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Tourists wait for vehicles at Darjeeling Motor Stand on Sunday. (Suman Tamang)
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TT, Darjeeling, Dec. 13: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today said it would run buses for tourists during the four-day bandh, a part of the pressure tactics lined up by the party so that its statehood demand is dealt simultaneously with Telangana.
Among the other modes of agitation is the indefinite hunger strike by party members in batches of 21 across the hills that started from Friday.
Since early this morning residents and tourists who want to leave the hills before the bandh starts tomorrow had been making a beeline for the motor stand.
However, with the demand for vehicles very high, many were forced to cough up exorbitant fares.
“In order to help the tourists we have decided to start bus services from Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Mirik during the strike,” said Morcha assistant secretary Binay Tamang.
Two buses each will leave from Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong at 8am and 11am every day for Siliguri while there will be one each stationed at Sonada and Mirik. They will leave at 9am.
“These buses will return to their respective destinations from Pintail Village in Siliguri at 3pm and 4.30pm,” said Tamang. Tourists and local people wanting to hire taxis for emergencies will have to obtain permission from authorised Morcha leaders who will be stationed across the hills.
Even though there are no buses for people travelling to Sikkim, Tamang said they could contact the “helplines” set up at Rangpo and Sevoke where “passes” would be issued. “Those coming down from Sikkim with emergencies will be allowed to pass through,” he added.
The Himalayan state’s only road link to the entire country is NH31A.which passes through the Darjeeling hills. Every time there is a strike or a bandh in Darjeeling, the national highway is blocked and Sikkim is one of the worst sufferers. This time, the Morcha has decided to earmark specific spots where picketers will be posted. “In the past, we had realised that because of too many picketers across the hills those who had permission to ply were delayed,” said Tamang.
Since morning people went on a shopping spree especially for vegetables. There were also complaints of taxis charging exorbitant fares. “My guests had to hire a taxi for Rs 2,500 for a drop to Siliguri,” complained a hotel owner. Normally a private taxi charges around Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 for the trip.
Alokkant Mani Thulung, the president of the Yuva Morcha, said they had posted youths at Sukna to tell tourists not to pay more than normal fares.
Shutdown call for Kamtapur Cooch Behar: An umbrella body comprising several outfits demanding a separate Greater Cooch Behar/Kamtapur has called a bandh in Bengal and Assam on Wednesday.
The Separate State Demand Committee, which consists of nine outfits from north Bengal and Assam, wants all six north Bengal districts and 16 from the neighbouring state to be part of Kamtapur. Its supporters have started an indefinite fast in Cooch Behar.
‘No’ for survival TT, Darjeeling, Dec. 13: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung said here today that mainstream political parties in Bengal were opposing the Gorkhaland demand for political survival.
At the same time, the Morcha leader said, he would join the indefinite fast if the need arose.
Asked what he had to say on the Congress, Trinamul Congress and the CPM stands of not supporting the division of Bengal, Gurung said: “Trinamul and the Congress are sticking to this because of their own political compulsions here.” He did not mention or refer to any party leader while commenting.
However, when asked specifically about Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s statement that the government cannot allow small states to be formed because of Telangana, Gurung said: “Are we not Indians? We are not maintaining that we want to go with China and Pakistan. Statehood is guaranteed by the Constitution. Gorkhaland must be formed to strengthen the chicken’s neck area.”
Binay Tamang, the assistant general secretary of the Morcha, while referring to Mukherjee added that the Congress has not taken a stand against statehood. “We believe that Mukherjee’s statement is his personal and not the stand of his party.”
Tamang said such a stand was expected from leaders of all the parties in Bengal. “We are not taking this (stand) seriously as there is a provision in the Constitution where the state (from which the new one is to be carved out) need not pass a resolution in the Assembly. The Centre can go about it on its own,” he said.
The party leaders also said they would participate in the tripartite meeting on December 21. “We will participate but we still maintain that in the given situation it is not very important,” said Tamang. Gurung, on the other hand, said the agitation would be intensified in the days to come. “This time…I along with my central committee leaders could also sit for the hunger strike depending on the situation in the next few days,” said Gurung at his Patlabas office here today.
The party claimed that people from across the hills are writing to the Morcha leadership expressing their desire to participate in the hunger strike.
GJMM take to streets to intensify statehood demand
SNS, Kurseong, 13 DEC: GJMM supporters organised rallies across Darjeeling, in favour of the Gorkhaland cause today, mainly to intensify their stand on the demand over the present political scenario in Delhi.
During the rallies, the GJMM supporters, from different frontal organisations shouted slogans in favour of Gorkhaland and that of against the anti-Gorkhaland groups. While addressing the rally at Kurseong Motor stand, the GJMM vice-president, Mr Pradeep Pradhan slammed the opposition parties of Darjeeling Hills.
Mr Pradhan said that the All India Gorkha League (AIGL) chief, Mr Madan Tamang's policy is not predictable as his brother, Mr Amar Lama is a senior GJMM leader. If he had been loyal to his brother, he would have stayed with GJMM and not AIGL, he added.
Mr Pradhan also said that if Mr Tamang changes his own policy and comes to GJMM, then he would resign from the post of vice-president and give it to him.
Mr Pradhan said that to create disarray in the Hills, some opposition leaders are claiming that since the time the Telangna decision was taken by the Centre, the GJMM has abandoned the demand.
"This is baseless. The opposition parties should understand that we are already in process for the achievement of Gorkhaland. So far, a total of three tripartite talks have already been held due to the effort of GJMM, in order to have a separate state of Gorkhaland. And the fourth tripartite talks will be held on 21st December in Darjeeling.”
Mr Pradhan further informed that the fifth tripartite talks would be held on a political level and it will emphasise on the proposed 21 December talks.
On the other hand, the AIGL today did not organise their proposed public meeting at Kurseong Motor stand today. The AIGL Kurseong branch secretary, Mr Prem Bomjon alleged that since the GJMM had already organised a meeting at Kurseong Motor stand, to avoid any kind of confrontation, the purposed public meeting was not organised despite having the permission.
Dilemma for schools: to remain open or not TT, Siliguri, Dec. 13: The educational institutions in the Sukna and Salbari areas are worried about the safety of students likely to be caught in the four-day strike.
The Siliguri Institute of Technology, Surendra Institute of Engineering and Management — the two engineering colleges here — Gyan Jyoti College, G.D. Goenka Public School, Delhi Public School, Campion International School, Mahbert School, Ilapal Chowdhury Memorial Hindi High School and B.B. Gurung School are located on the 7km stretch between Darjeeling More and Sukna and comes within the bandh area.
Given that university exams will begin in Gyan Jyoti and SIT and unit tests are going on in most of the schools, the authorities are hoping that there will be no trouble.
“We have received a letter from the Morcha leadership requesting us to cooperate. But since the board exams of the first, third and fifth semester for BBA and BCA are beginning from tomorrow, we will have to keep the institution open. However, we heard unofficially that institutions with exams have been exempted from the strike,” said Sushanta Ghosh, the administrator of Gyan Jyoti College.
“Although our vehicles will ferry students to and from the college, we fear for their safety as the situation is unpredictable and there can be trouble anytime,” he added.
The Morcha leadership on the other hand said they would ensure that the strike was complete.
“The strike includes educational institutes too. We have only exempted those schools and colleges where examinations will be on,” said Kewal Lama, the Morcha’s Siliguri Town Committee president.
The authorities of several schools are in a dilemma about keeping their schools open.
“We have received the letter intimating us of the strike but the final unit tests are going on in our school. Whether or not we will open the school will depend on tomorrow’s situation”, said Rajesh Rateria, a staff member of G.D. Goenka Public School.
Students, too, are confused since the schools have not declared a “holiday”.
“Our school authorities have not announced any holiday. Under the circumstances, we will have to go till Panchnoi Bridge (from the Siliguri side) where the Morcha supporters put up blockades,” a Class XII student of DPS said.
Most of the schools are located on the other side of the bridge.
Parting nudge on Darjeeling - Governor asks Bengal and Morcha to introspect, renews call for political peace
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TT, Calcutta, Dec. 13: Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi today asked Bengal to introspect whether it had given to “the Eastern Himalaya” as much as it had derived from the “source of oxygen” and appealed to the Gorkha Janmukthi Morcha (GJM) to give up its agitation and join talks.
In a “departure-eve” message, Gandhi, whose tenure at the Bengal Raj Bhavan ends tomorrow, said: “Our stunningly beautiful parvatmahal has been going through a tense period. The Eastern Himalaya have been a source of oxygen for our state. We should ask ourselves if we have given to it as much as we have derived from it. We would do well to try to enquire as to why our Gorkha brothers and sisters feel as they do.”
But the governor asked the GJM leaders, too, to introspect. “They must ask themselves if in our democracy any public aspiration, howsoever constitutional, should be articulated by unconstitutional methods. Looking upon their fellow citizens in West Bengal as their compatriot brothers and sisters, they must put across their aspirations in a spirit of mutual trust and understanding. The cosmopolitan and broad-minded traditions of Darjeeling have been India’s pride. I am sure these traditions will remain unharmed.”
The appeal came on the eve of the launch of a four-day bandh in Darjeeling following the Centre’s announcement on initiating the process to grant Telangana statehood.
The governor urged the GJM to keep faith in the dialogue process and call off a “fast unto death” by 105 people in the hills.
“The tripartite talks opened by the governments offer the best road map and it is my earnest hope that they will lead to a satisfactory resolution. I urge those who are fasting for Gorkhaland to give up that form of agitation because the tripartite process is now on and must proceed in an atmosphere conducive to negotiation,” the governor said in the message.
The fourth round of tripartite talks is scheduled on December 21 in Darjeeling in the presence of the Centre-appointed interlocutor, Vijay Madan. Earlier tripartite meetings were held in Delhi. But the Morcha has turned sceptical about the talks after the Telangana promise.
Busy preparing for tomorrow’s bandh, the Morcha appeared to stonewall the appeal. “We have not received any written communication from the governor. We cannot react till then,” Binay Tamang, assistant secretary of the Morcha, said in Darjeeling.
The governor’s 12-page, 2,967-word message covered almost every aspect of life in Bengal, singing hosannas to the state and raising several issues close to his heart but not desisting from pointing out flaws.
Gandhi renewed a call to end political violence, stressing the need to bring Bengal out of the debris of bhangchur, bandhs and bomabaji. He denounced “Maoist” violence — the statement used inverted commas while twice referring to the group — saying it is not only “incompatible with a political democracy but is repugnant to it”.
“Unless all inter-party, inter-cadre or inter-supporter violence is halted, West Bengal will suffer irretrievable damage…. No party should countenance the use of unauthorised arms….
“It is a matter of great regret that distrust between different political entities and personalities, as also within institutions such as our universities, is disfiguring life in our state. We have to rectify this situation by changing our conditioned mindsets,” he said at a time campus violence is also flaring up.
He referred to the cycle of retribution in the state. “The choice before West Bengal should not be between the wrong-doing of one and the counter wrong-doing of another…. The choice has to be between chaos and civility, disorder and decorum.”
After condemning Maoist violence, he did bring up the issue of neglect as in the case of the Darjeeling hills. “A new chapter of ecologically intelligent and culturally sensitive progress needs to be opened for the long-neglected and exploited people of that region.”
The farewell letter followed a tea party that was attended by chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Mamata Banerjee but separately. The two political rivals did not come face to face, unlike last time during the Singur agitation when the governor set the stage for their first-ever meeting that eventually failed to break the land deadlock.
The governor fleetingly referred to the skirmishes, too. “My experience of life would have been one-sided had my tenure not received the dart of criticism from personalities in our public life. I shall assume that I have deserved such criticism. But I would like to say that I bear no resentment whatsoever about it,” he said. Didi meets Pranab, talks Gorkhaland, land grab
SNS,KOLKATA, 13 DEC: The Union railway minister, Miss Mamata Banerjee today held talks with Union finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee for more than half an hour. Earlier in the day, Miss Banerjee went to Raj Bhavan from where she dashed off to Mr Mukherjee's Southern Avenue's residence. It was an unscheduled meeting ~ Congress leaders who were present at Mr Mukherjee's residence were quite taken aback. Miss Banerjee was accompanied by Union MoS shipping, Mr Mukul Roy, Leader of the Opposition, Mr Partha Chatterjee and new MLA, Mr Firad (Bobby) Hakim.
Sources said Miss Banerjee had discussed at length the present Gorkhaland problem and the state government's offer to the railways to set up a world class coach factory in Singur which was acquired by the state government for the Tatas’ small car unit. Miss Banerjee then left with Mr Mukherjee to attend Malda North MP, Mausam Benzir Noor's wedding reception.
Miss Banerjee, had earlier said she was against the division of Bengal.
Mr Mukherjee, however, declined to comment on Gorkhaland and said that it was a matter for the home ministry. He reportedly told Mr Pradeep Bhattacharjee, PCC working president that the state Congress should oppose division of Bengal by taking away Gorkhaland as the socio-economic structure of Telengana was different. 'This is our Final Battle' IANS,Siliguri Dec 13: Describing the ongoing agitation in Darjeeling Hills as the "final battle" for a separate Gorkhaland state, the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) Sunday threatened to resort to violence if it was pushed to the brink even as the administration tightened security ahead of the 96-hour shutdown beginning Monday.
"This is our last battle. We will carry out a peaceful and democratic movement to achieve our goal," GJM president Bimal Gurung told mediapersons.
However, when asked to react to union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's comment that news states would not be created everywhere, Gurung shot back: "What Pranab-babu has said is based on his political understanding. We will tell Pranab-babu we don't want to resort to violence. But if the government wants to resort to violence, then they have to take responsibility for the consequences."
"If the government pushes us like this, we will be forced to take up violence. I will request Pranab-babu not to push us in that direction," Gurung said.
He also brushed aside the rejection of Gorkhaland by the Congress, Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPI-M) and the Trinamool Congress.
"The CPI-M, its leader Buddha-babu (state Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee), (Trinamool chief) Mamata (Banerjee), have the right to say they are opposed to Gorkhaland. Similarly, we also have the constitutional right to demand Gorkhaland," he said.
"The government must concede our demand," Gurung added.
The GJM chief said his party would take part in the Dec 21 tri-partite talks in Darjeeling on the vexed issue, but stressed that it should discuss only the granting of Gorkhaland.
Meanwhile, both the GJM and the administration were gearing up in view of the party's call for a 96-hour shutdown in the hills from Monday.
GJM assistant general secretary Benoy Tamang said all units of his party have been directed to ensure peace during the shutdown.
He said even police and district administration vehicles would not be allowed to ply.
"On earlier occasions, we had given relaxation during shutdowns. But this time we will ensure strict enforcement. Only emergency services and the vehicles of the district superintendent and the district magistrate will be allowed to move. Two-wheelers cannot hit the streets," Tamang said.
Inspector General of Police (North Bengal) K.L. Tamta told IANS that the police were fully prepared to tackle any eventuality. "But we are more concerned about Sikkim. We will ensure that it is not cut off."
During previous shutdowns, the GJM activists have blockaded the crucial National Highway 31-A, the lifeline of the tiny Himalayan state of Sikkim, cutting it off from the rest of the country.
GJM workers Sunday continued their protest rallies and fast-unto-death protests in various parts of the hills areas for the third day. One party worker on hunger strike was reported to have taken sick.
The GJM has been spearheading a movement for a separate Gorkhaland state to be carved out from parts of northern West Bengal, besides opposing special status to the hill governing body Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC).
The central government in 2005 offered the Sixth Schedule status to the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF)-led Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), ensuring greater autonomy to the governing body. The GJM organised indefinite shutdowns twice in the hills last year and once in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls this year, severely hitting tea, timber and tourism - the bread and butter of the regon. Center Responsible for Peace in Hills
IE,KOLKATA 14 Dec: Gurung dismisses relevance of tripartite meeting, says ‘people losing patience, want immediate results’
“Our agitations will be peaceful. But if the law and order situation goes haywire in the Hills, the Centre will be responsible. If they can consider Telangana, why not Gorkhaland?” asked Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung on Sunday while hinting at the possibility of violence erupting in Darjeeling and surrounding areas if their demand for a separate state is not fulfilled. Describing the four-day bandh in the Hills as their “last battle” to get a separate Gorkhaland, Gurung warned the Central government to consider the matter seriously.
Gurung said that everything will come to a standstill during the four-day strike from December 14 to December 17 in the Hills, including movement of government and police vehicles. “The people of Darjeeling are losing patience and now they want results rather than meeting after meeting,” said the GJM chief.
Delivery of essential services like fire services, examinations, LPG gas, marriage, funeral, and media will be exempted from the bandh purview. Sources said that the superintendent of police and the district magistrate have requested GJM leaders to not stop their vehicles from plying in the area.
“We have considered their request. I have also asked all my activists to ensure that no tourist is harassed. We have already set up several assistance booths across the Hills to assist tourists. Those needing any help or wanting to lodge a complaint may consult our men in these centres,” Gurung said.
Dismissing the December 21 tripartite meeting on the Gorkhaland issue involving the GJM, West Bengal government and Centre, Gurung said, “The meeting has lost its relevance. There is no point in discussion. We want immediate results.”
Gurung expressed his displeasure at Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s recent statements against Gorkhaland.
“They are senior political leaders and have the right to speech. He (Pranab) is speaking politics and we are speaking about rights. I request Pranab babu to understand that it is in the Centre’s hand to maintain peace in the Hills. This land is ours and it does not belong to Mamata Banerjee,” said Gurung.
On Monday, 21 members each from the Janamukti Secondary Teachers’ Organisation, the Janamukti Primary Teachers’ Organisation and the Janamukti Karmchari Sangathan will launch an indefinite hunger strike in Darjeeling, Kurseong, Pintail village in Siliguri, Kalimpong, and Kalchini in the Dooars. GARO Tribe OF MEGHALAYA Wants Another STATE
HT:12 Dec:The Congress in the Northeast is facing the statehood music the UPA government composed on Telangana last week. And the party is expecting the opening notes — marathon shutdowns across tribal councils in Assam beginning Monday — to be jarring.
The statehood chorus has hit Congress-ruled Meghalaya too, with the nod for Telangana having stoked the Garoland fire that the Home Ministry had almost doused during a meeting with separatist militants this September.
The Garos, one of the three major matrilineal tribes of Meghalaya, have been demanding a separate Garoland comprising the western half of the cloud-kissed state. Like the other statehood demands in the Northeast, militants hijacked the demand for Garoland, comprising three districts: the South Garo Hills, East Garo Hills and West Garo Hills.
In Assam, the newly-formed United Democratic Peoples’ Front (UDPF), backed by Congress ally Bodoland Peoples’ Front, has called for a two-day state shutdown from Monday. The Indigenous Tribal Peoples’ Front has supported the call.
“There can be no alternative to Bodoland, not after Telengana,” said UDPF general secretary Bhraman Baglary. “If the Centre can honour the demands of separatists in a mainland state, it must not ignore similar demands from the country’s fringes.” The Telangana model
Financial Express:The Centre’s go-ahead to Telangana has actually opened up the Pandora’s box. In no particular order, sample these: The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha began a fast unto death last week at five places, including three Darjeeling sub-divisions in the state, demanding Gorkhaland. It is a ploy to step up pressure ahead of the tripartite meet scheduled to be held in Darjeeling on December 21.
On Friday, UP chief minister Mayawati shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, demanding that the Centre also give its consent for the creation of separate states of Bundelkhand and western UP.
From an undisclosed location, Maoist leader Kishenji demanded autonomy for three tribal-dominated districts of Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore in West Bengal; he also professed support for the demand for Gorkhaland.
Taking a cue from Telangana and Gorkhaland enthusiasts, leaders of the All India Confederation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Organisations on Saturday declared a fast unto death from December 15 to press for job reservations in the private sector.
Can Telangana be far Behind? Financial express:Hyderabad: In less than a fortnight, Andhra Pradesh has descended from being a relatively peaceful and investment-friendly state to one that is hobbled by a serious law and order situation. First, Telangana came to a halt for 10 days as TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao went on an 11-day fast-unto-death. Now, after the Centre’s decision to initiate the process of creating a separate Telangana state on the night of December 9, the coastal districts and the Rayalaseema region are astir.
With no consensus, and with so many hurdles, Telangana appears to be easier said than done. Over the weekend the crisis became even more complicated and battle lines became even more sharply drawn.
Ministers hailing from the Andhra and Rayalaseema regions have upped the ante, threatening to resign if the Centre does not roll back the decision on Telangana. This is countered by ministers from Telangana threatening to resign if the Centre goes back on its decision.
The state’s political parties which wooed Telangana voters in the 2004 and 2009 elections with promises and assurances of a separate state have executed a volte face. The Congress is itself deeply divided over the issue, with 82 of its MLAs resigning in protest though their resignations have not been accepted yet. Another 50 MLAs of the TDP and PRP have also resigned in protest. Though it is not mandatory, the Centre is insisting that a resolution be passed with a majority in the Assembly on Telangana. With so many MLAs resigning, and without the support of other political parties, that is impossible at present.
The issue has deeply polarised the people of the state which manifested itself at the high Court last week when senior advocates hailing from Telangana came to blows with those hailing from the coastal districts and Rayalaseema, and ended up throwing footwear at each other outside the chamber of the Chief Justice.
The Telangana Rashtra Samiti which has been spearheading the separate state movement since 2001 says it will wait for some time before restarting the agitation. TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao has warned the Centre not to test the patience of Telangana people.
On the other hand, with spontaneous and violent protests erupting all over the coastal districts and Rayalaseema against the bifurcation, the backlash has been as intense and aggressive as the Telangana students’ agitation a few days ago. The demand to keep Andhra unified is as fierce as the agitation.. Telangana 2026
Aditya Sinha, The New Indian Express,14 Dec:
Of course India needs smaller states for better governance (though Dantewada does not appear to have benefited much from the creation of a separate Chhattisgarh; instead the various tribes there now face the wrath of our shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later home minister, P Chidambaram). Very few people doubt that. What is debatable is having a States Reorganisation Committee, that too populated by academics, to go into the matter. It is this kind of lazy suggestion that gives intellectuals a bad name. We are a proudly political society; and as oligarchic as our politics might have become, politics is still the best path of achieving compromises between competing public claims.
The problem with the Congress midnight decision to begin the process of separating Telangana from the Rayalseema and coastal Andhra regions of the existing state is that it happened at midnight. Only undemocratic things (like 1975’s Emergency) happen at midnight. Matters resolved through democratic politics are usually announced in Parliament or by a government spokesman before office hours are over. So immediately you know that Congress president Sonia Gandhi was up to no good (this whole charade of government not consulting party fools no one). Whether she did it to ensure no future emergence of a leader as defiant as the late Y S R Reddy (who completely shunned her advice on this year’s state cabinet formation) or to make good on a promise she herself had made to the people of Telangana several elections ago, the more important point is that she tried to ram it down the collective Andhra throat. And now she’s in a fix.
In the spirit of citizenship, reductio ad absurdum would like to help Sonia out of her difficulties. We realise that while withdrawing her decision will upset Telangana, enthusiastically pursuing her decision will upset the rest of the state. And in any case, the genie is out of the bottle; even this columnist is thinking of one day heading back to Bihar to demand a separate state of Vaishali (to be bordered by Bhojpur on one side and Magadh on the other). So here are some suggestions for Sonia to wriggle out of this statehood pickle:
Appoint Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan to decide on Telangana: Did you know that Justice Liberhan’s first two names are the same as our prime minister? I did not. Maybe the late P V Narasimha Rao (a native of Telangana) had a fetish. But I digress. Justice Liberhan took 17 years and 48 extensions to submit a report on the Babri Masjid demolition; by the time his report was leaked, nobody cared. In fact, Ayodhya is now only an issue for Hindus, who wonder when the Ram temple will be built; Muslims, who have had a whole lot of other headaches since 9/11 and 26/11 have decisively moved on. So you could say that this “puny judge”, as Arun Jaitley described Liberhan in the Rajya Sabha this week, applied Narasimha Rao’s trademark way of handling a problem: he let it die a natural death. The report would not have been noteworthy had it not been Justice Liberhan’s mystery-novel-surprise-ending decision to indict former Prime Minister A B Vajpayee. No wonder Jaitley called it a “national joke”.
Sonia can play the joke on us once again by re-employing Justice Liberhan to decide on the separation of Telangana. By 2026 we can expect a report that will probably once again lay the blame on that pseudo-moderate Vajpayee. And after that, if the “puny judge” is still alive and raging at the character-questioning press, she can ask him to look into Gorkhaland, Bodoland, Bundelkhand, Vidarbha, Harit Pradesh, etc, etc.
Send Rahul Gandhi on a Youth Congress membership drive: Well, he does seem to believe that going around villages and distributing application forms and sleeping in Dalit huts are the solution to the less-than-complex problems of modernity and the evolving nation-state and terrorism and economic growth and energy security and global warming and the nuclear family and urban blight and infrastructure deficiency and food-grain production and Maoist violence and the Kashmir problem and the Dalai Lama’s successor. Oh, wait: I made a mistake; Rahul told Parliament the nuclear deal was the solution to India’s energy security needs.
Obviously then, if Rahul Gandhi goes on a padayatra (at least), he should be able to allay fears of the people of Telangana and gently persuade them to let the process of statehood be a gradual, consultative one. Trouble is that he is busy enrolling members in Tripura, a Left-ruled state in the Northeast. It is not a large state, quite like some of the other states he has ventured out, like the Punjab. He made a whirlwind visit to Tamil Nadu a few months ago and we haven’t heard anything from him or his fractious party since. His discovery of India is much, much slower than his great-grandfather’s; at the rate Rahul is going, he will probably get around to doing a membership drive in Telangana in... 2026.
Let P Chidambaram declare War on Telangana: And why not? He’s already declared a War on Poverty and a War on the National Security Advisor (“Mike” Narayanan, who has retaliated by leaking anything to do with the home minister, like the secret Kashmir talks). One more war should not make a big difference. Of course, he should be focused on eventually interrogating David Headley, the Pakistani-American who was one of the 26/11 conspirators, or on preventing the ISI from bumping off any more pro-talks Kashmiri separatists. Instead, the home minister looks as if all the media praise about his “toughness” and “no-nonsense” has gone to his Progeria-sized head (see Amitabh Bachchan in Paa); and do remember that he is the one who started this separate statehood turmoil by shooting off his erudite mouth.
It also fits in with his prognosis for the problems of the tribes of that sinister “red corridor”: development and police action cannot go hand-in-hand. Chidambaram will tell the good people of Telangana to forget any development and quiet down. You can be sure Telangana will not only comply, it will beg Sonia to take back her promises for a separate state. Chidambaram can then add another feather in his cap.
Sonia can apply any (or all) of these solutions, things will calm down, and we can go back to business as usual once again. Sonia can then begin work on the real problem facing the country, which is not how to facilitate better governance of India, but how to facilitate better governance of her party. editorchief@expressbuzz.com |
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