Why Not Gorkhaland?

KalimNews 10 Dec: After the breaking of the news of formation of Telangana as 29th state of India GJMM has suddenly revived and intensified its agitation. The agitational programme started with candle light march, indefinite hunger strike by the members of its frontal wings from 11th December and rallies and a general strike from 14th to 17th December. 
With resentment on ignoring the century long demand of Gorkhaland and creating Telangana by the Center GJMM has decided to start the new phase of agitation in the same manner as it was done before. A big question has risen among the Gorkhas asking themself why not us. Questions like what is lacking among us or why we are deprived or what made the Telangana a dream come true and what we lack that they have are some of the many. 

Himal Thapa, GANGTOK, December 10: As process for the 40 year old demand for Telangana State unfolds in Southern India, the leadership role played by the ‘intellectual’ Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh (BGP) and political Gorkha Janmukti Morcha for the realization of the century old Gorkhaland demand has come into a scanner. Yesterday, the Centre had decided to carve a separate State of Telangana, which will take the total number of states in the Union to 29. This decision comes at the end of a 40-year- old struggle for a distinct identity and after a gap of nine years when three new States-Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Chattisgarh were carved out.

Summing on the century old Gorkhaland demand, it can be said that a much later Telangana movement has reached the last lap while the political players and intelligentsia in the proposed Gorkhaland territories presently are merely contended bickering over the upcoming fourth tripartite meeting.

Questions are being raised as to why the Gorkhaland protagonists like GJM and BGP did not burrowed some strategies from Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) to reach the level of agitation that forced the Centre to accede to the separate State demand. Another big question arising in the Telangana aftermath is that why Gorkhaland demand leadership did not initiate Delhi centric movement instead of merely giving press statements when the Telangana movement was peaking?

The apex body of Gorkhas in the country, BGP has also much to explain as it was found wanting during the Telangana episode. Why was BGP so lackadaisical and did not formulate any contemporary strategy as the Gorkhaland issue is not limited to Darjeeling or Dooars alone and is the identity issue of the Gorkhas spread over the country? The BGP which prides over being the apex body of Gorkhas in the country could have used its strength to have at least attempted to push the Gorkhaland demand before the Centre during the Telangana saga.

It is bitter to remind our readers that a Telangana warrior P Nirupam had teamed up with BGP to launch the national front for creation of smaller States-Federation For Smaller States. This federation had been constituted as per the design of BGP. Similarly, the role of Central Programme Cell (CPC) of BGP used to have an important role in the Delhi centric movement but sadly, this cell could not capitalize during the series of events that led to the creation of the 29^th State of the Indian Union. 

Equally answerable will be GJM minutes after the conclusions of the December 21 tripartite talks are made public. Will December 21 provide answers to the identity of Gorkhas? If yes, the national identity of Gorkhas has to be explained threadbare, it is argued. The Gorkhas of Sikkim who have been supporting Gorkhaland demand have making noises for a political level tripartite talks instead of secretary level talks so as not to repeat the 1988 blunder. Again, it is argued that the tripartite talks strategy could have been kept in abeyance for sometime keeping in view of the Telangana episode which was successful without any tripartite talks rendering such exercises over Gorkhaland a sorry trench game.

The Telangana chapter could also frustrate the Gorkhas of Sikkim who have been supporting the Gorkhaland movement as it has a national identity attachment and they could ebb their support over the inefficient leadership shown by the Gorkhaland protagonists. The outgoing tide could be replaced by protest if some urgency is not showed during the upcoming December 21 talks, it is argued.

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After Telangana, stir for Gorkhaland begins

One India News, Kolkata, Dec 10: In an undesirable fall out of the Centre's decision to allow division of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh, Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) announced a three-day bandh demanding for a separate 'Gorkhaland'.

GJM on Thursday, Dec 10 said that the three-day bandh will be start from Dec 14 and that at least 21 GJM activists will be launching an indefinite hunger strike from Friday, Dec 11.

The party, which has been spearheading the campaign for the separate Gorkhaland, has called for a complete shutdown in Darjeeling hills.
"Since Telangana, on the lines of the Gorkhaland statehood demand, has been approved by the Centre, our demand for a separate state carved out of West Bengal should also be conceded by the Centre," GJM General Secretary Roshan Giri told a news agency.
"Ours is a 102-year-old demand. We should be given justice and we have called a three-day bandh from December 14 in Darjeeling to press for it," Giri added.
He is reportedly on his way to Delhi, heading a four-member GJM team to take up the issue with the Centre.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday, Dec 9 announced Centre's approval for a separate Telangana following TRS chief K Chradrasekhar Rao' 11 day fast.

TOI, SILIGURI (West Bengal): The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) announced an indefinite hunger strike for a separate Gorkhaland state Thursday, a day after the central government conceded the demand for Telangana to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh. 
The hunger strike for a Gorkhaland state to be carved out of some northern parts of West Bengal would be held in Darjeeling district's three hill subdivisions and the plains of Siliguri.
"Twenty-one youth activists will be on indefinite hunger strike in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong and Siliguri till we get Gorkhaland," GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said.
Giri also announced a four-day shutdown in the area Dec 14-17.
Besides, the GJM activists will take out massive rallies in the hills from Thursday, he said. Home minister P. Chidambaram Wednesday night gave the green signal for a separate Telangana state, following widespread protests in Andhra Pradesh and the deteriorating health condition of Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao who had been on a fast-unto-death for 11 days.

GJM negotiators will be hanged if statehood talks fail -UGRF

PTI,GANGTOK, 10 Dec: The United Gorkha Revolutionary Front (UGRF), a Gorkha outfit, on Thursday threatened to 'hang' Gorkha Jan Mukti Morkha (GJM) negotiators if they failed to secure a separate Gorkhaland state at the December 21 tripartite talks with the Centre. "The GJM negotiators will be deemed as traitors and hanged in the event of their failure to usher in a separate state for the Gorkha people," the UGRF President Ajay Dahal warned in a statement here. 

The Gorkha community is pinning its hope that their long standing aspiration for a separate state will be fulfilled at the talks, he said, adding creation of the Gorkhaland state will be a 'fitting tribute' to those pro-statehood supporters who have laid down their lives for the cause in the past decades.

Dahal also threatened to launch a militant struggle on the statehood demand if the tripartite talks later this month did not yield an satisfactory outcome.
Telangana could ot fructify if consensus is broken -Cong
PTI, New Delhi, 10 Dec: With diverse pulls and pressures coming to the fore, Congress on Thursday hinted that a separate Telangana could be a case of 'so-near-yet-so-far' if consenus is broken by any party at the central or state level.
The party also indicated that the decision on Telangana would not necessarily pave the way for creation of other smaller states like Vidarbha, Bundelkhand, Poorvanchal, Harit Pradesh and Gorkhaland.
"A state of Telangana cannot come about without two levels of consensus. One at the central level for Constitution amendment and another at state level for passing of a resolution...(in the assembly). They cannot come unless there is a consensus from all parties,"Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.
He said the Centre's decision to accept Telangana statehood had "no similarity, no equivalence, not identical in any way to decision regarding other states and regions of India".
Singhvi said the decision on Telangana was "conceptually, factually and in context unrelated to any other (demand) and we reject (any claim) that it comes near any other ....remotely or indirectly".
Singhvi's remarks came as Andhra Pradesh plunged into a fresh political crisis today with 60 MLAs and a MP belonging to Congress, TDP and PRP from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions resigning in protest against the Centre's decision to carve out a Telangana state.

Govt Agrees to form Telengana

Hyderabad, Dec 10 (IANS) Bowing to mass pressure and fearing for the detereorating condition of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao, on a fast unto death, the central government late Wednesday pledged to form a separate Telangana state carved out of 10 districts of Andhra Pradesh.

Meeting the five-decade long demand of the region that includes Hyderabad, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government said the process for formation of Telangana state would be initiated soon.

After several rounds of meetings of the top brass of the Congress in New Delhi, Home Minister P. Chidambaram announced that a resolution would be moved in the state assembly.

“The process of forming the state of Telangana will be initiated. An appropriate resolution will be moved in the state assembly,” said the statement read out by Chidambaram in New Delhi.

The announcement, which came at the end of a day of hectic developments both in Hyderabad and Delhi, was greeted with joyous scenes here and in nine other districts of Telangana.

The Telangana region has been on the boil as TRS chief’s condition had turned critical Wednesday, the 11th day of his fast unto death, and Hyderabad was turned into a fortress by police fearing large-scale violence during the march to assembly planned by TRS and students Thursday.

KCR, who had launched the fast in Khammam jail Nov 29 after his arrest near Karimnagar town, broke the fast at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) here, capping the 11-day long agitation which saw students, lawyers, government employees, industrial workers and other sections of people taking to the streets demanding a separate state.

Talking to reporters in the intensive care unit of NIMS, KCR broke down while paying tributes to those who laid down their lives for the formation of Telangana.

At least 25 people either committed suicide or died of shock since KCR’s arrest.

In 1969, during the agitation for a separate state, 369 people, most of them students had laid down their lives.

KCR, as Chandrasekhar Rao is popularly known, thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani and others who supported the Telangana cause.

Outside NIMS, hundreds of TRS activists, students and Telangana sympathisers celebrated the victory by bursting crackers and distributing sweets.

“It is a memorable moment for 3.5 crore people of Telangana. India achieved independence at the stroke of midnight and separate Telangana state has also become a reality at midnight,” said a beaming Manda Krishna Madiga, a backward class leader supporting the movement.

Chidambaram, in his statement, said: “We have asked the chief minister (K. Rosaiah) to withdraw the cases against leaders, students and others associated with the agitation. The chief minister said he will take necessary action.”

“We are concerned about Chandrasekhara Rao’s health and we request him to withdraw the fast. We also request all others, especially students to withdraw the agitation,” he added.

TRS leaders expect Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Rosaiah, on his arrival here, would provide details like when the resolution would be moved in the assembly.

KCR’s son K. Tarakarama Rao said he hoped that the Congress would not only move the resolution but take it to the logical conclusion.

“We hope to see a clear road map for formation of Telangana state,” he said.

Students of Osmania University, the nerve centre of the agitation, Kakatiya University in Warangal and other groups fighting for separate state were jubilant.

Hundreds of students at Osmania University were seen dancing and raising slogans of “Jai Telangana” soon after Chidambaram announced in Delhi that a resolution would be moved in the state assembly.

SOME FACTS ABOUT TELANGANA AND ITS CREATION
KalimNews,10 Dec: *Telangana is a region comprising 10 of Andhra Pradesh’s 23 districts. 

*In 1948, India put an end to the rule of the Nizams and a Hyderabad state was formed. In 1956, the Telangana part of Hyderabad was merged with the then Andhra state 

*the state of Andhra Pradesh was carved out of the erstwhile Madras Principality in 1953 following a fast-unto-death of Potti Sreeramulu in 1952, (carved out of Madras Presidency in October, 1953). 

*The remaining parts of the Nizam’s empire merged with Karnataka and Mahararashtra. Andhra Pradesh became the first linguistically carved state in the country after Gandhian revolutionary Potti Sreeramulu, on a hunger strike over the issue, died on December 16, 1952. 

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*The first Telangana movement intensified in 1969. Over 350 students were killed in police firing and lathi charge in 1969 during an agitation for the formation of a separate state. Osmania University was the movement’s hotbed. 

*There was a distinct difference between Andhra and Telangana regions. Since Andhra was part of a colonial Madras Presidency, education levels and development of this region were better than in feudal Telangana. People from Telangana were against merger with Andhra state as they feared they would lose jobs to them. 

*Congress leader Marri Channa Reddy, who raised the ‘Jai Telangana’ slogan, diluted the movement by merging his Telangana Praja Samithi Party with Congress— Indira Gandhi made him the chief minister after this. 

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*In the 90s, K Chandrasekhar Rao, then a member of the Telugu Desam Party, was hopeful of a ministerial post in the state government but was made deputy speaker after the 1999 elections. He quit TDP in 2001 to champion the cause of a separate Telangana state and founded Telangana Rashtra Samithi.

*TRS chief KCR,  after he quit TDP, was part of the UPA after the 2004 elections. It parted ways with the Congress in 2006, saying the UPA was doing nothing on its demand.

*In the 2004 elections his party won 5 Lok Sabha seats, in 2009 it managed only two seats and suffered severe erosion in the Assembly elections too.

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* On Nov 29th November 2009 KCR started fast unto death for Telangana.
*BJP, CPI and PRP support Telangana.

*15 Congress MPs belonging to Telangana region met Gandhi and demanded creation of Telangana state.
*On 9th December 2009 P.Chidambaram announced the formation of State of Telangana.

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*Telangana region accounts for 119 of the 294 assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh and 17 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats.

* Telangana state is likely to comprise the 10 districts of Andhra Pradesh — the area that constituted the old Hyderabad state during British times.  It includes Hyderabad, the current Andhra capital.

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*Andhra and Rayalaseema regions are not in a mood  to be included in Telegana. The issue of who would get Hyderabad has to be settled.

*P V Narasimha Rao, too, was made CM in 1971 was from Telangana region. 

Konijeti Rosaiah C.M. of A.P.

Morcha shuts power office

TT, Darjeeling, Dec. 9: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has indefinitely closed down the office of the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited at Takdah, alleging that it was arbitrarily imposing fines on consumers found pilfering electricity for personal use.
S. Harijan, a sweeper attached with the Takdah block hospital, has been asked to pay Rs 1.24 lakh, while two farmers, Mahendra Chhetri and Mani Rai, have been directed to cough up about Rs 64,000 and Rs 37,000 respectively for the same offence.

The raids were conducted by WBSEDCL officials last Thursday.

Narbu G. Lama, the president of the Morcha’s Takdah-Teesta Valley constituency, said: “How can a sweeper and two farmers pay such an amount? We are not trying to encourage illegal tapping of electricity as we, too, believe that such activities must stop but the fine must be reasonable.”

The Morcha leader, however, said the people tapped electricity illegally to use the heater during winter.

In the past, too, the electricity department had conducted raids and asked people to pay fine, Lama said. “But the fine was around Rs 20,000 and the amount was within the reach of the people. However, how can a sweeper pay such a huge amount?” the Morcha leader asked.

The Morcha has also lashed out at the electricity department officials for allegedly not giving much importance to improving infrastructure in the area, situated 30km from Darjeeling. “The electricity poles are in a very bad state and they can collapse any day. The department should concentrate on repair,” Lama said.

In the hills, people have not been paying their electricity bills since April last year. Electricity is usually tapped to ensure that the bills do not get inflated because of the use of heaters.

Along with electricity, the hill consumers have not been paying their telephone bills as well following a call from the Morcha to boycott taxes as part of its non-co-operation movement for statehood. The BSNL has started disconnecting broadband links, although the power company has not severed any line.

The outstanding amount of electricity bills has accumulated to more than Rs 40 crore. Even chief minister Buddhedeb Bhattacharjee’s appeal last year did not help much.

B. Dutta, the divisional engineer of the WBSEDCL (distribution division), admitted that fines had been slapped. “We have, however, not slapped the fine arbitrarily. There is a certain approved formula which is used to work out the fine,” he said without elaborating on the formula.

The official added that none of the consumers had contested the fine till date. “No one has approached us. We are willing to discuss any issue with anyone who approaches us,” Dutta said.

Highway block threat from KPP

TT, Siliguri, Dec. 9: The Atul Roy faction of the Kamtapur Progressive Party today threatened to block all national highways of north Bengal indefinitely from December 20, insisting talks with the central and the state governments on its dual demands of a separate state and recognition of the Kamtapuri language.

“Although we had raised the demands more than a decade ago, neither the state nor the Centre has ever discussed them with us. They (the governments) are holding regular talks with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad,” said Atul Roy, the party president. “We are not concerned or opposed to these talks but we want the governments to hear us as well.”

The party has planned to block NH34, NH31, NH31A, NH31C, NH31D and NH55 in north Bengal. A 11-member team of the party submitted a memorandum addressed to Union home minister P. Chidambaram with the divisional commissioner of Jalpaiguri.

“We have been harping on the demands over the years but till date our language has not been recognised. Our party is deeply concerned over the change in demography in certain areas of north Bengal because of consistent infiltration from the neighbouring countries,” said Pranesh Ishore, the party vice-president.

Temperature in Siliguri to dip further

SNS, SILIGURI, 9 DEC: With dense fog covering the air for the past two days, Siliguri is finally under the grip of a cold spell.
The minimum temperature in the town is hovering around 12 Degree Celsius and as per the weather forecasts, the mercury will dip down further in the next 48-hours.
“Because of the fog, the temperature is more or less in a static position now. But once the mist clears away, the mercury will sink further facilitating in Siliguri a real feel of the December chill,” said Dr Subir Sarkar of the North Bengal University weather observation centre.
According to Dr Sarkar, Siliguri, however, would have to wait for few days more to experience a freezing cold, which is not unusual in this Himalayan foothills.
“The advent of the Northerly wind is what, which is required for the freezing experience. This is still not in sight for Siliguri as yet,” he said.

The wind in the town is currently blowing on the South West direction.

GJMM against interim council at tripartite talks

SNS, SILIGURI, 8 DEC: The Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha leadership today claimed it would under no circumstances accept any proposal for an interim council during the proposed tripartite dialogue slated in Darjeeling on 21 December.
Emphasising the stand, the GJMM general secretary, Mr Roshan Giri said that his party would stick to the one- point Gorkhaland agenda. “No matter what proposals pertaining to the proposed interim council might come from the Centre and the state government, we would not budge from our well-known stand on the statehood demand,” he said.
He further said the GJMM was more a movement than a party. “Our organisation emerged as a collective reaction to Mr Subash Ghisingh's well -orchestrated plan to scuttle the century-long Gorkhaland demand to perpetuate his authoritarian stranglehold on the Darjeeling hills in cohorts with the crafty state government. We cannot tread the same suicidal path, betraying the collective aspiration of the common people,” he said.
Speaking on the matter, the GJMM media secretary, Dr Harka Bahadur Chhetri said that the interim council proposal was a sly stratagem conceived by the state government to bog down our organisation. “We would not allow ourselves to be entrapped in the bureaucratic trickery at this critical juncture of the Gorkhaland history,” he said.
“We would rather play a listener's role in course of the coming three-way dialogue. We are bound to, for there is no way out. In case, however, any positive proposal emerges in course of the negotiation our party would definitely deliberate. But we are closed as far as the proposed interim council is concerned,” Dr Chhetri added.
Asked whether the proposed non-GJMM political front, likely to be formed after 21 December dialogue, would dent into the GJMM's support base, he ridiculed the speculation, saying that the non-GJMM parties were free to do anything. “The non-GJMM parties excluding the CPRM are a discredited lot. The people have thrashed them out of the hills. We have, however, respect for the personal and political integrity of CPRM leader, Mr R B Rai,” Dr Chhetri added.
Meanwhile, the Aamra Bangali has demanded cancellation of the 21 December tripartite dialogue in view of the breakdown of the constitutional machinery in the Darjeeling hills. “The GJMM has let loose anarchy in all the three hill sub-divisions in the name of statehood agitation. They have replaced the official law- enforcing force with the Gorkhaland Personnel. We demand security operation to quell the rebellion against the law and order machinery of West Bengal,” said Mr Khusi Ranjan Mondal, a senior Aamra Bangali leader.

Jumbo raid

TT, Jaigaon, Dec. 9: All six rooms of the last standing primary school in the Tondu division of the closed Bamundanga tea garden were razed to the ground by a tusker last night.

Head teacher Dipak Barua said: “We will have to hold them in the open tomorrow because this is a closed garden and there is no scope for repairs.” Rabindranath Mondol, inspector of primary schools of the Meteli circle, said there were five primary schools in the garden. “Four of them had been destroyed last year,” he said. Classes in these schools are held in the open air.

Trek ends in death

TT, Siliguri, Dec. 9: Basudev Burman, 34, a member of the Mountaineers and Trekkers’ Foundation in Malbazar, was found dead in the Purbokhola stream near Sevoke today.

Burman, a resident of Malbazar, was the leader of a 12-member team that had gone to Purbokhola for a trek. The team had reached there yesterday.

Police suspect that Burman accidentally fell into the stream last night. The body has been sent for post-mortem.

Gun arrest

TT, Darjeeling: Dinesh Subba, 35, was arrested with an improvised revolver on Wednesday from Jorebunglow. Five live bullets were also recovered from him. Subba, a resident of Goke, 20km from here, was forwarded to the district court and was remanded in 14 days’ judicial custody.

Jumbo attack

TT, Siliguri: Dhiren Singh, 45, a resident of Batlabari village under Lower Bagdogra panchayat, was trampled to death by an elephant on Tuesday evening. Foresters said Singh had stepped out of the house to relieve himself when the animal trampled him.

Morcha looks up to AP

TT Darjeeling, Dec. 8: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to approach the ruling and Opposition parties in Parliament for the creation of Gorkhaland with the Telengana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) raising its ante for a separate state.

Roshan Giri, the Morcha general secretary, said: “There is a strong possibility of a bill for Telengana being placed in Parliament. In this context, we want to remind political powers in Delhi that a bill for Gorkhaland should also be placed in Parliament along with that for Telengana as our demand is 102 years old.”

The demand for Telengana was raised in the mid-1950s and both the BJP and the Congress had promised its formation in their manifestos before the last general elections.

Morcha president Bimal Gurung will be writing to BJP leaders like Rajnath Singh, L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitely and also to Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and P. Chidambaram of the United Progressive Alliance tomorrow, said Amar Lama, a central committee member of the hill party.

“We are already in contact with the TRS leadership,” Lama said without disclosing further details.

Demanding a separate Telengana state, TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao went on an indefinite hunger strike 10 days ago.

Asked if the Morcha would immediately launch an agitation on the lines of the TRS to highlight the issue, Giri said: “We are in the process of negotiations. We will wait for the fourth rounds of talks after which we will decide on our next course of action.”

Observers feel that the recent developments related to the Telengana agitation will force the Morcha to demand a political level talks after the fourth round of tripartite meeting scheduled to take place in Darjeeling on December 21.

Strike called

TT, Siliguri: Leaders of Amra Bangalee have announced a 12-hour strike in north Bengal on December 21 when the fourth round of tripartite talks will be held in Darjeeling. Khushiranjan Mondal, the north Bengal regional secretary, said on Tuesday that the strike has been called to protest against the talks and to demand immediate deployment of central forces in the hills.