Rallies & blockades afresh for talks date

TT, Darjeeling, Jan. 18: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to hold “mass rallies” and two-hour blockades from Thursday to demand a final date for the fifth round of tripartite talks on Gorkhaland.

“During the fourth round (of negotiations on December 21), we had demanded political-level talks and the government was to respond within 45 days. The deadline (of 45 days) comes to an end on February 6, but we have decided to hold rallies and blockades from January 21,” said Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri, indicating that the party would keep the government under pressure till the date was finalised for the fifth round. The decision to start a fresh agitation was taken by Morcha president Bimal Gurung at a meeting yesterday.

The Morcha had lifted its blockades on national highways on January 2 after its leaders said they have had “positive” feedback from the Union home ministry that the next round of talks would be at the political level. The venue and date for the fifth round of negotiation is yet to be finalised.

“The mass rallies will be held from 10am to 1pm till February 7. The roadblocks will, however, take place everyday for two hours from 10am,” said Giri. The blockades will be held across the hills and the Dooars and Terai, said Giri. During the blockade, traffic on all three highways — NH55 which connects Siliguri to Darjeeling, NH31A, the lifeline to Sikkim, and NH31 leading to the Northeast — is likely to be affected.

The party has decided to keep all government offices open between January 21 and February 7. The relaxation was announced to facilitate hill employees to draw their salaries. “However, those offices which collect taxes will continue to remain closed,” said Giri.

The Morcha leader said the party would observe Subash Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary on January 23 and would hold programmes across the hills and the plains on Republic Day.

“On the day when the fifth round of talks takes place, a dharna will be held in Delhi. A representative each from our frontal organisations will take part in the dharna apart from supporters from across the country,” said Giri.

Yesterday’s meeting at Jamuni started with the party observing a minute’s silence in memory of Jyoti Basu. It was attended by members of the central committee and leaders of the party’s frontal organisations.

A bonding behind bars - Former jailer and IG recollects his 35-year-old friendship with CPM patriarch

A procession brought out in memory of Jyoti Basu in Malda on Monday. Picture by Surajit Roy VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, Darjeeling, Jan. 18: Jyoti Basu’s friendship with Krishna Singh Moktan blossomed in the dark dungeons of Bengal’s jails but when the politician later met the jailer, he rarely showed any emotion. For, Basu was a man of few words. But when it was time to bid farewell to Moktan after an association of 35 years, the CPM patriarch, for the first time, could not hide his feelings. “Please keep in touch,” he had told Moktan. Moktan had first met Basu when he was posted as the superintendent of Dum Dum Central Jail in 1965. Pakistan had attacked India then and many communist leaders were arrested under the “PD Act”. “Twelve leaders, including Jyoti Basu, Pramode Dasgupta, Binay Konar and Ratanlal Brahmin were brought to the jail under the Preventive Detention Act,” said Moktan. Among the group, Promode Dasgupta was the most jovial. “Early morning while doing the rounds, I used to greet Basu. He used to merely acknowledge my greetings. He looked very reflective, sharing very little with even his friends and spending most of the time reading books,” Moktan recalled. A file picture of MoktanFor 17 days, Moktan used to do three rounds of the jail a day, always looking forward to conversations with Basu that were more than one line long. But the jailer could never get much out of him. “We were finally told to release the leaders at midnight and I thought my short interaction with Basu was over.” Basu argued with the magistrates so that all of the arrested men were accorded the status of political prisoners. Once more, there were no long conversations. For one-and-a-half months, Moktan routinely greeted Basu only to get his traditional one-line responses.But it was not to be. In 1973, when Moktan was the superintendent of Presidency Jail in Calcutta, Basu, along with 350 others, were again brought in. “We had to get 11 magistrates in jail to record the arrests. They were all lined up on the lawn and, as Basu came before the magistrate, he looked at me, again without any emotion, and asked for the jail code,” said 80- year-old Moktan. “The rest of the prisoners, after getting their status, would talk about their rights and the quality of food but Basu never complained and always spoke little,” the former jail superintendent said. The third meeting between Basu and Moktan was at Alipore Jail in 1975. Indira Gandhi had declared Emergency and many Left leaders were arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act. This time, Basu told Moktan: “I have seen you earlier.” But soon after, the government in the state changed and Moktan climbed up the professional ladder to become the deputy inspector-general (jails) in 1978. A year before, Basu had taken charge as chief minister. “We used to meet regularly since then and every time we did, he simply used to say ‘We meet again’. There was no trace of emotion,” recounted Moktan. In 1988, Moktan was to retire as inspector-general (jails) but Basu’s government refused to let him go. “I was given extensions for 10 years. Basu always wanted me to stay back and talked about Dr Mani Kumar Chhetri (also from Darjeeling). But in 1999, I decided to come back to my family in Darjeeling.” After listening to Moktan’s plea to be released as IG, Basu, for the first time showed emotion. “He told me, please keep in touch.” “I did call him up on his birthdays and visited him in 2004. For a small fry like me it was difficult to stay in touch consistently. I have always prayed for him on his birthdays and will continue to do so for his soul,” said Moktan. Girl files FIR against dad to stop marriage TT, Malda, Jan. 18: A 14-year-old girl from a Malda village filed an FIR against her father after he refused to listen to her pleas that she did not want to get married before she attained the marriageable age of 18. The girl, however, had broken down after she reached Gajole police station yesterday. She was accompanied by her neighbours from Raniganj village, 40km from here, who wanted to stand by her. This afternoon, police handed over the girl to her father, Bikash Sarkar, a farmer, who had fled home yesterday after he heard about the police complaint and had vouched that she was no longer his responsibility. Sarkar gave an undertaking to the police that he would let his daughter continue her studies. The marriage of the Class VIII student of K.C. High School had been fixed with a small-time trader in nearby Saluka village. Sarkar who has four children — three daughters and a son — was determined to get his second daughter married on January 25. She had burst into tears when she heard about her father’s plan. All her pleas to him to cancel the marriage had fallen on deaf ears. “But I always supported my daughter. I want her to continue her studies till she grew up enough to get married. My husband was adamant. I don’t earn enough to defy him and did not know what to do,” said Saraswati Sarkar, who stays in Radhakantapur, 20km from Raniganj where the girl lived with her uncle. Since Radhakantapur does not have any high school, Sarkar had admitted his two elder daughters to the school in Raniganj. The father had married off the elder daughter three years ago when she was a student of Class IX. When Sarkar came to Raniganj yesterday to take away his second daughter for the marriage, she started crying. It was then that neighbours came to her rescue. Disowned by her father and her uncle, the girl spent last night at a neighbour’s house. “If the parents of the girl or her relatives refuse to take her responsibility, the government should come forward and ensure that she could continue her studies,” officer-in-charge of the Gajole police station Moqsedoor Rahman told reporters yesterday. This afternoon, however, Sarkar turned up at the police station with his neighbours from Radhakantapur and took away his daughter, assuring her that he would not marry her off against her wishes. Back home, Sarkar told reporters that he had finalised the marriage because the groom was a “suitable candidate” for his daughter. Saraswati said she was against the marriage of the minor girl from the very beginning. “I wanted her to grow up, become more mature before she settled down,” she said. District superintendent of police Bhuban Mondal said the girl’s courage was “very much appreciable”. The police will stand by her and ensure that she continues her studies, Mondal said. Jaymalya Bagchi, an advocate of Calcutta high court, said according to the Hindu Marriage Act, the marriage of a minor girl (below 18) was considered illegal and punishable. “A person guilty of awarding a minor's marriage can be sent to jail for up to two months,” he said. SFI bags two college unions in Siliguri TT, Siliguri, Jan. 18: The SFI emerged victorious in elections to two college unions in Siliguri today even as the Opposition — the Trinamul Chhatra Parishad and the Chhatra Parishad — claimed that none of its supporters cast their votes because of a state holiday. “We have won by a wide margin in Siliguri ITI College at 2nd Mile and Kalipada Ghosh Terai Mahavidyalaya in Bagdogra. We dedicate this win and victories in other colleges of Siliguri to our respected leader Jyoti Basu,” said Saurav Das, the SFI’s district secretary. In the Bagdogra college, the TMCP, CP, SFI, All India Democratic Students’ Organisation, Kamptapur Students’ Organisation and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad were in the fray, while the contest was between the SFI and TMCP-CP alliance in Siliguri ITI located on the outskirts of the town. “Most of our supporters thought that the college would remain closed today because of the state holiday that was declared after Basu’s death so they did not turn up to cast their votes. There were also very less vehicles plying today making it difficult for them to come to the college,” said Swagata Ghosh, the district working president of the TMCP. The KSO contested on its own in the Bagdogra college this time, dividing the votes and facilitating the SFI’s victory, he said. The SFI won 13 of the 18 seats on the men’s campus of the Siliguri ITI and seven of the eight seats on the women’s campus. The TMCP-CP alliance bagged five (three by TMCP and two by CP) and one seat respectively. At the Bagdogra college, election was held in 113 seats amid deployment of a large force. “Of the 3,204 voters, 2,305 have cast their votes, recording a 72 per cent turn out,” said Ranjit Das, the college principal. Despite the SFI win, confusion prevailed on the total number of seats bagged by the rivals. “We have won 69 seats and the TMCP-CP alliance has 44,” the SFI secretary said. The Opposition, however, gave a different figure. “We have bagged 52 seats and the SFI has won in 61,” said Abhijit Roy Chowdhury, the Siliguri Town Chhatra Parishad president. College sources, however, said the SFI has formed the union with 69 seats. Basu gets state funeral tomorrow; Hasina, Sonia to be present BBC, Kolkata, 18 January : "Jyoti Basu will be given a state funeral tomorrow. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will led a 30-member delegation to pay tribute to Basu at the state assembly premises where his body will be kept for over five hours," Assembly Speaker Hasim Abdul Halim told mediapersons in Kolkata. Hasina, who will reach Kolkata in the morning by a special flight, will be accompanied by four of her cabinet colleagues and Bangladesh's former military ruler Hussain Muhammed Ershad who had studied in school and college in West Bengal. Among other leaders to pay homage would be Union ministers Sharad Pawar and S Jaipal Reddy, former Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav. Under a changed schedule, Basu's body will be taken from the funeral parlour, where it is being kept, to CPI(M) state headquarters at Alimuddin Street at around 8:30 AM. CPI(M) politburo and Central and state committee members besides leaders of other political parties will pay homage to Basu at the CPI(M) headquarters, CPI(M) state secretary Biman Bose said. From Alimuddin Street, Basu's body will be taken to the state secretariat, Writers Building, for a few minutes where Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will place wreaths on the body. The body will then be taken to the assembly premises where it will be kept for five hours from 10:00 AM. Basu's final journey will begin from the assembly premises at 3:00 PM and a guard of honour will be given to him at Moharkunj, a park near SSKM Hospital where his body has been donated. A holiday has been declared in the state government offices as a mark of respect to the veteran communist leader and mourning processions were taken out across West Bengal with placards reading 'Jyoti Basu Amar Rahe' . န Photo : Reuters  LAST RITES IE:Jyoti Basu did not observe the rituals after the death of his father N K Basu. But his son, Chandan, is not averse to rituals. "My father was a Communist," Chandan said on Monday. "He did not believe in rituals. But I am a believer. I observed the last rites after my mother passed away. And I have started observing the rituals after my dad's demise in my own way." He will, however, be unable to perform the last rites as Basu had donated his body. "It was his decision, so that he could serve the society even in death. We respect his decision," he said. After Basu's death, "Chandan returned home directly," said his wife Rakhi. "He did not go to Peace Haven. He just confined himself to a room and we did not speak to him." "He (Basu) visited our home for the last time around nine months ago. Our son, Subhajit, went to Indira Bhavan every day," Rakhi said. "I have always seen my father as an extremely busy statesman," said Chandan. "However, politics never alienated him from his family. He was extremely attached to us and was always there to help us in every need."