Members of the Church of North India in a Christmas feast in Kalimpong on Friday. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha
Split district cry by plains forums
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A file picture of a bandh in Siliguri called by anti-statehood forums
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TT, Siliguri, Dec. 25: Plains-based organisations which are opposed to Gorkhaland in Darjeeling want a bifurcation of the district into two, which they feel would help in the comprehensive socio-economic development of the hills.
The demand comes four days after the fourth round of tripartite talks were held on the demand for Gorkhaland in Darjeeling town.
“We are vehemently against the separate state as has been demanded by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. Even a separate autonomous council like the DGHC, we feel, will only contribute to separatism,” said Mukunda Majumdar, the president of the Bangla O Bangla Bhasa Banchao Committee. “In case, the demand (for Gorkhaland) is considered, similar demands raised by the KPP, Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party and other forums will lead to the disintegration of Bengal.”
“However, given the fact that the hills are backward and concerted efforts are essential for the all-round development, we feel the existing Darjeeling district can be bifurcated. We have written to the Prime Minister on the issue. The new district to be carved out will be Siliguri, comprising the Siliguri subdivision while the Darjeeling district would have the three hill subdivisions,” he added.
Representatives of Jana Chetana, another anti-Morcha forum, spoke on similar lines. “Considering the present state of affairs and for the sake of development, the existing Darjeeling district should be divided. The new Siliguri district should be formed with the existing Siliguri subdivision and adjacent areas,” said D.P. Kar, the president of Jana Chetana. “We are against any council and our organisation has initiated correspondences with various levels over this demand.”
According to the anti-Morcha forums, the Gorkhas are a minority in Siliguri subdivision unlike in the three hill subdivisions.
The Bhasha Banchao Committee leaders said the governments, the Centre or the state, could not afford to ignore the anti-separatist feelings. “And so we demand that at the next round of tripartite talks, we should be invited to speak on this. If the talks continue only with the Morcha, we will launch large-scale movements.”
Morcha leaders said there was no question of shifting from their demand of a separate statehood. “This is not a justified demand and an audacious one too. Siliguri is a part and parcel of the Darjeeling district, which is quite small. We will continue to strive for a separate state and Siliguri will be part of it,” said Harka Bahadur Chhetri, the media and publicity secretary of the Morcha. “The state government is behind the promulgation of these new issues.”
Demand for bifurcation of Hills
SNS, SILIGURI, 25 DEC: Taking strong exception to the Gorkhaland issue being discussed at the third round of tripartite talks held in Darjeeling on 21 December, the anti-Gorkhaland pressure groups demanded bifurcation of the existing Darjeeling district and the revival of the three-tier panchayat system as the first step towards a solution of the long lingering political tangle in the Hills.
The Jana Chetana president, Dr Debaprasad Kar said that given the growing stridency as regards the hill imbroglio, the state government had no alternative but to bifurcate the district to form a separate Siliguri district.
“The administration should carve out a separate Siliguri district comprising the Siliguri and the Kalimpong sub-divisions and the rest of the district, comprising the Darjeeling and the Kurseong sub-divisions, should remain as the Darjeeling district.
This apart, the three-tier panchayat structure that existed in the pre-1988 Accord should be revived to facilitate smooth administrative functioning in the strife-scarred district.
“We also warn the Centre against placating the Gorkhaland protagonists in one manner or another,” Dr Kar said.
Speaking on the matter, the Bangla O Bangla Bhasa Bachao Committee president, Dr Mukunda Majumder said that the bifurcation of the Darjeeling district to carve out a separate Siliguri district was the only option left to the state government to bring normalcy in the region.
However, he differed with the Jana Chetana stand advocating the inclusion of all the three hill sub-divisions in the proposed Darjeeling district.
“A separate Darjeeling district comprising the three hill sub-divisions sans the Bengali-majority plains of Siliguri would guarantee the protection of the ethnic identity of the Nepali-speaking people,” Dr Majumder said.
He further said that his organization had served a memorandum to the Prime Minister on Wednesday taking strong exceptions to the Gorkhaland agenda being discussed exclusively in course of the tripartite dialogue held in Darjeeling on 21 December.
Speaking in the same vein, a senior Aamra Bangali leader, Mr Khusi Ranjan Mondal said that the Centre was placating the Gorkhaland sympathy at the expense of the anti-division sentiment of the millions of the state populace.
“The Centre should be wary of advancing further on the statehood front or else it would encounter massive collective wrath in the state,” he warned.
Soccer star’s statue in April
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TT, Siliguri, Dec. 25: A seven-foot statue of late Chandan Singh Rawat, a former Indian footballer who had represented the country in Asian Games and the Olympics, will be set up on the Sukna Games and Sports Association premises in April.
Suren Pradhan, the secretary of the association, also announced that the fifth Sukna Gold Cup Challenge Football Tournament would be kicked off at Sukna play grounds, 9km from here, on Sunday. Twenty-eight teams, including the ones from Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, would participate in the meet. The total budget for the tournament is Rs 15 lakh and the winner and runners-up team will get Rs 60,000 and Rs 40,000 as prize money, he said
On setting up of the statue, Pradhan said: “This will be our homage to the former soccer star of the country, who was one of the finest footballers in 1950s.”
Rawat was a member of the Indian soccer team that had bagged gold at the first Asian Games in New Delhi in 1951. He also represented the national squad in Helsinki Olympics next year. In the domestic circuit, the late footballer had played for East Bengal, Mohun Bagan Athletic Club and Bengal. “The fibre-made statue will be installed on the club campus in April. After legendary footballer Gostho Pal’s statue in Siliguri, Rawat’s will be the second in the region,” Pradhan claimed.
The association secretary said Jerry Basi, a former national footballer, would inaugurate the tournament. Basi was a member of the national team that got bronze in sixth Asian Games in Bangkok in 1970. Currently, he is the general secretary of the Sikkim Olympic Association.
Bhaichung Bhutia, the captain of the national soccer team, and former footballer Shyam Thapa will be present during the tournament, the finals of which will be on January 24. “Our main objective for organising the tournament here is to promote the talents of the region and provide them with a platform to prove their skills,” Pradhan said. The association is planning to set up a football academy at Sukna with the help of Shyam Thapa.
Buddha to talk Gorkhaland, industry with PM
SNS, KOLKATA, 25 Dec: The chief minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will meet the Prime Minister tomorrow at Delhi to discuss the Gorkhaland issue and the problems faced by industrial projects coming up in the coal belt of the state. Since the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) demanded discussions at the political level, the chief minister is likely to raise the issue at the meeting. In addition Mr Bhattacharjee is also likely to bring up the problem of setting up industry at the coal belt after Coal India raised objections to a number of industrial projects in the state due to the presence of coal underneath. The chief minister is likely to raise the problems posed by the Centre’s new policy on allocation of coal blocks which the state government perceives as bottleneck for coming up of steel industry.
Snow-stuck tourists return- No permits for Nathu-la till weather improves
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A tourist vehicle stuck in the snow being pushed at 15th Mile. Picture by Prabin Khaling
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TT, Gangtok, Dec. 25: Tourists who had been put up in an army transit camp at 17th Mile last night after heavy snowfall in Nathu-la left them stranded returned to the Sikkim capital this morning.
The army with the help of Sikkim police brought down the 187 tourists, mainly from Guwahati, Orissa, Calcutta and Mumbai.
Today, the police allowed tourist vehicles to go up to 15th Mile, about 30km from here, as there was heavy snow further up. No permits to visit Nathu-la will be issued from tomorrow till better weather prevails.
Yesterday, the tourists could not reach Gangtok after visiting Chhangu Lake, Baba Mandir and Nathu-la as snow on Jawaharlal Nehru Marg — that connects the state capital with the high altitude tourism hotspots — made it difficult travelling downhill from 15th Mile. The white flakes falling from the sky had stopped many shutterbugs who clicked away till they realised that they were stuck on their way back from the India-China border pass at 14,400ft, the police said. The army put up the stranded visitors at the army transit camp located at 13,000 feet.
The officer-in-charge of Sherathang police station, Choley Bhutia, said the police, army and local people had put in combined efforts to provide food and shelter.
“The police and army saved us. We could sleep in their camp without any worries,” said Subrata Banerjee, who along with his family had been caught by yesterday’s heavy snowfall.
“Our desire to see the snow and touch and play with the flakes has been fulfilled,” the man from Guwahati said.
Sunita Ghosh, who had come to visit Chhangu Lake and Baba Mandir with her aged father and mother from Calcutta, was also grateful to the Sikkim Police and army jawans.
“Though I was feeling excited about the snowfall, I was deeply worried about my aged father and mother as the road got blocked. The police and army jawans answered my prayers,” she said. “Spending a night on a snow-covered hillside in an army camp where we were provided with warm blankets, hot coffee, vegetable curry, rice andchapatis, was also a lifetime’s experience.”
However, hundreds of tourists on their way to Chhangu Lake and Nathu-la today were not so fortunate as the snow had made the road slippery.
The authorities did not allow any vehicle to proceed beyond the 15th Mile police checkpost at Kyongsala village and the tourists had to return from there, consoling themselves with some snowball fights and sliding along the snow covered slopes.
“We have stopped vehicles from going beyond 15th Mile as there has been continuous and heavy snowfall since yesterday afternoon. A situation like yesterday, when tourists got stranded, may happen again,” said Bhutia.
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Morcha mellows after Telangana stall sign
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TT, Darjeeling, Dec. 24: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to scale down its agitation programme, already relaxed for three days for Christmas, indicating that it was ready to repose its faith in dialogues that are currently in progress.
Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said: “The hunger strike from December 26 will be a relay fast with the minority forum starting it the first day. Each batch will be on fast for 24 hours.”
The move seems to be the fallout of the Centre’s “need for wide-ranging consultations” on Telangana announced by the home ministry yesterday. The announcement had given the impression that Telangana was being put on the back-burner.
The Morcha has decided on a more mellowed approach by not going in for hardline tactics like a fast-unto-death. The indefinite hunger strike that began on December 11 after the Centre announced the formation of Telangana was withdrawn on the 19th following an appeal from P. Chidambaram to maintain a conducive atmosphere in the hills before the fourth round of tripartite talks scheduled two days later.
After the talks on December 21, Morcha president Bimal Gurung had announced that the hunger strike would be a fast-unto-death. Gurung had also announced that all government offices would remain closed from December 26 onwards.
Today Giri said: “The offices will remain closed from December 28 but banks, post offices and LIC offices will be kept out of the bandh’s purview.”
Asked about the reason behind the Morcha’s present stand, Giri said: “The change of plan is because of the present scenario.” He, however, did not elaborate on the “present scenario”.
Observers believe that the Morcha, which had upped its ante following the home ministry’s December 9 announcement on “initiation of process for the formation of Telangana,” seems to have realised that agitation programmes would not bear much fruit especially when a tripartite meeting on Gorkhaland is currently in progress.
The rollback by the Centre on Telangana yesterday has also made the Morcha leadership realise that strong-arm tactics would not hold water. The Morcha has already demanded that the fifth rounds of tripartite talks should be held at the political level.
Soon after the Telangana announcement, Gurung, had termed the tripartite meeting as “unimportant”.
“But with problems in Andhra Pradesh because of lack of political consensus, the Morcha seems to have realised that intensifying the agitation at this stage will yield little result,” said an observer.
Also, the Centre’s hint about the possibility of the second State Reorganisation Commission has made the Morcha hopeful.
“If the SRC is formed, the Morcha will have to stop its agitation and merely concentrate on influencing the SRC members on the need for the formation of a new state. The formation of the SRC might see the Morcha scaling down its agitation even further,” said another observer.
Gurung brings back days of the angry young man
Mohan Prasad, SNS, KURSEONG, 24 DEC: The much-publicised self-annihilation threat of the paramount GJMM leader, Mr Bimal Gurung on 10 March next year provided the Gorkhaland dream remains unfulfilled by the time makes one recollect some memorable scenes in box office hits Amtah Bachchan films, Inquilab or Main Azad Hoon.
The Bollywood superstar, Amitabh, one may recall, called those leaders who had betrayed the cause he was striving for in one place and killed all of them before surrendering to the police in Inquilab.
In the other film, Main Azaad Hoon, Amitabh, trapped in the murky world of political shenanigans, strode along the extreme way of annihilating himself on the altar of a great collective cause.
One cannot help juxtaposing the melodramatic Gurung threat to “kill myself on 10 March 2010 at 11:19 a.m. at Chowrasta in the presence of all but not before reducing Darjeeling into ashes,” with the often-repeated Bachchan dialogue which gripped the people's imagination some years back.
Reiterating his resolve, Mr Bimal Gurung recently said that there was no question of going back on his words. “The resolution reflects a vision I have seen on the subtle plane. I am committed to the vision and the inner voice, which are infallible,” he said.
The common people of the Hills are not, however, taking these threats seriously. “These might be either momentary impulses which mark the sentimental mindset of the emotionally- charged leader or these amount to mere pressure stratagem to accelerate the tardy pace of the developments towards the statehood consummation,” they keep musing.
But a handful of hardened Gurung loyalists take the threat seriously. They are worried, visualizing what would happen if the leader acts on his public posturing. “He is a man who hates to indulge in empty verbosity. When he keeps repeating such threat he does mean it,” they say.
Now, as the Hill situation remains mired in speculative murkiness it is anybody's guess what would ultimately befall the fast moving political trajectory in the long restless Darjeeling Hills. But the eyes of the nation, not to speak of the state, would remain focused on the advancing momentum while the speculative expectation or apprehension would keep gripping the Hill psyche.
ABAVP strike withdrawn
JALPAIGURI, 23 DEC: The Akhil Bhartiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad leaders have withdrawn the indefinite shut down agitation scheduled from 27 December in Dooars and Terai area in consideration of the religious festivals like the X Mass and the Mahoram.
Nagaland cops on station rampage - Railway employees hit with rifle butts at NJP
TT,Siliguri, Dec. 24: A group of allegedly drunk constables from Nagaland went on the rampage last night at New Jalpaiguri station, breaking window panes and assaulting the railway staff with rifle butts. Six of the 12 railway employees injured in the attack were admitted to NJP Railway Hospital. The policemen were apparently venting their anger at the railway authorities for delaying the replacement of the engine of the train that was taking them from Ranchi to Dharmanagar in Tripura. They were returning from poll duty in Jharkhand. Pawan Kumar, the area manager of the NJP station, said the special train stopped at the railway siding located off the platforms around 9pm for filling up water and for replacing the engine. “There were 18 coaches and number of personnel of the Nagaland police was around 800. They were returning from Jharkhand after completing poll duty. Around 11pm, I came to know that the angry policemen had started ransacking the station office and beating up all our staff present at the spot,” the area manager said. “When I went there to investigate, I was also beaten up,” he said today at his office. Gurudas Mondal, the station manager, said the violence continued till after 11pm. Mondal said the policemen were getting restless after they saw that the locomotive was de-linked from the train and sent off to the diesel shed. “They were drunk and they began shouting that the engine would not come back and they would be stranded. Then around 10.30pm the policemen attacked us all of a sudden. About 30 to 40 of them barged into the office of the station manager and began flailing at us with their rifle butts and hit us too,” Mondal said. The policemen then damaged furniture and broke the windowpanes of the station manager’s office. “A dozen of us were injured and we were taken to the railway hospital. The Railway Police Force and the GRP somehow managed to calm them and the train finally left around 1am,” said the station manager, who is among those to have been released from the hospital after first aid. Mondal said that while it took about 40 minutes to fill water in the rake, it takes about two hours for the batteries of a diesel locomotive to get fully charged before it can start pulling the coaches. He lodged a complaint against the constables with the Government Railway Police at NJP today. An officer from the RPF, said the personnel from Nagaland were intoxicated. “And there was not sufficient GRP or the RPF at the station at that moment,” he said. The superintendent of the railway police, Jayanta Pal, said a case has been started against the Nagaland policemen for unlawful assembly and destruction. Doungal Kuki, the public relations officer of Nagaland Police, said the personnel belonged to the 13 Indian Reserve Nagaland Armed Police based at Chumukdema near Dimapur. He said not much information had been received except that a sub-inspector had assaulted a railway official at NJP last night. Kuki did not disclose the identity of the sub-inspector but said he had been “disarmed”. “They are on their way back and other necessary action would be taken after they arrive,” Kuki said from Kohima today. Paritosh Pal, the secretary of Northeast Frontier Railway Mazdoor Union’s NJP branch, said railway minister Mamata Banerjee would be informed about the incident.
State cry at DM office
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TT, Cooch Behar, Dec. 24: Nearly 500 people today laid siege to the building housing the district magistrate’s office here for four hours, demanding that senior officials visit Dinhata’s Prantik Bazar where members of Separate State Demand Committee are on a fast-unto-death for the past 13 days for a separate state of Greater Cooch Behar.
“We are going to intensify the agitation as the administration is not taking our movement seriously. We will not go and meet the district magistrate. She should come and listen to us,” said Shikto Barman, the secretary of the SSDC’s Nari Mancha.
The siege started at 1pm and was lifted at 5.pm. The protesters, who squatted on the road which passes in front of the Sagar Dighi, a large waterbody, had locked the gate leading out of the campus of the administrative building.
District magistrate Smarki Mahapatra said she had requested the protesters to send her a memorandum of their demand that she would forward to her higher-ups.
In Prantik Bazar, 30km from here, one of the nine persons on fast, Phanindranath Barman, 42, was admitted to the subdivisional hospital in Dinhata last night. He has been administered saline drip but has refused solid food, hospital sources said. On Saturday, another person on fast, Lalchand Barman, was taken to the hospital allegedly by police forcibly, sparking protests.
The president of the Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party, Asutosh Barma, said Dinhata subdivisional officer Chiranjib Ghosh had contacted him on Monday and offered to arrange a meeting with Union home secretary G.K. Pillai who was in Darjeeling for the fourth round of tripartite talks with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.
“The subdivisional officer had called me up with the offer, but we refused as we do not want any verbal assurances and wanted it in writing,” Barma said.
The secretary of the SSDC, Babua Barman, said no one seemed to accept the demand for a separate state of Greater Cooch Behar or Kamtapur. “Biman Bose (Left Front chairman) has made a statement that there should be national-level discussion on Telangana. Our demand is equally legal (that of Telangana) if not more, as we are not demanding the creation of a separate state but the revival of one,” he said.
The SSDC secretary said the fast would continue in Prantik Bazar. “We will not tolerate this indifference,” he said.
Tripartite talks an achievement for GJMM?
Romit Bagchi, SNS, SILIGURI, 23 DEC: Contrary to apprehension, the much-hyped tripartite dialogue held in Darjeeling on Monday seems to have given the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) a reprieve in the sense that the gathering cloud over the paramountcy of the outfit in the Hill politics is dispersed for the time being. The graduation of the talks from the secretary to the political level, apart from the official acceptance of the statehood demand by the Centre and particularly the state government, is the only achievement for Mr Bimal Gurung to boast of. Doubtless, it has provided the beleaguered agitating outfit a much-sought breathing space given the fast changing political trajectory with the possibility of an Opposition consolidation dangling overhead.
Seeking to grab the achievement-limelight from the GJMM, the All India Gorkha League president, Mr Madan Tamang has claimed that but for relentless pressue by the public (read his) the GJMM would have submitted to an interim council proposal. “The collective pressure has forced the GJMM to insist on the statehood cause. Otherwise it looked poised to agree to the interim council proposal. Besides, the graduation of the three-way parleys to the political level is a movement forward,” he said.
Even the GNLF looks somewhat crestfallen given its calculations that the expected loss of face for the GJMM on 21 December would have revived its political fortunes in the restless hills at the expense of the present champions of the forlorn statehood dream.
Yet, on the flipside, is this an achievement for the GJMM especially when viewed against the long-term perspectives? Do the much-vaunted graduation of the talks to the political level and the acceptance of the statehood demand for discussion mean anything tangible for the preponderant hill-based party?
The state government officials have seen the concession as an unavoidable ‘evil’ as rounds and rounds of discussion while putting the paramount issue on the fringe was no longer possible.
An influential GJMM ideologue told in private a couple of days before the talks that Mr Madan Tamang had put a cold blanket on the reasonable course of taking the movement forward by a step in the form of accepting a stopgap interim council proposal.
The Gorkhaland movement is, in essence, an emotional one. When emotions drive a movement it is bound to be mercurial. And a leader riding on the crest of emotions cannot help being a prisoner of emotions. Freethinking takes a back seat as he is reduced to a piggyback rider.
Mr Bimal Gurung cannot turn his eyes within. He has to keep creeping on the long blind road whether he likes it or not. He cannot soar now, having no will of his own. He seems drifting along the current, rising and falling in rhythm with the ebb tide of the collective emotions.
But the problem with the emotion-driven common people is that, impatient of the trudge of time, they would try to make a splendid haste on the slow road of fortuity. Yet, after a while, their heart, that runs wild, pants and tires and sinks.
Tamang sees pact in hill talks
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Tamang in Siliguri on Wednesday. (Kundan Yolmo)
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TT, Siliguri, Dec. 23: ABGL president Madan Tamang today accused the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the Centre and the state government of entering into an “understanding” and planning to “impose” another council like the DGHC on the people of the hills.
The charge came a day after he lauded the fourth round of tripartite talks for taking the demand for Gorkhaland in the “right direction”.
Tamang, known for his diatribe against the Morcha, this time decided to air his reactions to the December 21 talks at a media conference here.
“Outcome of the so-called tripartite meeting and the information we have with us indicate that the Morcha and the two governments are into an understanding and trying to make a fool of the hill people. They are trying to impose another council on us and bury our aspirations,” Tamang said. “It is interesting to note that the Morcha raised Gorkhaland at the fourth round of talks and not earlier. We consider this as a victory of the hill people as their pressure prompted the Morcha leaders to raise the issue.”
The ABGL leader demanded that Morcha chief Bimal Gurung and leaders like Roshan Giri and Amar Lama take part in hunger strikes. “It is a question of supreme sacrifice. No GLP (Gorkhaland Personnel) was raised and no dress code was imposed in Telangana but the integrity of the top leadership in Andhra made the Centre sit up. Why can’t Gurung and others take the same route instead of forcing common supporters into the hunger strike?” Tamang said.
On one side, the Morcha leaders were asking the student wing to resort to hunger strikes, while, on the other, their own children are studying in Delhi, Bangalore and other places, the ABGL chief alleged. “The leaders should bring their children to Darjeeling and ask them to start an indefinite fast to prove their integrity.”
Tipple rush in parched hills
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A liquor shop in Darjeeling on Wednesday, teeming with customers who bought cartons (in circle) of booze and hired porters (extreme left) to ferry them. (Suman Tamang)
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TT, Dec. 23: Hill residents came in droves as soon as liquor shop shutters went up this morn- ing, many with porters to carry the bottles, making it evident how stifled the “ban” on booze had made them feel.
With the shops opening after almost a month and a half, if only for a few days, and with the festive season upon them, they were not content buying just a bottle or two. They bought by the carton.
Within an hour, the shops, already low on stocks, dried up and parched tipplers started placing advance orders.
Last evening, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which had banned the sale of liquor in the hills to deprive the government of excise, announced a relaxation till December 25. Today, residents of Darjeeling and Kalimpong started stocking up for another dry spell.
“It is such a relief to have the shops open again,” said a Darjeeling youth. “This is the season to rejoice. And what is rejoicing in this cold without a drop to lift the spirits?”
Local brew like chhang and roksi, which people make at home in the hills, were the only liquor exempted from the Morcha ban.
However, a Kalimpong youth suggested that some hill people had defeated the Morcha ban even before the relaxation. “My friends and I have been buying liquor in the black market at double the price,” he said.
Shops, which ran out of liquor today, have placed orders with wholesellers in Siliguri. “It’s wonderful to have my shop open again,” said an off-shop owner off Darjeeling’s Jawaharlal Nehru Road. “Judging by the rush, the people of the hills have really been missing their liquor. I can hardly recall any occasion in the past when people bought by the carton.”
Dharmendra Poddar of the Darjeeling Bar and Off-shop Owners’ Association, called it “really fantastic”. “Our suppliers in Siliguri have said they cannot meet our orders in a single day,” said Poddar.
“But we have explained to them that our shops are open only till Christmas and they have assured us that they would do their best.”
People in the trade said the Morcha announced its move late yesterday and many of them learnt about it through newspapers today. They had no time to stock up.
Even then, they could not have anticipated the rush, said Poddar.
For Suresh Rai, a resident of Singtam Tea Garden, the 5km trip to Darjeeling town was disappointing. He has to wait a while to wet his whistle with rum or whisky. “I came up all the way to stock up on liquor, but I guess I will have to do with the local brew now.”
Cong in small states mess AP on the boil after stall sign
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G.S. RADHAKRISHNA AND SANJAY K. JHA, TT, Dec. 23: Andhra Pradesh was on the edge tonight after the Centre stressed on “the need for wide-ranging consultations” on Telangana, which created an impression that statehood was being put on the backburner, triggered calls for a 48-hour bandh and prompted vandalism in some parts.
 Around 2,000 students poured out from Hyderabad’s Osmania University — a source of youth power that sustained the current movement for statehood — and targeted vehicles and shut down ATM kiosks after Union home minister P. Chidambaram read out a statement in Delhi.
Infuriated, Telangana spearhead K. Chandrasekhar Rao called the two-day bandh in the 10-district Telangana region and faxed his resignation as MP to the Lok Sabha Speaker.
A chain of resignation letters followed from MLAs representing the Telangana region but cutting across party lines. By Wednesday midnight, the number of the quit letters stood at 57, out of which 24 are from the Congress.
Earlier, 137 anti-Telangana MLAs had sent similar letters, the fate of which is yet to be decided, which means 194 members or 65 per cent of the 295-member House have put in their papers till now.
Prohibitory orders have been clamped in Hyderabad and two other districts in the Telangana region. Sporadic sectarian attacks on property were also reported in some areas.
The statement by Chidambaram did not have any explicit indication of a rollback of the December 9 midnight announcement about initiating the process for Telangana. But the odour of a delay hung heavy over the statement which pointed out that the consensus “situation” in Andhra Pradesh had “altered”.
“At a meeting of all political parties convened by the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh on December 7, 2009, a consensus emerged on the question of formation of a separate state of Telangana. A statement was made on behalf of the central government on December 9, 2009, on receipt of the minutes of the meeting. However, after the statement, the situation in Andhra Pradesh has altered.”
Chidambaram added: “A large number of political parties are divided on the issue. There is a need to hold wide-ranging consultations with all political parties and groups in the state. The Government of India will take steps to involve all concerned in the process.”
The home minister also appealed to the “people of the different regions of Andhra Pradesh and to all political parties and students to withdraw their agitation and maintain peace, harmony and brotherhood”.
Some Congress leaders insisted that nothing had changed but another said: “The entire process is now dependent on consensus. The Centre, by legitimising the altered stands of political parties, has shown its willingness to change its stance.”
He added that the Centre appeared to have compounded the “December 9 mistake” through the fresh statement and should have avoided saying anything except appealing for peace.
However, under intense pressure from pro- and anti-Telangana lobbies, the Congress appeared to have settled for a tightrope walk that statehood supporters are refusing to buy.
The statement was drawn up after a meeting of Pranab Mukherjee, Chidambaram, A.K. Antony, M. Veerappa Moily and Ahmed Patel. PTI reported that the draft was taken to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. After final touches by Singh, Chidambaram made the statement public.
Hunger strike in Delhi ends
Pix: Media Cell,GJMM
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Blow hot & cold policy after talks ‘victory’ Morcha lifts liquor ban for Christmas
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The DM’s office which was open on Tuesday. (Suman Tamang)
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TT, Darjeeling, Dec. 22: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today upped the ante and declared that the Centre had to “agree in principle” that the demand for Gorkhaland was genuine for the talks to move forward “smoothly”.
At the same time, buoyed by the fact that it managed to bring Gorkhaland to the negotiating table for the first time, the Morcha felt that it was time to cheer and decided to lift its ban on sale of liquor during the festive season. All liquor shops will remain open till December 25.
Sale of liquor, other than local brew, had been banned in the hills to deprive the state government of excise revenue earnings.
But Morcha leaders said today that in the coming months — at least till the next round of talks which they want at the “political level” — the party would follow a policy of blow-hot and-cold.
Party leaders said it would grant occasional concessions to the government — like the one announced today on keeping liquor shops open temporarily — but at the same time keep up the pressure through its agitation, which would be renewed from December 26.
All government offices, both state and central, which reopened today, would also be forced shut from the day after Christmas.
Asked about the duration of the fresh phase of movement, Morcha spokesperson Harka Bahadur Chhetri said: “In an agitation, sometimes unseen circumstances determine the course it takes. So, it will be premature to say when the announced agitation will end.”
Chhetri said the Morcha wants to send a message to the Centre through this agitation.
“The Centre must be serious about our demand,” Chhetri said. “We might relax the agitation and the talks can move forward smoothly if they come up with a declaration stating that they agree, in principle, to the demand for Gorkhaland. Our demand is not about development, as is the case with Telangana, but about our identity. The Centre must agree that our 102-year-old demand is genuine,” said Chhetri.
When told it may be difficult for the Centre to agree to such a demand, given that all major parties in Bengal are opposed to it, Chhetri said: “The reasons given by Bengal against creation of Gorkhaland are based on sentiments. They have no other reason to oppose our demand.”
On their return from Darjeeling after participating in the tripartite meeting, state chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti and home secretary Ardhendu Sen said the issues that had come up during the talks would be discussed with the Centre.
“We have conveyed to the chief minister the contents of our discussion,” Chakrabarti said. “We may further discuss this issue with the Centre.”
“The Gorkhaland issue was discussed,” Sen said. “It will be discussed not only at the Centre and state levels, but also at political level, the level of minister. The outcome will be conveyed to the Morcha.”
For the Morcha, agitation still remains the “surest way” of keeping up the pressure ahead of the next round of talks.
Party general secretary Roshan Giri said: “We believe that the agitation will expedite the process for the formation of Gorkhaland.”
Even Madan Tamang, the president of the ABGL and a Morcha bete noire, described yesterday’s talks as “a victory of the people”.
Cloud on Delhi mediator post
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Vijay Madan
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TT, Darjeeling, Dec. 22: The fate of Lt Gen. (retd) Vijay Madan, who was appointed interlocutor two months back, hangs in balance with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha demanding political dialogue in the next round of tripartite talks.
The interlocutor had been appointed on October 23 “for the purpose of handling talks in respect of the demand for Gorkhaland with all stake holders”. Madan, as a facilitator had been working closely with the state, Centre and the Morcha to end the current political impasse.
However, with the Morcha demanding talks at a political level during yesterday’s meeting, Madan said he would have little role to play if the discussions are upgraded to the political level.
“He did mention that he will have little role if the talks take place at the political level. As a man of immense integrity, he would perhaps not like to meddle with political parties and leaders,” said Harka Bahadur Chhetri, the spokesperson for the Morcha who was part of the 16-member delegation.
With the post of the interlocutor gone, the Morcha would perhaps find it difficult to convey its viewpoints before any talks. “There might be political facilitators (mediators) then,” said Chhetri.
The appointment of an interlocutor was the only one among the three agreed-upon goals that had been achieved after the third round of tripartite talks held in New Delhi on August 11. During the Delhi talks, the three parties had agreed to drop the Sixth Schedule Bill, repeal the DGHC Act and appoint an interlocutor. The Sixth Schedule Bill had already lapsed with a new Parliament taking over while there has been no consensus on an arrangement to replace the DGHC because of which the council has not yet been scrapped.
Nine on fast for statehood
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The protesters at the Dinhata camp. (MU Chisti)
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Cooch Behar, Dec. 22: Nine persons have been on a fast-unto-death in Dinhata from December 12 to demand a state of Greater Cooch Behar.
The protesters, who included a woman, are lying under a makeshift shed at Dinhata’s Prantik Bazar and have refused to take any medical aid. They also rejected appeals from the administration to withdraw the fast.
This prompted the Separate State Demand Committee (SSDC), comprising the Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party, Kamtapur People’s Party and nine organisations from Assam, to raise its voice against the administration’s alleged apathy over the fast.
Babua Barman, the SSDC secretary, said the administration’s indifference was “inhuman”. “Nine of our members have been on a fast for the past 11 days. We have now decided that several hundreds of our members will begin a fast-unto-death at Gandhi Maidan in Assam’s Bongaigaon from tomorrow.”
The SSDC took a leaf out of the Morcha’s fast-unto-death in Darjeeling, 340km away, following the Centre’s announcement on Telangana on December 10. Morcha members had sat on the fast in the three hill subdivisions, Siliguri and Kalchini.
To protest the alleged government apathy, hundreds of SSDC members today sat on a token hunger strike in front of all the 12 block development offices in Cooch Behar from 10am to 4pm.
Asutosh Barma, the president of the Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party, said the movement for a separate state would be intensified in the coming days. “We are beginning with a day-long gherao of the Cooch Behar district magistrate’s office by our women’s front on December 24. This will be followed by the gherao of the Jalpaiguri divisional commissioner’s office on December 29. The Prantik bazar fast will continue,” Barma added.
Cooch Behar additional superintendent of police Amit P. Javalgi said no untoward incident had taken place around the indefinite fast. “A picket has been set up at Prantik Bazar,” he said.
On Friday, the police admitted Lalchand Barman, a protester whose condition had turned serious, to the subdivisional hospital at Dinhata. Next day, the SSDC took out processions in protest. Lalchand is still in hospital on saline drip but has refused to eat.
Dinhata subdivisional officer Chiranjib Ghosh said the protesters had been requested to withdraw the fast and instead send their demand in writing to the government. “We are still requesting them, but they will not listen. The condition of all nine is very serious. We are keeping a watch on the situation,” Ghosh added.
Rivals want role in parleys
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TT, Siliguri, Dec. 22: The GNLF has accused the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha of playing with the sentiments of the hills while its arch rival in the plains, the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad, has demanded that the outfit be made party to the next round of talks on statehood.
“They are playing with the sentiments of the people and with the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland, which was first raised by our president Subhash Ghisingh. Meetings like these are a step towards getting an interim council,” said Rajen Mukhia, a GNLF leader from Panighata, today.
“Earlier, the Morcha president had claimed he would achieve a separate state within March 2010. Considering the present state of affairs in the hills, it seems that there is no such possibility in the near future,” Mukhia said. He added his party would wait till March to see how the Morcha performed and then announce its “stand over the demands for a separate state”.
The Parishad, on the other hand, is planning to submit a memorandum to the state and central governments demanding that they be made party to talks in which Gorkhaland would be discussed.
“We have already declared that we will not allow the Dooars and the Terai to be included in Gorkhaland. Now the officials from both the governments should ask the Morcha leaders, if they were ready to accept our decision or not. …Our leaderships should also be allowed to participate in any such meeting where issues like statehood are discussed,” said Tezkumar Toppo, the state general secretary of the Parishad.
Adivasis to hold indefinite bandh from 27 Dec
SNS, JALPAIGURI, 22 DEC: In a renewed shutdown threat, the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad has said that the outfit would convene an indefinite bandh from 27 December in the Dooars and the Terai, demanding autonomy for the Adivasi-dominated region under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
The ABAVP state secretary, Mr Tejkumar Toppo said that the decision had been announced by the state president, Mr Birsha Tirkey at a huge Adivasi convention organised at Meteli last Sunday. “We have pursued the state government several times to ensure incorporation of the long neglected region under the Sixth Schedule. Yet the state government seems to be sleeping over our collective demand. We are left with no alternative but to go for a shutdown to arouse the state government from the protracted spell of somnolence,” he said.
Mr Toppo further said that they would also demand the immediate and unconditional release of the ABAVP leader, Mr Raju Bara, arrested from a tea estate at Kalchini in September.
“Police have let loose a reign of terror at Kalchini with the district administration looking the other way,” Mr Toppo alleged.
He also joined issue with the Centre and the state government for having taken the Gorkhaland demand. “We would deliberate on the outcome of yesterday's three-way dialogue tomorrow and following this we would frame our future course of action around the ethnically ticklish Gorkhaland issue,” he said.
However, taking a slightly softened stand on the shutdown programme, the ABAVP Terai unit secretary, Mr Susil Tirkey said that they would wait till 26 December to find whether Mr Raju Bara was released. “We would see the administration's reaction to our programme. If it remains non- challant we would move according to our pre ordained agitation programme,” Mr Tirkey said.
‘Won’t mollify or expel Tamang’
PTI, Gangtok, 22 Dec: Sikkim chief minister Mr Pawan Kumar Chamling today said that he will neither expel nor “mollify” rebel SDF MLA Mr PS Tamang as it was the latter’s decision to speak out against the party.
“I have no plans to mollify him or keep him in the SDF if he does not want to as he made the first move to speak out against the party after being denied a berth in the government,” he told PTI in reply to question.
“I will not expel him from the party either to make it easy for him to retain his membership of the state legislature as an unattached member,” said the chief minister, who is also the President of the ruling SDF.
Non-GJMM parties take diverse stand on tripartite talks
SNS, KURSEONG/SILIGURI, 22 DEC: Reacting to the tripartite talks held in Darjeeling on the Gorkhaland issue, the two principal non-GJMM parties, the All India Gorkha League and the Gorkha National Liberation Front have taken diverse stands.
While the AIGL leader, Mr Madan Tamang has welcomed the graduation of the three-way parleys from the secretary level to the political one, the controversial GNLF leader, Mr Rajen Mukhia called it a fiasco.
Commenting on the matter, Mr Tamang said that the relentless public pressure had forced the discussion to remain trained on the paramount statehood demand.
“The statehood demand was cold- shouldered in the previous rounds of tripartite talks. But this time, the issue has been given the importance it deserves. This is a matter of collective satisfaction for us. Besides, it was almost finalised that the state government and the GJMM would have deliberated on the interim administrative council in course of the fourth round of talks. But stupendous public pressure exercised on the GJMM had forced the party to go all out for the statehood cause,” Mr Tamang said.
But ridiculing the talks, the GNLF Panighatta-based leader, Mr Rajen Mukhia said that the much-hyped dialogue had proved a fiasco.
“The mountainous promise of Gorkhaland had produced an anthill in the long run. We want the GJMM to fulfill its much-vaunted promise of a Gorkhaland state by next March. The party asked me to defer my cultural programme in Panighatta scheduled earlier this month promising me of big developments on 21 December,” he said.
The CPRM leader, Mr RB Rai said that his party would take stock of the situation tomorrow. “Only then we would comment,” he said.
Bloc Blocks Gorkhaland but supports Telangana
Sumanta Ray Chaudhuri / DNA India.com, Kolkata: Call it politics of convenience. Left Front constituent Forward Bloc is toeing the CPI(M) line in West Bengal in opposing a separate Gorkhaland, while in Andhra, it is in unanimity with the CPI, which is supporting the formation of a Telangana state.
On a second states reorganisation commission (SRC), too, it is speaking in two voices. While it supports SRC for a final decision on Telangana, it does not see a justification for it to decide Gorkhaland.
On the concluding day of the Forward Bloc congress in Kolkata on Monday, general secretary Debabrata Biswas said the party was not against small states, but it did not agree with the way the Congress-led central government was going about it.
"It [formation of small states] needs to be done in a democratic manner and a fresh SRC should be set up for that. Only SRC should decide the necessity of forming a separate state. The formula should be applied in case of Telangana," he said.
Biswas, however, opposed an SRC for Gorkhaland. "There is no question of division of West Bengal. We do not find the necessity of an SRC for it," he said.
Justifying the part's stand, a senior state leader of Forward Bloc said, "A majority of Bengalis in the north have tasted the bitter pill of eviction. The fear of another eviction is killing them."
Gorkhas pin hope on key Cong Contacts
Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay,IE, Darjeeling 23 Dec: A day after the tripartite talks in Darjeeling, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) spearheading the movement for a separate state of Gorkhaland is pinning its hopes on the Congress leadership, expecting a positive announcement by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh after a meeting of the Congress core committee.
Though officially, the Congress has announced it is not in favour of dividing West Bengal — Pranab Mukherjee has been categorical in denouncing a separate state of Gorkhaland saying the issue is different from that of Telangana — the GJM leadership’s hopes stem from Union Home Minister P Chidambaram’s reported assurance that “Gorkhaland would be put on a fast track”. GJM leaders had met the home minister in New Delhi on December 11.
Over the last few years, the Gorkha leadership has cultivated and engaged key Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, in track-II diplomacy. GJM leaders admit in private that virtually everyone had turned down their request for support but they are not willing to give up hope. The back-channel diplomacy continues with intermediaries based in Delhi and sympathetic to the Gorkha cause playing a crucial role. The emergence of Lt General Vijay Madan as an interlocutor is a case in point. The former Army officer had been associated with the Gorkhas during his service days and continues to have great admiration for them.
Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay,IE, Darjeeling 23 Dec: A day after the tripartite talks in Darjeeling, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) spearheading the movement for a separate state of Gorkhaland is pinning its hopes on the Congress leadership, expecting a positive announcement by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh after a meeting of the Congress core committee.
Though officially, the Congress has announced it is not in favour of dividing West Bengal — Pranab Mukherjee has been categorical in denouncing a separate state of Gorkhaland saying the issue is different from that of Telangana — the GJM leadership’s hopes stem from Union Home Minister P Chidambaram’s reported assurance that “Gorkhaland would be put on a fast track”. GJM leaders had met the home minister in New Delhi on December 11.
Over the last few years, the Gorkha leadership has cultivated and engaged key Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, in track-II diplomacy. GJM leaders admit in private that virtually everyone had turned down their request for support but they are not willing to give up hope. The back-channel diplomacy continues with intermediaries based in Delhi and sympathetic to the Gorkha cause playing a crucial role. The emergence of Lt General Vijay Madan as an interlocutor is a case in point. The former Army officer had been associated with the Gorkhas during his service days and continues to have great admiration for them.
TT, Alipurduar: Officials of the wildlife III forest division seized a consignment of illegal timber from a godown at Jaigaon on Tuesday. Om Prakash, the divisional forest officer, said: “Our employees raided a godown and seized illegal sal and teak timber worth nearly Rs 3.5 lakh. We have issued a notice to the owner of the godown.” The godown owner is missing.
रोलु मन्दीरबाट चामलिङ सरकारलाई पीएस गोलेको ठाडो चुनौती
चामलिङले मैन बत्ती बालेर ल्याएको प्रजातन्त्र अब पुल्ठो बालेर खोज्छौः पीएस गोले
गान्तोक,21 दिसम्बर। सिक्किमको सत्तारूढ दल सिक्किम प्रजातान्त्रीक मोर्चा (एसडीएफ) का विद्रोही विधायक पीएस गोलेले आज सिक्किमको व्यवस्था परिवर्तन गर्ने प्रतिवद्ध रहेको घोषणा गरे। उनले आज दक्षिण सिक्किमको रोलु मन्दीरमा ढोगेर एसडीएफ विरूद्ध क्रान्तिको शंखघोष गरे। यहाँ आयोजित वनभोजको निहुँमा जनतासित सात महिना पछि साक्षात्कार भएका गोलेले आफ्नो सम्बोधऩमा भने, “पवन चामलिङले मैनबत्ती बालेर खोजेको प्रजातन्त्र अब पुल्ठो बालेर खोज्ने समय आएको छ। हामी अब पुल्ठो बालेर प्रजातन्त्र खोज्ने छौ।”
यसै गरि गोलेले अब चाँडै सिक्किममा राजनैतिक परिवर्तनको निम्ति नयाँ सोच र विचारले पोख्त भएका युवाहरूको नेतृत्वले परिवर्तनको इतिहास रच्ने स्पष्ट क्षणक दिदै भने, “ हामी अब जनताले जे सोच्छन् त्यो गर्छौ अहिलेको जस्तो व्यक्ति पुजाको प्रथा बन्द गर्छौं, हाम्रोमा व्यक्तिपुजाको चलन र जातपातको प्रथा हुनेछैन्। केवल सिक्किम र सिक्किमेको सुरक्षाको निम्ति हामी आफ्नो ज्यान हत्केलामा राखेर लड्ने छौ।”उनले सिक्किमको सुरक्षाप्रति प्रतिवद्धता जाहेर गर्दै भने, “जबसम्म सिक्किम र सिक्किमे जनताको हित र सुरक्षा गर्न सक्दैनौ हामी कसै सित कम्परमाइज गर्दैनौं। सिक्किममा परिवर्तन ल्य़ाउन मर्नु पर्छ भने मेरो छात्ती सधैं अघि रहने छ। जनताको हितमा हामी एक सुत पनि पछि पर्दैनौ चाहे सिक्किमको भविष्य बनाउन प्राणको प्राण दिन पाएमा त्यो भन्दा ठूलो कुरो केही हुनेछैन् मेरो निम्ति।”
सिक्किमको राजनीतिमा चल्ने लामो भाषणको परम्परालाई तोड्दै गोलेले केवल सात मिनटको भाषणमा सिक्किममा 16 वर्षदेखि सत्तामा रहेका एसडीएफ सरकारलाई ठाँडौ चुनौती दिएका छन्। उनले आगामी दिनमा चाल्ने राजनैतिक रणनीतिको खुलासा गर्न नचाहे पनी हजारौंको संख्यामा उपस्थित जनतालाई आगामी वर्ष 2010 मा जनताले चाहेको र जनताको इच्छा अनुसारको परिवर्तन ल्याउने घोषणा गरे। उनले भने, “2010 मा हामीले चिताएको कुरा पुरा हुनेछ। हामी अब जनताले जे भन्छन् त्यो गर्छौ हाम्रोमा व्यक्ति पुजाको चलन हुने छैन्।”
यसै गरि उनले राज्यमा चलिरहेको सरकारको व्यवस्थालाई आलोचना गर्दै भने, “आजको वनभोज कुनै राजनैतिक दलले राखेको वनभोज होइन तर यहाँको व्यवस्था यतिसम्म तानाशाही भएको छ जसले प्रजातन्त्रको उपभोग गरेर लोसुङ, क्रिसमस जस्तो पर्वको उपलक्ष्यमा वनभोज खाऩ पनि नपाउने भए। अब युवापिडी, चेली, बुढापाका सबैले यो अप्रजातान्त्रीक प्रणालीलाई परिवर्तन गर्नु पर्छ।” उनले राज्यमा चलिरहेको जातिवादी राजनीतिलाई फ्याक्ने अठोट लिएर आएको बताउँदै अब सिक्किम र सिक्किमेको पूर्ण सुरक्षा गर्ने राजनीति शुरु गर्ने घोषणा गरे।
उनले आज वनभोजमा आउन चहाने धेरै मानिसहरूलाई विभिन्न धम्की र बाधा दिएर जनताको प्रजातान्त्रिक अधिकार हनन गरिएको आरोप लगाउन विर्सेनन्। यद्यपी हजारौको संख्यामा वनभोजमा उपस्थित भइदिएर जनताले परिवर्तनको चाह बोकेर अघि सरेका क्रान्तिकारी नेतालाई समर्थन गर्ने प्रतिवद्धता जाहेर गरेको उद्घोषक ज्याकब खालिङले जनतालाई स्पष्ट पारिरहेका थिए। रोलु मन्दीरमा दर्शन गरेर गोलेका निकटका व्यक्ति मानिएका भोजराज राईसित लगभग चार घण्टासम्म जनताको लगातार खदा, श्रद्धा र सयपत्री फुलको माला थाप्न विधायक गोले व्यस्त रहेका थिए।
The President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil and the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh at the ceremonial reception of the King of Bhutan, HM Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on December 22, 2009. (Pic:PIB)
Tripartite talks on Darjeeling fail
ET, SILIGURI Dec 22: The fourth tripartite meeting involving the Centre, the state government and the GJM on the Gorkhaland issue ended inconclusively here on Monday. While the government side assured initiation of the process for political level discussions, the GJM decided to relax its agitation till December 25. The hunger strike will resume on December 27 in which students will take part.
Though the state government had announced earlier that no discussion on separate statehood would take place, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said after the meet, "The discussion was on Gorkhaland statehood only." "All our deliberations centered around our demand for Gorkhaland state. We want political level talks within the next 45 days," Mr Giri added.
Addressing reporters after the meet, Union home secretary GK Pillai said: "We had detailed discussions on the various aspects of formation of Gorkhaland. But there was no political consensus."
Noting that the GJM had indicated that it would like the next round of talks to be held at political level within 45 days, Mr Pillai said it would be placed before the respective governments and we will revert to the GJM by 45 days."
Asked if the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), set up in 1988, would continue to function, Mr Pillai said in the last tripartite meeting on August 11, it was agreed that DGHC would be abolished and an alternative framework come up in Darjeeling. Neither the GJM nor the West Bengal government had finalised their views on an interim arrangement but the Centre had a proposal which was not placed at the tripartite talks, Mr Pillai added.
However, GJM supporters have started celebrating considering the outcome as highly positive. But the hills as a whole remain under uncertainty. Meanwhile, despite negligible picketing, the plains of Darjeeling district looked deserted due to the bandh called by anti-Gorkhaland political forces. The Kamtapur Peoples Party activists blocked NH31A, demanding a separate Kamtapur state. Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party will launch a hunger strike on Tuesday to push their demand for a separate Greater Cooch Behar state.
Back on agitation path
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Bimal Gurung at Chowrastha on Monday. Picture by Suman Tamang
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TT, Darjeeling, Dec. 21: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to renew its agitation from the day after Christmas with party president Bimal Gurung blaming the Centre for “taking the talks too lightly”, referring to the three-hour fourth round of tripartite discussion held here today.
However, there will be a relaxation in the Morcha agitation from tomorrow. “Keeping in mind the Christmas celebration, we will not hold any programme until December 26,” said Gurung.
The Morcha, while suspending the fast-unto-death on Saturday, had threatened to restart the hunger strike from December 22 if the talks failed. The hill party has not termed the talks as an outright failure but it has also not described it as a success. “We should neither be too happy nor too sad today,” Gurung said, summing up the party’s mood.
Hundreds of people today thronged Chowrastha, located a mere 150 metres from Mayfair Resorts where the meeting was taking place, since 11 in the morning. There was no scheduled public meeting but anxious people simply sat through the three hours until the Morcha delegation reached Chowrastha to brief Gurung, who was present at a nearby hotel.
With the crowd anxious to hear the outcome of the meeting, Gurung took his senior leaders on stage and announced his next phase of agitation.
“Three members each from the Gorkha Primary Teachers’ Organisation, Janmukti Secondary Teachers’ Organisation, Janmukti Karmachari Sangatan, contractual workers of the DGHC, Sishu Siksha Kendra and the contractors’ association will sit for the hunger strike,” announced Gurung.
The leader said an agitation, involving the students’ wing would begin from December 27, but refused to spell out its details.
Last week, Gurung had threatened to take five students each from every school in the hills and start an indefinite hunger strike along NH55 and NH31A the roads that connect Darjeeling and Gangtok with Siliguri from December 22 onwards. It is, however, not clear whether he would stick with the same programme on December 26.
Even though state and central government offices, which had been shut down by the Morcha since December 16 will remain open from tomorrow, Gurung said these offices would once again be shut down one the new phase of the agitation starts.
Gurung said his party was formed “only for Gorkhaland” and that its members were not interested in becoming ministers. “The Morcha is there only till Gorkhaland is formed,” he said, adding that if the Centre could grant Telangana because of reported suicides, his youths could commit suicide en-masse for a separate state.
“Do not come to us with development. You have nothing to show as far as development is concerned apart from the infrastructure that were created by the British. We are now talking about human development (sic),” said Gurung in his message to the government.
Gurung Xmas break
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(From left) Union home secretary GK Pillai and state chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti and home secretary Ardhendu Sen at the talks. Picture by Suman Tamang
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TT, Darjeeling, Dec. 21: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to resume its statehood agitation from December 26 with president Bimal Gurung blaming Delhi for “taking the talks too lightly” after today’s tripartite meeting.
However, the outfit has announced a Christmas breather. “Keeping in mind the Christmas celebrations, we will not hold any agitation programme till December 25,” Gurung said.
While suspending its fast-unto-death on Saturday, the Morcha had threatened to resume it from December 22 if the talks failed.
The hill party has not termed today’s meeting an outright failure but it has also not called it a success. “We should neither be too happy nor too sad today,” Gurung said, summing up the party’s mood.
Hundreds of people assembled at Chowrastha around the time the meeting was scheduled to begin at Mayfair resort, 150 metres away. They sat for three hours until the Morcha talks team reached Chowrastha to brief Gurung, who had been camping at a nearby hotel.
With the crowd anxious to hear the outcome of the meeting, Gurung led senior Morcha leaders to a dais and announced his next phase of agitation.
“Three members each from the Gorkha Primary Teachers’ Organisation, Janmukti Secondary Teachers’ Organisation, Janmukti Karmachari Sangathan, Sishu Siksha Kendra and the contractors’ association will sit on fast,” Gurung announced without clarifying from when or for how long.
The Morcha students’ wing will begin its agitation from December 27, he added, also without spelling out the details.
Last week, Gurung had threatened to take five students each from every school in the hills and start an indefinite fast along NH55 and NH31A, the roads that connect Darjeeling and Gangtok with Siliguri.
State and central government offices shut down by the Morcha since December 16 will reopen tomorrow but, Gurung said, they will be closed again from December 26.
The Morcha chief said his party had been formed “only for Gorkhaland”.
Hill state plea reaches table
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VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, Darjeeling, Dec. 21: The demand for Gorkhaland made it to the tripartite talks table today for the first time, prompting the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha to claim some headway and government sources to suggest that a “logical” concession had been granted to let off steam.
The next stage of bargaining will revolve around upgrading the talks — held today in Darjeeling between bureaucrats and the Morcha — to the “political level”.
The Morcha has set a 45-day deadline for the “political-level talks” — a euphemism for discussions with Union home minister P. Chidambaram and chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
The demand was raised soon after officials from both the Centre and the state told the Morcha delegation that there was “no political consensus” to form a separate state. State officials later stressed on this point to insist that no ground was yielded.
But the Morcha will keep up the pressure by reviving protest programmes a day after Christmas. ( )
“There was a detailed discussion on every aspect on the formation of Gorkhaland and the issues related to it like lack of political consensus and the legalities involved,” said Union home secretary G.K. Pillai, who chaired the meeting.
At the earlier rounds, the specific statehood demand had been raised by Morcha representatives alone while the government focused on development and special status.
On the demand for “political-level” talks, Pillai said the officials could only place this demand before the Union and state governments.
Morcha president Bimal Gurung, who was not part of the delegation, later said: “The Centre took the talks lightly. We must neither be too happy nor too sad.”
A Morcha leader interpreted Gurung’s “nor-too-sad” reference as “cautious optimism”. “Gurung is satisfied but is aware that the Gorkha people have a long way to go.”
A few days ago, Bengal home secretary Ardhendu Sen had said Gorkhaland was not on the agenda and only “development-related” issues would be discussed. “But today we were firm that only Gorkhaland would be discussed and that is precisely what has happened,” a Morcha leader said. “This is a victory for us.”
But officials at Writers’ Buildings said the government knew that eventually the demand for Gorkhaland would have to be discussed and agreeing to do so was no major concession.
“It is not possible to go on having round after round without discussing the Morcha’s principal and only demand,” an official said. “Posturing forms a very important part, which is why the home secretary had said Gorkhaland did not figure on the agenda. So, after this, even a minor concession may mean a lot to the Morcha.”
The official added that discussing Gorkhaland did not mean that either the state or the central government had conceded anything.
Statehood protesters burn flags, hit roads
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Bandh supporters burn the effigy of Bimal Gurung on Hill Cart Road. (Kundan Yolmo)
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TT, Siliguri, Dec. 21: Members of organisations opposed to the statehood demand today burnt flags of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and picketed at different locations in Siliguri and Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts as vehicles remained off the roads and establishments shut.
Amra Bangali, Bangla O Bangla Bhasa Bachao Committee and Dooars Terai Nagarik Mancha — three anti-Gorkhaland forums — had called a 24-hour strike in the plains today to protest the tripartite talks.
The bandh was partial in the two Dinajpurs while it impacted little in Malda. In Siliguri and the Dooars, educational institutions, banks, shops and business establishments were shut and poor attendance was reported from government offices.
At 11.15am, the bandh supporters intercepted a bus carrying staff members of the state electricity distribution company at Hashmi Chowk in Siliguri. Police intervened and arrested 11 of the protesters to clear the road and make way for the bus. Soon, another group of bandh supporters assembled at Darjeeling More, 2.5km away. Shouting slogans against the Morcha and protesting the alleged bid to divide the state, they set fire to 12 flags of the hill party that had been strung from lamp-posts. A force from the Pradhannagar police station, along with personnel of the Darjeeling district commando force, rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control. Five persons were arrested from the spot.
At 1pm, around 200 bandh supporters took out a rally on Hill Cart Road, carrying an effigy of Morcha president Bimal Gurung. They burnt the effigy near the Pradhannagar police station and also staged a demonstration, demanding the immediate release of the arrested supporters.
“We will not tolerate any division of the state and will protest as and when required,” said Mukunda Majumdar, the president of the Bhasha Bachao Committee.
“To protest against the tripartite talks, 11 supporters of our organisation have resorted to hunger strike at Hashmi Chowk and it will continue. We want the police to release our supporters immediately,” he added.
In Jalpaiguri, all establishments, except for government offices, were closed. In Cooch Behar, some of the block and rural offices were shut, as employees were absent.
At Gayerkata, 80km from Jalpaiguri town, more than 300 vehicles were stranded on NH31, the national highway connecting the Northeast, claimed Larry Bose, the president of the Nagarik Mancha. An effigy of Bimal Gurung was burnt at Alipurduar College Halt in Alipurduar town.
The effect of the strike was partial in North Dinajpur’s Raiganj with government buses plying on roads but shops and establishments remaining closed. In South Dinajpur, bandh supporters pelted a bus with stones near Patiram.
State urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya condemned the burning of Morcha flags by the bandh supporters. “However, we would like to urge upon the state and Centre to take note of the anti-Gorkhaland emotion,” he said.Anti-GJMM strike evokes total response
SNS, SILIGURI/JALPAIGURI, 21 DEC: The anti-Gorkhaland pressure groups-convened strike against the statehood demand by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha evoked near total response in the entire Teari- Dooars region. The traffic was off the roads.
Office establishments, both government and private remained closed and so were the educational institutions. The police arrested 14 bandh supporters in Siliguri.
Several anti-Gorkhaland organizations convened strike for different durations. The Dooars Terai Nagarik Mancha convened 12-hour shut down while the Bangla O Bangla Bhasha Bachao Committee called a 24 hours state wide strike. And the Aamra Bangali convened a 12-hour north Bengal bandh.
The bandh supporters staged roadblocks at numerous points along the National Highway 31 throwing vehicular movement out of gear. The anti-Gorkhaland activists burnt the GJMM chief, Mr Bimal Gurung in effigy in Siliguri and Alipurduar.
The DTNM supporters also stopped the New Alipurduar Junction - Bamandanga passenger train at Alipurduar this morning.
The BOBBBC activists put up roadblocks at Hashmi Chawk in Siliguri, where the police arrested nine agitators. The supporters then marched to Darjeeling More in procession, where they set the GJMM flags on fire. The police arrested five persons.
Calling the strike “an unprecedented success”, the BOBBBC president, Dr Mukunda Majumder, said that the growing wrath of the common people in the plains against the protracted dilly dallying around the emotive issue on the part of the Centre and the state government had manifested in the unparalleled success of the bandh.
“We might go for a more vigorous movement if the Centre goes for placating the separatist aliens,” he said. According to the DTNM convener, Mr Larry Bose, the people have spontaneously responded to the call of unity of the state. “Our supporters would sit for a hunger strike on 25 December at Hamiltonganj and Malbazaar to protest against the GJMM's divisive stratagem,” Mr Bose said.
A senior Aamra Bangali leader, Mr Partha Pratim Das also thanked the people for the response to the shutdown call.
Commenting on today's bandh, the Siliguri DSP, Mr Sitaram Sinha said that the strike was by and large peaceful. “A handful of people were arrested in connection with some incidents like road-blocking,” he added.
GJM satisfied with talks
Darjeeling, Dec 21 (PTI) Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) today expressed satisfaction at the fourth round of tripartite talks on Gorkhaland also involving the Centre and West Bengal government and relaxed its agitation in the hills till December 25.
"We are quite happy that at today's meeting only Gorkhaland was discussed and we have made out position clear that only creation of Gorkhaland will solve the problem," GJM General Secretary Roshan Giri, who led a 16-member delegation to the parleys, told a press conference here.
Giri said GJM suggested the next round of talks be held at the political level and the government agreed "to get back within 45 days".
GJM, Giri said, would place the Gorkhaland demand at the next round of talks at the political level and not accept any 'improved version' of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC).
Darjeeling, Dec 21 (PTI) The Centre today remained non-committal on the continuation of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, set up in 1988, with a top official saying that the agreement has to be looked into.
"We have to look into the agreement in principle, reached at the third round of (tripartite) talks, in the repeal of the DGHC Act and that an alternative could be formed," Union Home Secretary G K Pillai told reporters here. "Political consensus needs to be created which is not there at the moment as all of you know. There was no political consensus as of today on formation of Gorkhaland," Union Home Secretary G K Pillai, who led a five-member Central team at the talks here, told reporters after the fourth round of talks which lasted nearly three hours.
"Discussion has not been given up. I am sure we will come to a decision to find a solution which is acceptable to all," he said.
Pillai was here to participate in the fourth round of tripartite talks on the issue of statehood to Darjeeling as demanded by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM).
He said the West Bengal government and the GJM had not come out with an alternative.
Siliguri, Dec 21 (PTI) Ahead of the fourth round of tripartite talks on the issue of a separate state of Gorkhaland, a 24-hour shutdown called by anti-Gorkha Jan Mukti outfits began in the plains to protest it.
Though it was dubbed a 'Bangla Band', its effect was felt only in Siliguri and adjoining areas in the plains in Darjeeling district with shops, markets and business establishments closed.
The police said that pro-bandh supporters forced closure of a couple of government offices. The roads in the town were deserted with traffic off the roads.
The shutdown to protest the talks and against the division of West Bengal has been called by anti-GJM local outfits Aamra Bangali, Bangla O Bangla Bachao Samiti and Shiv Sena.
Union Home Secretary G K Pillai will lead a five-member Central team to the tripartite talks in Darjeeling.
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