Name tweak proposal from Morcha- slight change to ‘Gorkhaland...PIL against Nepali Citizeship

- Gurung ready to make slight change  to make demand acceptable

VIVEK CHHETRI AND RAJEEV RAVIDAS, TT, Darjeeling, Jan. 29: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung is willing to change the name of Gorkhaland, the state that his party wants, to make the statehood demand more acceptable to all communities spread across the hills and the Dooars. The Morcha president has mentioned this in the “secret proposal” that he has sent to Delhi to make the granting of statehood more “palatable” to the Centre. In an interaction with The Telegraph, Gurung said: “One of the important points in the proposal (sent to the Centre) is a slight change in the name (of the state the Morcha has been demanding). This is being done because of certain problems in the Dooars.” Gurung, however, did not spell out the new name that he has in mind. In the last one year, as the Morcha has been trying to make its presence felt in the Dooars, there have been several clashes between the Gorkhas and the adivasis who are opposed to the inclusion of the Dooars in Gorkhaland that the hill party wants. The Morcha has been demanding that not only the three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong and Siliguri subdivision be part of “Gorkhaland”, but also the Dooars which comprises almost half of Jalpaiguri district. The majority population in the Dooars consists of adivasis. Even in the foothill areas of Kalimpong subdivision, like Gorubathan, there is a sizeable presence of the tribal community. “The idea behind changing the name Gorkhaland is to make the statehood demand more inclusive one,” a Morcha leader said. “After all, other than the Gorkhas, communities like the adivasis, Lepchas and the Bhutias also live in the hills and the foothills. They should also be made to feel that they are part of the new state that the Morcha has been demanding.” While the adivasis form about 60 per cent of the population in the Dooars, the Lepchas and the Bhutias, who live in the hills, constitute 15 per cent of the population there. However, the “secret proposal” that Gurung has sent to Delhi has redefined the geographical area of “Gorkhaland” to include only the Gorkha dominated areas of the hills and the Dooars and not the entire region. But in its efforts to woo the adivasis, the Morcha, during its programmes in the foothills and the Dooars and Terai, calls itself the Gorkha Janmukti Adivasi Morcha and uses a flag with the symbol of a bow alongside the Gorkha khukuri. However, going by Gurung’s words that there would only be a “slight change” to the name Gorkhaland, observers believe that the Morcha would retain the word Gorkha, but coin another word or words to represent other communities, especially the adivasis. “Since the Morcha’s demand for a separate state is based on the issue of the identity of the Gorkhas, Gurung is unlikely to drop the word Gorkha altogether,” said a Morcha leader. But Gurung has made it clear that the “secret proposal” he has submitted to the Centre pertains to the “fundamental demand for statehood”, and has nothing to do with an interim arrangement. “I am least interested in an interim council,” Gurung said. Morcha Climbs down from Plains to Hills PTI, Kolkata: Morcha sends a curtailed map of proposed Gorkhaland to Chidambaram, which comprises only Darjeeling hills and contiguous areas, to sound ‘more logical’ Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung has written to Union Home minister P Chidamabaram, curtailing the territorial boundary of the proposed Gorkhaland state to make the demand for a separate state “more logical”. “Gorkhaland would now include only Gorkha-dominated areas in the Darjeeling hills and contiguous areas to make the demand for statehood more logical,” GJM spokesperson Harkabahadur Chetri said from Kalimpong where Gurung was camping. “The proposal was sent to the Union home minister on January 27,” Chetri, a GJM Central Committee member said. “There is no point in including those areas where there is resistance to our demand,” Chetri said. Chetri claimed in the plains, there were certain adivasi-dominated areas where there was absolute support for Gorkhaland and would not be left out. The GJM also wanted to include areas in Siliguri sub-division where Rajbanshis also wanted a separate state. “Of course, this will be done with the consent of the Rajbanshis,” he said. The GJM’s bid to expand base in the Dooars had earlier met with resistance that had led to frequent clashes with the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad. The Left Front in Jalpaiguri had also warned the people against separatist forces attempting to divide the people in the name of Gorkhaland, Kamtapur and Greater Cooch Behar. Tripartite talks at the administrative level on Gorkhaland in Darjeeling on December 21 had failed to reach an agreement with the Centre saying political consensus needed to be created on the demand by the GJM, which had sought the next round of talks within 45 days. PIL against Nepali Citizeship SNS, KOLKATA, 29 JAN : Today the hearing of a  Public Interest Litigation began in Calcutta High Court which may have serious implications on the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha activists  agitating for a separate state. Moved by Jan Chetna, a Siliguri-based organisation it sought that Nepalis who have settled in India after 26 January, 1950 are not entitled to citizens’ status.  The Division Bench of the Chief Justice directed that notices be sent to the Union Government, Election Commission, secretary, Ministry of  External Affairs, Chief Eledctoral Officer, West Bengal, the state government, the state home secretary, divisional commissioner, Jalpaiguri, IG, north Bengal, IG, SSB and the district magistrates of Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling. A period of four weeks was granted by the court for the submission of  affidavits.      Most of the Nepalis who have come to India after this cut-off date are not entitled to the status of Indian citizens, Mr Shakya Sen moving the PIL before the Division Bench of Mr Mohit Santilal Shah, Chief Justice and Mr Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya of  Calcutta High Court submitted  during the day. Underscoring his contention, he said that it has been laid down in a tripartite treaty between India, Great Britain and Nepal and another treaty of peace and friendship between India and Nepal. The first treaty laid down that Gorkha soldiers must be recruited as Nepalese citizens and serve as such and be resettled in Nepal, it was submitted.  The second one was almost identical in its spirit too, it was submitted. But it so happens that people from Nepal are pouring through the porous Indo-Nepal border and settling in India after acquiring ration cards and voters’ identity cards without the EC going into their antecedents.    TIT BITS KalimNews: In presence of Bimal Gurung five GJMM Block Committees of 28th Constituency of Jaldhaka Todey Tangta region were constituted  amidst deep confusion and chaos. Dissolving the present five Block Committees of 28th Constituency of Jaldhaka Todey Tangta region 3 Block Committees were formed and their Office bearers were elected. This is for the fifth time the regional Committees are being reconstituted due to several irregularities. During the formation of Rongo Gairibas Committee formation there were disputes on selecting the Officebearers but later in the afternoon it was solved and the formation was declared. 1/ Todey Tangta Jholung Block Committee: President: Mingmer Lama, Vice President: Amit Thing and Manoj Tamang, Secretary: Chunda Sherpa, Asst Secretary: Ramji Acharya, Treasurer: Sagar Chhetri, Member to Sub Div Committee:Lopsang Lama 2/ Samsing Kumai Block Committee: President: Tika Thapa, Vice President: Suman Rai and Kamal Prakash Rai, Secretary: Kamal Giri, Asst Secretary: Gyan Kr Rai, Treasurer: B.K.Thapa, Member to Sub Div Committee:Dipak Adhikari 3/ Rongo Gairibas Block Committee: President: Chandra Kr Rai, Vice President: Diwas Rai and Johny Tamang, Secretary: Milan Gurung, Asst Secretary: Satan Chhetri, Treasurer: Bal Raj Gurung, Member to Sub Div Committee: Silan Gurung. Confine slur after swap charge Siliguri, Jan. 29: A woman who had alleged a month ago that her baby boy had been swapped with a girl child after birth today said she was being forcibly detained at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital. The NBMCH has denied the charges. Jashoda Singha, however, said she would not take the baby girl with her if she was released, for the child was not hers. She said her husband and relatives have been constantly approaching the superintendent of the hospital, asking him to discharge her. “We have written to him. But he keeps saying that I will be discharged only after the DNA test report comes. The report, they say, will take several more months to come. It’s difficult for my family to visit me everyday,” said Jashoda from her bed at the gynaecological ward. She said her family was poor — the husband is a farmer — and could not afford to visit her in hospital everyday. “I want to go home but if they discharge me, I will not take the baby girl with me. The hospital authorities should take the responsibility,” she added. Jashoda claimed that the baby she delivered at 12.20pm on December 27 was a boy. She said she had seen the baby boy when the nurses were bathing him. Her in-laws who were present outside the delivery unit that day had vouched that it was a male child because the ayah had shown the baby to them when he was being taken to the nursery. The hospital staff present at the time of delivery, however, had skipped the process of official identification which is done by the mother. They later clarified that the baby was a girl and was critical at that time and had to be taken to the nursery immediately instead of conducting the identification process. They claimed that four babies were born between 12 and 12.20pm that day and the only male child was delivered by Talsari Singha. Talsari’s baby boy, too, is in the nursery with an “intracranial haemorrhage” (haemorrhage or bleeding within the skull). “It is nearly a month that my son has been admitted here. He has some complications in the brain and doctors say that it is a blood clot. There is also some controversy regarding my baby. Some other woman is claiming him as her son. But he is my baby,” Talsari said. Although Jashoda denies that the child is hers, she breast-feeds the baby girl. Shyamapada Pati, the head of the gynaecological department, has denied the charges of keeping Jashoda in the hospital against her will. “We have not kept her here forcibly. She is staying here at her will. Jashoda has been suffering from fever for the past two days and is being treated for it,” Pati said. The hospital authorities had set up an inquiry committee to look into the baby swap charge and the report was submitted to the NBMCH principal yesterday. The serum samples for DNA test had been sent to Calcutta 15 days ago. “The report is expected in the next six months. The report of the inquiry committee was submitted to the principal yesterday. If Jashoda wants to leave, we will discharge her. But she will have to take the baby girl with her. The DNA reports will eventually settle the matter but till then she will have to take care of the baby,” said Samir Ghosh Roy, the superintendent of the hospital. Bangabandhu's assassins hanged Dhaka, 28 January : Bangladesh has hanged the five ex-Army officers, convicted for assassinating the country's founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, almost 35 years after he was killed in a military coup. The five death row convicts were hanged past midnight (local time), hours after the Supreme Court rejected their review plea, jail officials said. Ex-Lieutenant Colonel Mohiuddin Ahmed (artillery) and ex-Major Bazlul Huda were hanged first as the execution process started late last night while ex-Lieutenant Colonel Syed Faruq Rahman was the third to be executed minutes later.  Ex-lieutenant colonels Shahriar Rashid Khan and AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed (lancer) were the last to walk to the gallows. The entire execution process took just 40 minutes to be completed, though it took 35 years to bring the putsch leaders to justice for the 15 August, 1975 assassination of the fomer president along with most of his family members. Bangabandhu was killed along with his wife and three sons, including 10-year-old Russel.  His daughters, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana, survived the carnage as they were abroad at the time of the incident. The five convicts walked to the gallows after a trial that dragged on for 13 years but six others condemned were still on the run to evade trial even as Bangladesh launched a diplomatic campaign engaging the Interpol to bring them back home. န Photos : AP, Reuters