TODAY IN KALIMPONG

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5th Tripartite Talk within 45 days in Political level

KalimNews, 21 Dec:Amidst Gorkhaland supporters clad in Gorkha dress and slogans and cheers demanding Gorkhaland todays fourth round of talks ended in a congenial atmosphere. The talk started exactly at 11am and ontinued nearly for 3 hours. All eyes and ears keen on the outcome of the talks when the Bimal Gurung, GJMM Chief told the people at Chowrasta that the next phase of agitation starts from 26th December. 
GJMM announced that it has relaxed its future programme till 25th December. After the meeting Roshan Giri and G.K. Pillai addressed the press and media personnel in Mayfair Hotel. It was also told that the central team has agreed to convey the message that GJMM wants to have next round of talk in Political level within 45 days.

Todays talk consisted of the the Central team comprising of  G.K. Pillai, Secretary of Union Home Ministry; Nirmaljeet Singh Kalsi, Joint Secretary-Home;   Anita Chowdhury, Special Secretary-Home ; P.N. Saxena, Deputy Secretary-home  and Rajiv Mathur, Director, Intelligence Bureau.

The West Bengal team included chief Ashok Mohan Chakraborty, Secretary , Ardhendu Sen, Home Secretary;  M.K. Gandhi, Under Secretary, Home department ; Bhupinder Singh, Director General of Police while others were A.K. Singh, Jalpaiguri Divisional Commissioner ; Surendra Gupta District Magistrate, Darjeeling and B.L. Meena, Administrator, Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council.

The GJMM team had Roshan Giri, General Secretary; Pradip Pradhan, Vice President; Raju Pradhan, Asst. Secretary, Alok Kantamani Thulung, President, GJYM; Amar Lama, Anmole Prasad, Dr.H.B.Chhetri, Samuel Gurung, Dr. Rohit Sharma;Trilok Dewan, L.B.Pariyar, Prof. Amarsing Rai, P.Arjun of Study Forum; Rajen Lohar, S.N.Pradhan and Wilson Chmpramari, MLA.

Vijay Madan Lieutenant General (retired) was the interlocutor of the talks.  

Tripartite on Gorkhaland issue fail
Pradip Kumar Chakraborty, Darjeeling, Dec 21 (PTI) The fourth round of tripartite talks on Gokhaland issue today failed to evolve any concrete result with the GJM, spearheading the demand for a separate state, insisting on a political dialogue on the issue.
Union Home Secretary G K Pillai, who led a five-member Central team at the talks here, said the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has asked for political level discussion at the next round of talks within 45 days.
"There is no question of agreement. There is no political consensus as of today for formation of Gorkhaland," he told a press conference at the end of the nearly three-hour meeting on GJM's demand for carving out Gorkhaland from West Bengal.

"The state government and the Centre will give their views and we will come before them (GJM) within that period," Pillai said.

Crucial talks in Darjeeling today

Marcus Dam, TH, KOLKATA: The fourth round of tripartite discussions among the Centre, the West Bengal government and the leadership of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) that will be held in Darjeeling on Monday is critical as it could well determine the course politics will take in the region in future.

The talks that have been convened to resolve the impasse arising from the GJM’s demand for a separate State comprising Darjeeling district and certain areas contiguous to it have, however, been preceded by differences over the agenda.

The differing viewpoints were accentuated in the wake of the Centre’s decision to initiate the process for creation of a separate Telangana state earlier this month — one that has given a fillip to the GJM’s movement for a “Gorkhaland” state.

The GJM leadership has been insisting that its demand for statehood, one that has been rejected by the State government, be the “sole subject” of the discussions.

On the eve of the meeting, Union Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, while emphasising here that the stalemate could be resolved when those concerned “come to the discussion table and exchange their views to find a solution acceptable to both sides,” cautioned that things could turn difficult “if somebody wants to impose a solution.”

He said so when journalists pointed out to him that the GJM leadership had claimed that it would not budge from its statehood demand.

Though not averse to hearing out such a demand if raised at the talks, senior officials representing the State government are expected to focus on “related” issues centring round the setting up of an administrative arrangement in the hills to replace the virtually redundant Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC).

For the first time, an interlocutor, Lt Gen (retd.) Vijay Madan, will be present at the talks Black flags in plains for hill talks teams - Tripartite meet today

Union home secretary GK Pillai in Darjeeling. (Suman Tamang) TT, Dec. 20: Central and state officials received contrasting welcomes in the plains and on the foothills on their way to Darjeeling for tripartite talks to be held tomorrow. The teams led by Union home secretary G.K. Pillai and Bengal chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti were greeted with black flags by outfits opposed to the division of the state, just as their convoys emerged from Bagdogra airport at 2pm. Some 10km away, where NH31 (which goes to Darjeeling) meets NH55 (which snakes towards the Dooars), Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters dressed in the traditional daura sural and choubandhi choliswaved yellow-and-green party flags and cheered as the cars winded uphill. The Amra Bangali, Bangla Bhasha O Bhasha Banchao Committee and the Dooars-Terai Nagarik Mancha — whose members waved the black flags — have called a 24-hour bandh in Jalpaiguri district and Siliguri tomorrow to protest the talks. At Bagdogra, Pillai told reporters he was hopeful that tomorrow’s discussions would be fruitful. “This is the fourth round of talks and I hope that we will have fruitful discussions with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the representatives of the West Bengal government.” The state chief secretary said: “We can’t specifically say what will be discussed tomorrow. However, the issue of development in the hills would be discussed. Similar talks have been held earlier and all of us are here to openly discuss several issues. We are also hope- ful of a positive outcome.” At Planters Club in Darjeeling, a 16-member Morcha team went into a huddle this evening to finalise its plans for tomorrow. “Our delegation will stonewall all efforts to discuss matters other than Gorkhaland. It will counter attempts to discuss development by reminding the bureaucrats that the state had not fulfilled its promises to reopen the closed Dooars tea gardens and regularise the casual workers of the DGHC (Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council),” a Morcha source told The Telegraph. After putting on hold an indefinite fast yesterday, Morcha president Bimal Gurung had said his team could walk out if anything other than Gorkhaland was discussed. As the Morcha wants the Terai and the Dooars included in the proposed state, the party-backed Independent MLA from Kalchini, Wilson Champromary, will be part of the hill team led by Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri. Another Morcha leader from the Dooars, S.N. Pradhan, and Rajen Lohar from the Terai will also be present. In Darjeeling, men and women followed a Morcha request “to show the visiting delegates how different we are from the rest of Bengal” and turned out on the streets in their traditional attires. Tomorrow’s meeting will be held at the conference room of Mayfair resort at 11am. Joint secretary N.S. Kalsi, special secretary Anita Chowdhury, deputy secretary P.N. Saxena, intelligence branch chief Rajiv Mathur and Centre-appointed interlocutor Vijay Madan will be in Pillai’s team. On the state’s side, the chief secretary will have home secretary Ardhendu Sen, director-general of police Bhupin- der Singh, DGHC administrator B.L. Meena, Jalpaiguri divisional commissioner A.K. Singh and Darjeeling district magistrate Surendra Gupta in his team. Buddha, Pranab messages to Morcha TT, Dec. 20: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today called upon the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha to drop the statehood demand and Pranab Mukherjee said the situation would turn complicated if it “refuses to be flexible”. “A serious problem has cropped up in Darjeeling over the Morcha demand for statehood. I have already requested them (Morcha leaders) not to divide the state. I’m once again telling them not to think about splitting from us,” the chief minister told a public meeting in Raniganj, about 200km from Calcutta. He assured Morcha leaders “all possible co-operation from the state” to run the administration in the hills. “I would urge them to run the administration the way they want to. We shall... fully co-operate.” “What’s the use of splitting the state? Will there be another Sikkim? What will be the gain from it?” the chief minister asked. However, the Morcha was in no mood to heed the appeal. “We will not budge an inch from our (statehood) demand,” its general secretary Roshan Giri said. He used Bhattacharjee’s example, Sikkim, to argue in favour of smaller states. “Sikkim is developing rapidly. Our demand for a separate state revolves not only on our identity but the aspirations of hill people, which have not been fulfilled for long.” In Calcutta, Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said: “If somebody becomes arrogant on a demand and refuses to be flexible, the situation will become complicated.” Mukherjee added that there was no way to end the Darjeeling impasse apart from talks. “Any problem can be solved through discussions. I’m optimistic about the meeting (tomorrow),” he said. Mukherjee, also the state Congress chief, added that Union home minister P. Chidambaram had spoken to Morcha leaders on their demands. The Congress is opposed to the bifurcation of Bengal. In Raniganj, the chief minister accused the Trinamul Congress of joining forces with the Morcha on Gorkhaland. “Trinamul is aligning with all those who are against us,” he said. Tripartite meeting with GJMM in Darjeeling today SNS, SILIGURI, 20 DEC: The fourth tripartite talks on a Gorkha outfit’s demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland carved out of West Bengal will be held tomorrow even as the Centre warned that the situation might turn critical if its leadership remained inflexible and stuck to its position. Though the Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha (GJMM) has demanded that crucial talks here should be held at the political level the meeting will be attended by only officials. The GJMM has been pressing for creating Gorkhaland state from Darjeeling hills and portions of the adjoining plains. The 21 December tripartite talks on the Darjeeling Hill situation would be a follow-up of the previous talks held in New Delhi, the Union home secretary, Mr GK Pillai and state chief secretary Mr Ashok Mohan Chakraborty said at Bagdogra Airport, after they arrived with their teams for tomorrow's talks in Darjeeling.  “Tomorrow’s talks are a follow-up of the previous talks held in New Delhi in August,” said Mr Pillai, who is leading Centre's delegation, comprising Mr Nirmaljeet Singh Kalsi, joint secretary, Union home department, Ms Anita Choudhury, special secretary, Mr PN Saxena, the deputy secretary of the same department and Mr Rajiv Mathur, director, IB.  Speaking at the airport, the state chief secretary, who is leading the state’s delegation, said: “The meeting is expected to focus principally on development of the Darjeeling Hills. And if the GJMM leadership proposes to speak on the Gorkhaland issue, we are ready to give them a patient hearing.” The chief secretary, however, refused to reply to the GJMM leadership’s walkout threat if the statehood issue were to be cold-shouldered in course of the negotiations. Meanwhile, Siliguri MLA and state urban development minister, Mr Asok Bhattacharya today appealed to the people, opposed to state division demand to have confidence in the state government. “The state government would not buckle under pressure on the sensitive issue. However, we are hopeful of a positive outcome from the talks,” he said. He also urged the anti-Gorkhaland groups to cooperate with the administration to maintain law and order in the region.  Meanwhile, activists of the anti-Gorkhaland pressure group, Bangla O Bangla Bhasa Bachao Committee have embarked on a relay fasting from this morning in Siliguri, protesting against what they have called “unconstitutional” dialogue with some aliens from Nepal. The fasting would continue tomorrow when the tripartite negotiations on the long lingering Darjeeling tangle would take place in Darjeeling. “The relay fasting might become a fast unto death if the Centre announces any concession to the GJMM in contravention of the rule of the law as enshrined in the Constitution,” said the BOBBC president, Dr Mukunda Majumder. Gearing up for tomorrow’s bandh, the two anti-Gorkhaland pressure groups, the BOBBC and the Aamra Bangali have decided to make the shutdown an unprecedented success. “We would stage roadblocks everywhere in the region, particularly in Siliguri and its adjoining areas. This apart, we would go for picketing at every government and private offices,” the spokespersons of the two organizations have threatened. According to the BOBBC president, Dr Mukunda Majumder, his organisation's activists would block road near Baguihati in Kolkata from the morning tomorrow. “We would stop at nothing to paralise life where we have clout to back us,” he said. A senior Aamra Bangali leader, Mr Khusi Ranjan Mondal said that they would bring life to a standstill in the entire north Bengal. “It is an imperative to show the ethnic solidarity in the region in the face of the growing audacity on the part of the Gorkhaland protagonists,” he said, adding that they would also embark on indefinite fasting if the Centre and the state government softened their stand on the state division demand. (Pic:Rally of GJM in Delhi-ENS) Rallies to support Gorkhaland SNS,KURSEONG, 20 DEC: A day before the proposed tripartite talks, excited GJMM supporters’ organised huge rallies, in support of Gorkhaland at different places across Darjeeling today. In the meantime, hoping for a positive outcome in the talks and in support of Gorkhaland, frontal organisations (including minority communities) of the GJMM staged ‘Mahayagya’, ‘Hawan’ and an all religion prayer meeting at different places in Darjeeling. KPP lifts blockade in talks hope Siliguri, Dec. 20: Chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti will meet a delegation of the Kamtapur Progressive Party’s Atul Roy faction at Writers’ Buildings in Calcutta on December 29, an announcement that prompted the outfit to lift its nine-hour long blockade on NH31 today. The KPP faction blocked the highway at Ghoshpukur, 25km from Siliguri, on its decade-old demand for a Kamtapur state. “This evening, district administration officials told us at the protest site that the chief secretary intends to meet us in Calcutta. They said a five-member delegation of our party should go but we are insisting on an 11-member team,” Roy said. “On the basis of the announcement, we have withdrawn the blockade and have postponed our other events till the talks.” Traffic came to a standstill as around 500 members of the KPP faction began the indefinite blockade on the national highway, considered to be the lifeline of north Bengal that also connects the Northeast, since 9am. Many passengers of night buses were inconvenienced. “We have no clue as to when the road will open. Those carrying light luggage are crossing the blockade spot by foot and scouting for vehicles on the other side,” said Arup Mitra, who was going from Calcutta to Jalpaiguri with his family. “It is not possible for us to ferry the luggage.” The blockade was lifted at 6pm. “There might be a similar situation tomorrow as a strike has been called by three organisations. Those travelling by night buses might be stranded if protesters block the highways,” a bus driver said. Terai-Dooars autonomy to be demanded SNS, JALPAIGURI, 20 DEC: The Akhil Bhartiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad leadership today announced that it would demand autonomy for the Terai- Dooars region under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.  Informing, the ABAVP all India secretary Mr Sanjibhai Damur said that the state government had not responded to their 16 point charter of demands including incorporating the Adivasi-infested Terai- Dooars under the special Schedule. “We served a memorandum to the state chief minister in this regard in September. Yet, nothing has happened so far. We would like to state that given the unresponsiveness to our demand we might demand Union Territory status for the region. And if none of the demands are fulfilled we might move for a change of track regarding the mode of agitation,” he warned.  Threatening a mass movement against the burgeoning GJMM demand to incorporate the Terai-Dooars region in the proposed Gorkhaland state, another ABAVP leader, Mr John Barla said that they would resist any such move by blood and sweat.  KPP begins separatist movement SNS.JALPAIGURI, 20 DEC: Kamtapur Progressive Party leadership today began their pre-declared road blockade programme for an indefinite time period in North Bengal and Assam for a separate Kamtapur state. The party supporters blocked the National Highway 31. KPP supremo Mr Atul Roy said that the way they had blocked roads here today they would block roads in Assam tomorrow. “The blockade would continue till we have covered the five districts of Jalpaiguri, Malda, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Cooch behar. We would not withdraw our agitation till the Centre and the state government sat with us to listen to our demands of a separate state, Mr Roy added. Mr Roy called Siliguri the ‘Chicken Neck’ of North Bengal because of which he said they began their agitation from here. He said delegates of state and the Central government were holding another tripartite meet withthe Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha but had no regards for the Kamtapur movement that had been going on in North Bengal for over 62 years now.  On the other hand members of Dooars Terai Nagarik Mancha, an apolitical platform comprising 12 pressure groups and traders platforms of Dooars and Terai, was gearing up to carry out their scheduled 12 hours shutdown at Terai and Dooars. According to the convener of the platform Mr Larry Bose they were carrying out their last minute efforts to gather public support for tomorrow's bandh.