec. 16: Traffic in Cooch Behar was affected and offices were almost empty today as several north Bengal and Assam-based organisations demanding the separate state of Greater Cooch Behar or Kamtapur observed a bandh. While the strike impacted all Cooch Behar’s towns, other districts of north Bengal remained normal save for Jalpaiguri where private transport kept off the roads and educational institutions remained closed in Dhupguri and Mainaguri. The Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party, Kamtapur People’s Party and nine other organisations based in north Bengal and adjoining Assam have been demanding Greater Cooch Behar or Kamtapur. However, no untoward incident was reported from any parts of the region. Cooch Behar police arrested 33 bandh supporters for picketing in different parts of the district. With a handful of state-owned buses taking to the streets, people found it hard to commute. The Cooch Behar superintendent of police, Kalyan Bandyopadhyay, said the strike passed off peacefully. “We are grateful to the people of the district for supporting our cause,” said Asutosh Barma, the secretary of the Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party. He said since Saturday 13 supporters of the Separate State Demand Committee — a conglomeration of the 11 outfits — had been sitting on a fast-unto-death at Dinhata’s Prantik Bazar. Craving for peace, not war SNS, SILIGURI, 16 DEC: With the Darjeeling Hills grappling with plummeting mercury and gruelling political restlessness at the same time, the common people are craving for peace, though the chances of stability look receding. They seem to have heaved a sigh of relief as the 96-hour hill strike was withdrawn at the behest of the national level BJP leadership. Yet, with the fasting stir continuing and the government office closure underway from today, there is little possibility of restoration of socio-political tranquility in the tension-scarred Darjeeling hills. According to Mr Joseph Tamang, a resident of Lava, their eyes are focussed on the 21 December tripartite dialogue. “We are hoping against hope that a breakthrough would emerge out of the talks and we would get back to normal life. To tell the truth, we are somehow tired with the seemingly never- ending spell of political toysy turvy and so peace, elusive so long, seems to be the most precious entity for the common man,” he said. Sounding skeptic on the outcome of the three-way dialogue, Mr Paul Sitling, a resident of Kalimpong said that the common people were looking heavenwards for an enduring spell of political tranquil. “We know that a settlement would elude the forthcoming tripartite negotiation given the stubborn intractability in the respective stances of the three parties involved. Yet, an expectation is glimmering on the horizon that the Centre would take a fairly sensible stand to defuse the dragging volatility in the aftermath of its much-acclaimed Telangana concession,” he opined. Taking a diametrically reverse stance, a young resident of Darjeeling, Mr Amrit Yanjon said that peace came next to identity and security. “We are left to the mercy of an indifferent state administration which neither understands the pangs of our identity crisis nor takes pains to redress our development woes. We have long been relegated to what can be called ‘the twilight zone’ of the political discourse both at the national and the state levels. How can we hanker after peace at a time when identity and security prevails over cynic preference for an idiom of pacifism?” he asked. GJMM trying to change tripartite talks’ venue SNS, KURSEONG, 16 DEC: The All India Gorkha League president Mr Madan Tamamg today claimed that the GJMM's ongoing activities indicated they were trying to change the venue of the 21 December proposed tripartite talks to New Delhi instead of the declared venue Darjeeling. “The GJMM is under tremendous public pressure to yield results and so its leadership is trying to shift the tripartite talks to New Delhi. “Their ongoing activities like office bandh and hunger strike indicates they are trying to create chaos in the declared venue and take the talks to the national capital,” Mr Tamang alleged. According to him, seven clauses were included in the resolution taken on the 11 August tripartite talks. “There is no mention of Gorkhaland in any of the clauses. One of the clauses on the contrary speaks of an alternative administrative set up, but within the state. The public is aware of it and has started to mount pressure on the GJMM, which is now trying to scuttle the venue,” the AIGL chief claimed. Rubbishing the AIGL chief's allegation, GJMM assistant secretary, Mr Binay Tamang said that the AIGL chief's claims were fabricated and far from the truth. “If Mr Madan Tamang is a genuine Gorkhaland supporter, he should sponsor programs for it, not issue useless remarks. We are taking steps according to developments in New Delhi,” Mr Binay Tamang claimed. Jaswant Quits as PAC Chief

SNS, New Delhi, 16 DEC: In a sudden development, former BJP leader Mr Jaswant Singh has resigned his post of the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which he had refused to quit when he had a bitter parting of ways with the BJP four months ago.
His resignation raised questions whether there was any rapprochement with the BJP but the 71-year-old leader ruled out any such possibility saying his action was not under “any pressure” or not done with “some calculation”.
The former Union minister had met Lok Sabha Speaker Ms Meira Kumar on Monday and submitted his resignation, which has been accepted with effect from 31 December, to enable him to complete three reports.
His tenure as PAC chairman was due to end in March 2010. “I wanted to establish a point, which has got established, which is the primacy of autonomy of functioning of Parliamentary Committees,” said Mr Singh, who was appointed as PAC chairman on 6 August.
He was expelled from the party on 19 August for writing a book Jinnah ~ India, Partition, Independence ~ in which he had eulogised the Pakistan founder MA Jinnah and denigrated Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel, following which he was asked to quit the PAC chairman's post as he had been nominated by the party to which he no longer belonged.
Former Union minister Mr Yashwant Sinha is likely to succeed Mr Jaswant Singh as PAC chairman, BJP sources said.
Meanwhile, the Congress today suggested that the resignation of Mr Singh showed the “subterranean shenanigans” between the BJP and its former member. “The Congress need not comment on the subterranean shenanigans between the BJP and its former member,” a party spokesman said.

Office shutdown call in ‘Gorkhaland’  - Morcha keeps up pressure before talks

The district magistrate’s office in Darjeeling that the Morcha has planned to shut down from Wednesday. Picture by Suman Tamang TT, Darjeeling/Delhi, Dec. 15: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to continue with its pressure tactics by calling for an indefinite closure of all state and central government offices in the area that its wants as Gorkhaland from tomorrow. The announcement comes a day after the hill outfit withdrew the four-day general strike and is likely to affect all development work since the DGHC, too, will be affected. State home secretary Ardhendu Sen was summoned to Delhi tonight by the Union home ministry to discuss the situation in Darjeeling and for consultations before the tripartite talks on December 21. Benedict Gurung, the president of the Gorkha Primary Teachers’ Organisation after a discussion with the Janmukti Secondary Teachers’ Organisation and the Janmukti Karmachari Sangathan, said: “To lend support to our supporters who are currently on a fast-unto-death, we have decided to close down all state and central government offices across Gorkhaland from tomorrow.” The “Gorkhaland area” includes the Darjeeling hills and the Dooars and Terai. Only banks and post offices along with emergency services like conservancy and waterworks departments of the three municipalities have been kept out of the shutdown’s purview. Benedict Gurung said Morcha supporters would enforce the closure of the offices in the Dooars and Terai region as well. In Delhi, Union home minister P. Chidambaram appealed to the Morcha to call off its hunger strike. “It is imperative that the talks are held in a conducive atmosphere. MHA, therefore, appeals to GJM to call off the ongoing hunger strike immediately,” a media release of the home ministry said. Groups of 21 men and women drawn from three organisations representing the primary and secondary school teachers and DGHC workers are currently on a fast-unto-death since the past five days in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Siliguri and Kalchini in the Dooars. The condition of Rupnarayan Sharma, 38, Bimal Kumar Lama, 40, Gopal Thapa, 42, Deepak Kumar Rai, 46, Ratan Kumar Regmi, 52, and Hemu Gurung, 30, in Darjeeling have been described as critical. “They need to be hospitalised. Their body fluid has dried up and there are chances of renal failure and many are suffering from high blood pressure, urinary tract infection and other ailments like breathing problem,” said Dr S.K. Sariwal of the Darjeeling District Hospital after examining the protesters early this morning. However, none of the protesters agreed to go to hospital. Darjeeling district magistrate Surendra Gupta said: “We are seeking opinion from the medical team. We will request the agitators to take them (those on fast) to the hospital. We are also updating higher officials on the development.” The Morcha hopes the fast will keep the state and the Centre on pressure till the fourth round of talks on December 21. However, the overall situation in the hills could deteriorate if the indefinite hunger strike is not immediately called off, as the atmosphere is tense because of the failing health of those on fast. Groups of volunteers are constantly keeping vigil near the sites of the hunger strike. Asked to react to state home secretary Sen’s statement yesterday that because of the hunger strike the situation was not conducive for talks, Amar Lama, a central committee member of the party, said: “The state is not the sole authority to decide on the fate of the meeting. There are three parties involved in the parleys”. Benedict Gurung also called upon on all government employees to participate in a silent rally, which will start from the Gorkha Dukha Niwarak Sammelan grounds at 10am tomorrow. He urged government officials not to go down to the plains now that the offices have been closed for an indefinite period. In another development, Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said over the phone from Delhi that the BSP MP from Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh, Vijay Bahadur Singh, had mentioned in the Lok Sabha that the demand for Gorkhaland be looked into seriously. “He also urged the government to set up the second state re-organisation committee,” Giri claimed. Protesters on fast refuse DM health aid Morcha supporters on fast in Kalimpong. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha TT, Siliguri, Dec. 15: Officials of the Jalpaiguri district administration and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders were at a stand-off today over the treatment of at least four of the 21 party supporters who are on hunger strike in Kalchini since Friday. Jalpaiguri district magistrate Vandana Yadav visited Kalchini, 175km from Jalpaiguri town, this afternoon and summoned the local Morcha leaders to the block development office, where the indefinite hunger strike in demand for Gorkhaland is in progress. “She told us that according to a medical report, the physical condition of four of our supporters, two men and two women, is critical and they need immediate medication,” said Binod Ghataney, a Morcha leader from the Dooars. “She further pointed out that the administration will not allow them to die and that they should go to the hospital for treatment. The district magistrate also clarified that if they do not go to hospital, she would apply force to provide them medication,” Ghataney said. On hearing the administration’s stance, Morcha supporters and those on fast expressed their resentment. Uttam Lama, Himal Dorjee, Rupesh Baraily, Bishnu Pradhan, Devika Darjee and Vidya Lama said they were physically fine and would not go anywhere for treatment. The local leaders told the administration that they would inform their central leadership about Yadav’s request. After some time, Binay Tamang, the assistant secretary of the Morcha, and Shyamal Gurung, a central committee member, reached Kalchini from Darjeeling. “We came to know the administration’s stance and objected to it. Soon, we were called by the district magistrate for a discussion at the block office. At 6pm, we met her and she iterated whatever she had told our local leaders,” Tamang said. “We clarified that we are in a democratic movement and nothing has been forcibly done by the Darjeeling district administration so far even though there are medical assistance in every location where our supporters are on hunger strike. She refused to listen and said she would use force to provide treatment for our supporters,” Tamang said. The impasse continued as Tamang, along with his party colleagues and supporters, stood at the site. The district magistrate and other officials were at the block office till around 8pm. “Though no force has been applied yet, a large contingent of policemen has been deployed in the area. Also, ambulances have been brought in,” Tamang said. The district magistrate could not be contacted. Bear falls into honey trap The caged bear being taken to a truck with the help of a crane at Dalapchand on Tuesday. Picture by Prabin Khaling TT, Gangtok, Dec. 15: A Himalayan black bear that ate up more than 350 chickens in a poultry farm in East Sikkim over the weekend was trapped in a cage by foresters last night after treating it to honey and molasses laced with sedatives. Sikkim’s principal chief conservator of forests-cum-secretary S.T. Lachungpa told The Telegraph today that the bear was successfully lured into a cage by a team of officials led by divisional forest officer (wildlife east) Karma Legshey at Dalapchand near Rhenock in East Sikkim around midnight. The spot is 72km from Gangtok. “The bear had gobbled up 369 chickens in the poultry farm owned by Ganga Rai at Zero Point in Dalapchand. The caged bear was taken to the Memencho Lake area near the India-China border at Nathu-la and was released in the forest this afternoon,” Lachungpa said. Rai said she had some 700 chickens in her farm and the bear attack ruined her business. “On Friday, the bear killed 300 chickens and ate them up. The next day, it killed another 34 followed by two more the same night, taking the total number of chickens killed to 369,” she said. But this time the forest department did not take the risk of darting the bear. In an earlier incident of tranquillising, the bear had attacked the foresters. Under Legshey’s guidance, the foresters used a new way to trap the bear. “This time, Legshey made a ball of molasses, honey and other items and laced them with sedatives and placed them inside the cage to trap and waylay the bear. The animal was trapped around 11.30pm yesterday,” Lachungpa said. Legshey along with other foresters and the veterinarian of the Himalayan Zoological Park at Bulbuley used a double-door cage which was lifted with a crane to a truck and drove it up to the forests near Memencho Lake for the release. Cong cry for parleys with ‘others’ TT, Siliguri, Dec. 15: The Congress in three districts have demanded that the Centre should initiate discussions with all political parties, and outfits clamouring for statehood in north Bengal — much like the talks that the Union and state governments are holding with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. “We want the central government to hold an all-party meeting on separate statehood as several organisations and political parties have raised the demand. While some are demanding Gorkhaland, others are asking for Kamtapur or autonomous councils. The government should hold talks with the other organisations too like it is doing with the Morcha to resolve the issue,” said Biswaranjan Sarkar, the district Congress president of Jalpaiguri. The Congress in Darjeeling and Cooch Behar have also demanded the talks. “Our leaders in the districts have decided to meet PCC chief and Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, requesting him to send a central team to north Bengal for a survey of the region, to check out the demands and initiate talks with organisations demanding a separate state. It is also important to talk to political parties which have specific stands on these issues,” Sarkar said. According to the district Congress leadership, a meeting had been scheduled for this purpose with Mukherjee in Delhi tomorrow, but had to be cancelled at the last moment. Representatives from the three districts were supposed to apprise the PCC president on the present state of affairs. “We expect to meet him (Mukherjee) in Calcutta soon,” Sarkar said. “Apart from the visit of the central team and meeting with political parties and organisations, we will also ask for a financial package to be utilised for a comprehensive development of the region.” Iterating the party’s stance on Gorkhaland, Sarkar said: “We do not believe in division of Bengal and want the Centre to resolve the issue through talks. The DGHC was formed when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister and now, we want the Centre and the state to confer more power on an autonomous body that will work for the development in the hills. If the hills are separated, it will only add to the political turmoil in north Bengal.” Shankar Malakar, the Darjeeling district Congress president, blamed the state government for the current situation in the region. “During its 32-year rule, the CPM-led Left Front government has failed to meet the minimum aspirations of people living in north Bengal.” Anti-GJMM group on hunger strike against statehood demand SNS,SILIGURI, 15 DEC: With the Gorkhaland heat rising in the Darjeeling hills in the aftermath of the Centre's Telangana concession, activists of an anti-Gorkhaland pressure group, Bangla O Bangla Bhasa Bachao Committee today observed a 12-hour fast near the main Post Office in Siliguri. They were protesting against what they called ‘state division demand by supposedly non-citizen migrants from Nepal'. Informing, the BOBBBC president, Dr Mukunda Majumder said that 11 activists were on fast for 12 hours from 8 a.m. “Our plan was to go for an indefinite relay hunger strike from morning. But we softened our stance in view of the strike withdrawal decision by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha. This is a mere token strike. But we would go for a renewed spell of indefinite fast should the Centre announce any major concession for the agitating hill-based outfit in course of the tripartite dialogue slated on 21 December,” he warned. Dwelling on the objective behind today's fast, Dr Majumder said that the statehood demand by some aliens from Nepal was a humiliating onslaught on the sovereignty of the country. “We cannot understand how some migration beneficiaries could raise demand for a separate state. And the stand of the state government on the matter is more puzzling. It has so far kept a studied silence on the citizenship-identity knot involved in the seemingly intractable tangle,” he added. Another anti-Gorkhaland outfit, the Aamra Bangali has also threatened a prolonged agitation if the Centre moved an inch in the direction of the Gorkhaland demand during the coming three-way parleys. “ The talks with some aliens is by itself unconstitutional. We are not ruling out indefinite fast either. But we would deliberate first on what would transpire in course of the proposed dialogue scheduled in Darjeeling,” said a senior Aamra Bangali leader, Mr Khusi Ranjan Mondal. Meanwhile, the CPI-M state committee member and a senior party leader from Siliguri, Mr Jibesh Sarkar appealed to the GJMM leadership to withdraw the indefinite fast to pave way for a productive dialogue on the vexed issue. “The GJMM leadership should understand that carrying on with fasting, on one hand, and participating in a serious round of negotiations, on the other, cannot go hand in hand in a democratic framework,” he said. However, ridiculing the state home secretary, Mr Ardhendu Sen's statement that the tripartite dialogue could not be carried on in an uncongenial atmosphere with the fasting stir going on in the hills, the GJMM media secretary, Dr Harka Bahadur Chhetri said that the state government had never been serious about the dialogue. “It is interested more in keeping the hills perpetually on the boil to serve its parochial stratagem. We would, however, continue with the fasting unless the Centre announces some important concessions regarding our cause before the 21 December dialogue,” Dr Chhetri said. Situation still not conducive for talks with GJM: Bengal INPUTS : **Three of the hunger strikers in Kurseong fell ill today and were admitted to the Kurseong sub-divisional hospital for treatment.  **The GJMM chief Mr Bimal Gurung said that the GJMM would press five students from every school in the ongoing hunger strike if the 21 December tripartite talks fail to satisfy them. Tuesday, December 15, 2009 Rally of GJ Nari Morcha in Kalimpong On 5th Day of Hunger strike of GJM in Kalimpong A.Tshering , S.D.O.Kalimpong visited5th Day of Indefinite Hunger strike of GJM in Kalimpong  Leslie John Chatter the self styled one man controversial socio-political leader cum cadre of Kalimpong in indefinite hunger strike from 14th Dec 2009 at Triangular Park in Kalimpong demanding  restoration of democracy in Kalimpong Pix: Samiran Paul KalimNews 15 Dec: GJM has announced total closure of all Central and State Governmental Offices from 16th December 2009 for an indefinite period. Banks and Post Offices are kept out of the purview of the Strike.