GJMM to stay away from tripartite talks, says Giri

SNS, SILIGURI, 8 JAN: Dismissing speculations to the contrary, the GJMM leadership has made it clear that the party would not participate in the next round of tripartite parleys on the Darjeeling issue unless it was held on the political level.
“All the options accruable from the administrative rounds have been exhausted and the stage is set for a graduation to the political level. We are expecting prompt initiative from the Centre in this regard,” said the GJMM general secretary, Mr Roshan Giri today.
Uncertainty hovers over the proposed graduation of the talks from the bureaucratic to the political level to resolve the dragging stalemate in the Darjeeling hills with several state leaders including those of the Congress and the BJP expressing reservation over the matter on the ground that the administrative options have remained unexhausted.
Spelling out his party's stand on the matter, Mr Giri said that the stalemate would further deepen if the Centre dithered over the demand. “The Union home secretary assured us in course of the parleys in Darjeeling on 21 December that the next level of dialogue would be held at the political level. Any procrastination on this matter is unacceptable to us. We are rather waiting for initiatives from the Centre providing details abut the next round of political talks,” he added.

Speaking on the matter, another senior GJMM leader, Mr Amar Lama said that there was no question of the Centre going back from its commitment to hold the next level of talks on the hill tangle at the political level. “The bureaucratic talks should not drag on for an indefinite period for our principal demand is statehood. Only the political leadership is competent to take on this matter. We have received positive signals from the Centre that it is moving ahead according to its commitment made at the last phase of the three-way parleys held in Darjeeling last month,” Mr Lama claimed.

GJM resumes agitation in Darjeeling hills

TOI,KOLKATA: The agitation for a separate State of Gorkhaland was renewed in the Darjeeling hills on Friday by the leadership of Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) with a shutdown in both Central and State Government offices in the region.

“The indefinite shutdown in all offices save banks and post offices has been resumed in support of our legitimate demand for a Gorkhaland State,” said GJM general secretary Roshan Giri over telephone from Darjeeling.

“The shutdown in offices of certain departments dealing in essential services including the food and supplies department will be relaxed on certain days of the week,” he added.

The GJM had earlier suspended an indefinite hunger strike following a request by Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram to ensure a congenial atmosphere in the hills in the run-up to the fourth round of tripartite talks that were held in Darjeeling on December 21.

It was agreed at the talks that were held at an administrative level that GJM’s request for another round of talks within 45 days at “a political level” on its demand for Gorkhaland would be referred to the Centre and the State Government by the officials who had represented the two governments at the meeting.

“No response”

“We have not heard from either the Centre or the State Government,” Mr. Giri said.

He said letters stating the GJM demand had been sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi as well as other regional parties as the “State Government appears disinclined to pass any Bill in the State Assembly on the matter”.

Morcha to back KPP on campus

TT, Siliguri, Jan. 8: The Gorkha Janmukti Vidyarthi Morcha will campaign for candidates of the Kamtapur Students’ Organisation, the student wing of the Kamtapur Progressive Party in the union elections of Bagdogra Kalipada Ghosh Terai Mahavidyalaya to be held on January 18.

Anish Roy, a KSO central committee member, briefed reporters at Panchnoi on the outskirts of Siliguri, where Vidyarthi Morcha members are on an relay hunger strike, since January 2. “We have forged an alliance with the Vidyarthi Morcha and they will help us campaign,” Roy said. The union is now run by a Trinamul Chhatra Parishad-Chhatra Parishad combine.

Amrit Yonzon, the vice-president of the Vidyarthi Morcha, the student wing of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha spearheading the Gorkhaland movement, said: “The decision was taken jointly at a meeting recently. In response to our support, the KSO will, too, will extend support to our movements.”

Roy said the aim of both the outfits were the same. “Both of us are demanding a separate state and we want a recognition of the Kamtapur language.” Asked if the KSO would participate in Morcha agitation like hunger strikes and roadblocks, Roy said the matter would be decided after the college elections.

Tatkal water for Darjeeling residents

The Darjeeling Municipality: Swift supply? VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, Darjeeling, Jan. 8: The Darjeeling Municipality has launched a tatkal scheme to provide immediate water connection to individuals and commercial establishments with a view to generate funds for the cash-starved civic body. “We have started tatkal scheme to ensure that there is no delay in providing water connections”, said Amalkanti Ray, the chairman of the board of administrators of the municipality. He is also the subdivisional officer of Darjeeling (Sadar). Those seeking connection must have a sanctioned plan of their building and should also have cleared taxes. Under the scheme, a domestic user has to pay Rs 35,000 for a connection, while commercial establishments are being charged Rs 75,000. The move aims to generate revenue for the municipality apart from reducing paper work and time for getting a connection. “The water works department needs around Rs 19 lakh at present for renovation and maintenance of the distribution system. The department has, however, not received a single penny from the state,” said Kiran Tamang, the assistant engineer of the department of the municipality, on the need to introduce the scheme. Till date, 17 applications have been cleared. Except one commercial application, the rest are for domestic purpose, said Tamang. The civic body usually charges Rs 17,000 for a normal connection. “There were complaints that people had not received connections even after waiting for nine years,” said another official. According to the civic officials, distribution of water in Darjeeling has been made more regular. “Last year there was a time when we could provide water only after 26 days to every household. We are now providing water regularly every five to six days,” said Tamang. Darjeeling needs around 50,000 gallons of water everyday. “The storage capacity at North and South Senchel Lake (from where water is distributed to the town) stands at 20 million gallons and 13.5 million gallons. The problem, however, lies in the fact there is not enough sources for Senchel,” said Tamang. The municipality has claimed that it has been able to raise the water level at the lake to 34 feet — an increase of eight feet from the highest level reached in the past three years — largely by better management. A resident of the town said even though the supply was erratic, it was worth getting a connection. “Water supply is slowly improving and during monsoon one will not have to buy water if there is a municipality connection. Moreover, getting a connection has always been very difficult in Darjeeling. If the supply becomes good after the Balasun project is completed, it will be of great help.” While the tatkal scheme may have made the process of getting a connection hassle-free, a poster in the name of “janta” (public) has appeared in town saying that even the poor people have right to get drinking water. The officials said the municipality had set up 400 public taps in town for those who cannot pay. Ray said he had formed a three-member inquiry committee to find out who were behind the plastering of the poster. Four injured in police lathicharge Amit Das in the hospital. (Anirban Choudhuri) TT, Alipurduar, Jan. 8: Four Chhatra Parishad members were hospitalised after they were injured allegedly in a police lathicharge in Alipurduar College this afternoon. The police action came after a clash broke out between supporters of the SFI and the CP on the last date of filing nomination forms for the student union election in the college scheduled for January 15. Currently, the SFI controls the union in the college The student wing of the Congress had held it for three years prior to this. The clash on the campus is mainly a turf war between the two rival bodies. The CP has lodged a police complaint demanding the arrest of the SFI members. Saurav Chakrabarty, the CP’s state president, said the college authorities had made it mandatory that those who wanted to submit nomination forms should carry their college identity cards. “Some SFI members along with CPM supporters from outside entered the college and started snatching the identity cards from our candidates without any provocation. When we protested, the police came and used lathis against our members,” Chakrabarty alleged. Three CP candidates Shib Shambhu Das, Saumitra Banerjee and Shyamal Mullick were injured and another member Amit Das was hurt in the lathicharge, he said. The three candidates could not submit their nomination forms. The four have been admitted to Alipurduar Subdivisional Hospital. While Shib Shambhu has been admitted and had to be given two stitches on the head, Amit has suffered a cut on his lips. The other two have been hit on hands, hospital sources said. The CP will observe a black day tomorrow to protest the incident. “We have submitted complaints to the state home secretary, the district magistrate and the Jalpaiguri police superintendent, demanding the arrest of the SFI members who attacked us and also the police officers who acted in a partisan manner both here and at a Jalpaiguri women’s college today,” Chakrabarty said. The general secretary of the SFI union in the college, Manish Pandey, however, blamed the CP for fomenting the trouble. “The process of submission of nomination forms was going on peacefully when the CP brought in outsiders and began harassing and beating up our candidates, prompting the police to resort to the lathicharge,” Pandey said. Anup Jaiswal, the additional superintendent of police of Alipurduar, claimed that the lathicharge was mild. “There was some trouble at the college and the police had to intervene. I have heard that a few students have been injured, though not seriously. We have received a complaint and are looking into it.” He said normality had been restored on the campus. Batons rain on college students’ Blockade SFI alone files nomination A student talks to the principal, pointing at him, while he stood on the rooftop of the JWO building. Picture by Biplab Basak TT, Siliguri, Jan. 8: Police lathicharged Chhatra Parishad supporters in a women’s college in Jalpaiguri town today to make way for the principal of the institution. The police action sparked protests with the student union setting up blockades in several parts of the town while demonstrating at road crossings. The agitation was called off after senior Congress leaders met the district magistrate of Jalpaiguri and sought her intervention. In the melee that followed, only the SFI filed nomination to the 70 seats of the union. The Chhatra Parishad, the student wing of the Congress, had called a strike in Prasannadeb Women’s College today, alleging that one of its supporters was assaulted by the SFI members yesterday. It had also complained that the CPM’s student wing had unleashed terror on the campus to prevent the Chhatra Parishad from filing nomination for the student election to be held on January 16 Some students claiming to be Chhatra Parishad supporters try to enter the women’s college by scaling the boundary wall. Picture by Biplab Basak Apprehensive of law and order problem after yesterday’s strike call, the police set up three barricades around the college in the morning. Chhatra Parishad supporters not only from the institute but from across the town came together to prevent principal Shanti Chhetri, faculty and students from entering the Prasannadeb campus.With the CPM and the Left Front suffering debacles across the state in recent times, the Congress and the Trinamul Congress are determined to prove their presence on college campuses. Student union elections that were never contested in the past are now facing challenges from the Left rivals. At 11am, Chhetri was stopped by Chhatra Parishad supporters. He walked into the Jalpaiguri Welfare Organisation (JWO) premises located opposite the college, followed by other teachers. Around 50 Chhatra Parishad supporters continued shouting slogans till Chhetri shouted from the rooftop of the building at the waiting policemen: “You need not take me out of here. You leave the place.” But within minutes, the police lathicharged to disperse the Chhatra Parishad supporters, injuring Saikat Chatterjee, the Jalpaiguri district Youth Congress president, and Abhijit Sinha, a state general secretary of the student wing. The duo and five others were picked up and whisked away to the Kotwali police station. A section of the Chhatra Parishad supporters entered the JWO premises to escape police batons but the law keepers followed them inside and lathicharged again. After some time, Debprasad Roy, the Congress MLA from Jalpaiguri, reached the college. Accompanied by Mohon Bose, the chairman of the Jalpaiguri Municipality, Roy met Vandana Yadav, the district magistrate. “It is unfortunate that in the presence of the principal, the students had to face lathicharge,” Roy said. By then blockades had been set up at Kadamtala, Thana More, Assam More and Gosala More. The seven picked up by the police were released. At the college, the police picket continued but the situation turned to normal. Yesterday, on the last day of collecting nomination forms, Riya Bhowmik, a second year student was attacked, allegedly by SFI supporters. Riya, who had collected a nomination form as a Chhatra Parishad candidate had been admitted to the Jalpaiguri District Hospital. After the assault, the Chhatra Parishad had asked the college authorities to either extend the date of collecting nomination forms or to cancel the student union elections. They gheraoed the principal, till 7.45pm yesterday and withdrew the siege only after he assured them that a three-member committee would be formed to consider the demand and to probe the assault. “We have been protesting against the attack, when the police lathicharged without any provocation and in the presence of the principal,” said Abhijit Sinha. The principal, however, said he had not called for police help. “I had not asked the police to help me and have no clue why there was this lathicharge,” he said. “Today being the last date of submission of nominations, we have received 70 nominations so far.” All 70 have been filed by the SFI. The Chhatra Parishad has not filed any nominations. Maoist posters concern CPM supporters in Alipurduar SNS, JALPAIGURI, 8 JAN: Maoist posters warning CPI-M supporters and the police have started to surface in Alipurduar of Jalpaiguri district. Posters, put up by Maoist supporters were recovered from the boundary wall of house at Jeetpur in Alipurduar yesterday causing quite a flutter in the area. It is the second time in the span of a fortnight that such posters claiming Maoist presence were detected in Alipurduar. According to the police, the posters had been stuck on the boundary wall of one Mr Sukumar Tarofdar's house. “I found the posters containing a warning massage against CPI-M supporters and the police, who had pulled such posters earlier in the town. The poster claimed the Maoists struggled for the working class,” stated the landlord Mr Tarafdar. The police had found similar posters on the walls of another house on 23 December 2009 and had pulled those down. The police are not taking yesterday's development seriously either. “Some one is possibly playing a prank through such posters. The police have, however, started inquiring into it,” said the Alipurduar ASP Mr Anup Jaiswal. 2 Tv Journalists Arrested for violence Hyderabad, Jan 8 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh police Friday night arrested two editors of Telugu television channel TV 5 for airing a “baseless and malicious” report about an alleged conspiracy behind the death of the then chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in a chopper crash last year. The report sparked violence in the state and attacks on Reliance stores. Crime Investigation Department (CID) arrested TV 5’s executive editor Brahmananda Reddy and input editor Venkat Krishna. There was mild tension at the channel’s office as other employees tried to resist the arrests. The arrests were made hours after police booked cases against the channel for airing the story based on a report on a Russian website. Cases under sections 153/3A (provocation with intent to cause riot) and 502 A (sale of printed or engraved substance containing defamatory matter) were registered at Jubilee Hills police station here, police said. Police also booked cases against two more vernacular channels for airing the “baseless” story. Earlier, the government handed over the investigations against the channels to CID. The report led to a series of attacks on Reliance stores throughout the state, since it had alleged a role by the company in the helicopter crash that killed YSR. The police have booked 96 cases and arrested 185 people for the attacks on properties of both Reliance groups. Home Minister P. Sabita Indra Reddy told reporters that the government would deal firmly with anyone breaking the law. She said that Chief Minister K. Rosaiah spoke to Home Minister P. Chidambaram over telephone and asked him to speed up the probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the crash. Police chief Girish Kumar warned that stern action would be taken against those indulging in violence. Prohibitory orders against assembly of people have been imposed in the state in view of the shutdown called by loyalists of the late chief minister in some districts. He said investigations into the Sep 2 helicopter crash were continuing and appealed to people not to believe rumours. YSR’s son and Kadapa MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy appealed to people not to resort to violence. Meanwhile, leaders cutting across party lines condemned attacks on Reliance outlets and called for immediate steps to control television channels to prevent such incidents. Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu alleged that the attacks on Reliance outlets were “pre-planned”. State Congress chief D. Srinivas also condemned the mob violence and clarified that the party had no role in these incidents. He said party leaders would now have to take permission from him before participating in debates on television. DEMONSTRATION BY JANAMUKTI  MINORITY FRONT 4 hrs Shops Bandh from 11am to 3pm was observed , a rally and a public meeting in support of Gorkhaland was organised by Janmukti Minority Front of Kalimpong   Photo: Samiran Paul, KALIMPONG NEWS Church Attack in Malaysia Condemned Petaling Jaya, Jan8 (ANI): Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has condemned the attacks on three churches in the Klang Valley. “I condemn these actions because they will destroy our country’s harmony. The Government will take whatever steps it can to prevent such acts,’ he said on Friday. Najib said he has told the national police chief to step up security at churches and other places of worship. Other public figures of Malaysia have also come out to condemn the arson attacks against the two churches. Urging all parties to remain calm, they also asked for swift police action to ensure the situation does not get out of control, The Star reports. Selangor Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, who was at the Assumption Church, condemned the attack, describing it as a cowardly act. Khalid also said that he was grateful to the church auuthorities, who had given their reassurance that they would not react to the arson attack. Umno Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin said it was a dark day for Malaysia. “This is a despicable act. This is not the Malaysia I know,” said Khairy, who visited the Metro Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawait in Kuala Lumpur, which was attacked by arsonists early Friday. Social activist Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir said it was very important for all Muslim Malaysians to condemn the act whole-heartedly. Veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang said all political party leaders should take a common stand to condemn the attacks.