Morcha U-turn on hill stand-in

TT, Darjeeling, Dec 1: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today made a turnaround with its leadership announcing that the party would not accept any interim administrative arrangement for the hills once the DGHC is dissolved. 

“Any alternative arrangement in place of the DGHC has to be statehood and nothing less. There has been some confusion and we would want to clarify that the party will not accept any interim arrangements,” said Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri here today.

After the third round of talks in New Delhi on August 11, a Union home ministry release had stated: “It was agreed in principle to repeal the DGHC Act 1988. The repealing of the act would be processed as soon as an alternative administrative/framework is finalised through mutual consultations and agreement.”

The “alternative administrative framework” clause in the release created much confusion with ABGL president Madan Tamang alleging that the Morcha had already agreed to a DGHC double in place of Gorkhaland. His comments caused a political debate in the hills, with the Morcha stating that its goal was only achieving statehood.

Adding to the confusion was Harka Bahadur Chhetri, spokesperson of the Morcha, who declared yesterday that the interim arrangement had to be time bound, encompassing the entire district of Darjeeling and parts of the Dooars and Terai apart from being more powerful than the Sixth Schedule status that the government had once agreed to confer. Chhetri’s statement had partially vindicated Tamang’s allegation even though the Morcha spokesperson had talked about a time-bound set-up.

Giri, however, urged the hills to stop listening to “government stooges ”, referring to Tamang without naming him. “We will not budge an inch from the statehood demand. Our agitation is for Gorkhaland and nothing else,” said Giri.

Observers believe that the party was under tremendous pressure to clarify its stand given the fact that conflicting statements were being issued by the Morcha leadership.

The party hopes today’s clarification will end the confusion over the alternative arrangement although sources said the Morcha demand for dissolving the DGHC is unlikely to be met soon as the home ministry has made its clear that it will be possible only after a stand-in set-up is in place.

In the meantime, the interlocutor for the fourth round of talks, Lieutenant-General (retired) Vijay Madan, is scheduled to arrive in Darjeeling tomorrow.

Asked if the Morcha will tell the interlocutor that they do not want any interim arrangements, Giri said: “There is no question of informing him.”

Gorkhaland not part of talks

TT, Jaigaon, Dec. 1: Leaders of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad today penned an agreement that aims at reducing tensions between the supporters of both the parties in the Terai and Dooars area of north Bengal.

Morcha spokesperson and central committee member Harka Bahadur Chhetri and adviser to the Parishad Kiron Kalindi inked the deal at the Agrasan Bhavan in Madarihat today.

“We have agreed to reduce tensions between our supporters in the region and it has been decided that leaders of both the sides should meet regularly in order review the situation. Rumours that are spread and baseless allegations that are levelled are to be dealt with speed and it should be ensured that things do not go out of hand. We are here to live in harmony and there should be no room for misunderstandings between us,” Chhetri said after the meeting.

On several occasions the supporters of the two outfits had come to blows especially with a section of tea garden workers joining the Morcha bandwagon in recent times.

The latest violence was on November 9, when alleged Parishad supporters attacked the house of the vice-president of the Morcha’s Jaigaon branch, Indra Bahadur Chhetri in Bharnobari tea estate for campaigning for the party-backed candidate for the Kalchini byelections. The houses of two other Morcha supporters, Bharat Chhetri and Asit Thapa in the same garden, were also ransacked.

Raju Bara, a Parishad leader and seven others were arrested by the Hasimara police for the ransacks, sparking protests by the Adivasi body.

Incidentally, the Morcha had tasted its first success in electoral politics in the plains and not the hills with the victory of the Independent it had backed in Kalchini, which is part of the Dooars. “I remember chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee challenging me to win an election when I raised the issue of the (inclusion of the) Dooars (in Gorkhaland) at one of our meetings in Calcutta. He had snubbed us on Dooars and I had staged a walkout. The vic-tory in Kalchini is a slap in Bhattacharjee’s face,” Morcha president Bimal Gurung had said on the day the results were announced. “We will now say there is a mandate for Gorkhaland even in the Dooars and this stand will figure prominently in the next round of talks,” he had added.

However, neither Gorkhaland nor the inclusion of the Dooars and the Terai in the state was discussed at today’s meeting.

Rajesh Lakra, the secretary of the Dooars-Terai committee’s of the Parishad, said on November 15, the Morcha’s organising secretary for the region Samuel Gurung had written to the Adivasi outfit, asking for a meeting.

“We held a meeting at Banarhat on Sunday to decide on a response and it was decided that we would sit today and sort out matters. We thought we would talk about bringing tensions down and the development of the region for common good,” Lakra said.

The state committee secretary of the Parishad, Birsa Tirkey, however, said the issue of the demand for Gorkhaland was unimportant. “Today’s meeting was for peace and progress, but the demand for a separate state or Gorkhaland cannot be accepted at any cost,” he said.

ABAVP not to support Gorkhaland demand

SNS JALPAIGURI, 1 DEC: The Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad will not support the Gorkhaland cause. The ABAVP leadership expressed its stand to the GJMM leadership in a “peace meeting” at Malbazaar in Jalpaiguri district today.

Although the GJMM leadership today said the meeting was held with peace as the exclusive agenda and that it had not broached the subject of Gorkhaland, a section of ABAVP leadership stated otherwise.
“The GJMM leadership urged us to support the Gorkhaland demand which the ABAVP leadership refused,” said an ABAVP leader.
“We have no objection if the GJMM succeeds in forming Gorkhaland in the Darjeeling Hills but we would not allow them to stake claim on the Dooars. The Adivasis are the majority in the Dooars and we would not allow a division of the Dooars at any cost,” the ABAVP leader claimed.
According to the ABAVP leadership, the GJMM had sent them a letter on 15 November requesting a peace meeting and also about development issues of the Dooars. According to the GJMM spokesperson Dr Harka Bahadur Chettri, the GJMM signed an agreement with the ABAVP today to restore communal harmony and peace in the Dooars.
“The prevailing political turmoil and ethnic clashes in the Dooars have made both the GJMM and ABAVP leaders wary and we feel a need to stop it. We signed an agreement today agreeing not to fight each other anymore,” Dr Chettri said. The GJMM central committee member Mr Amar Lama, Dooars based GJMM leaders Vinod Ghatani, Samuel Gurung etc. attended today's meeting. According to the ABAVAP Dooars Terai Coordination Committee adviser Mr Kiran Kalendi, both the platforms would organize awareness campaigns among their respective communities.
“Several GJMM and ABAVP supporters of the Dooars have lost their houses and properties following the ethnic clashes and it was increasing every day. Today we also decided to hold more such meetings in future to avoid communal dispute,” said Mr Kalendi.
Senior ABAVP leaders like Mr Rajesh Lakra and Mr Rajesh Toppo attended today's meeting. (Photo:TOI)

GNLF-backed body threatens Terai bandh

SNS. SILIGURI 1 DEC: The GNLF-backed Gorkha Janjati Manyata Samaraho Samity has threatened a four-day long shutdown in the Terai belt from 3 December, if it is not given permission to hold a proposed convention at Panighatta in Kurseong sub-division from 4 December.
The Kurseong civil administration has so far rejected two subsequent prayers seeking permission for the event, for want of a green signal from the local police.
Branded as an ‘apolitical body’, the Gorkha Janjati Manyata Samaraho Samity was floated very recently to press for the Schedule Tribe status for all Darjeeling Gorkha's ~ a demand that the GNLF supremo Mr Subash Ghisingh first raised in 2008.
The Samity announced to hold a three-day long cultural convention at Panighatta from 4 to 6 December, which, according to political observers, is a GNLF ploy to make a come back in the Hills politics. In fact, Mr Ghising features in list the invited dignitaries for the proposed event.
However, apprehending commotion with the rival GJMM, the Kurseong civil administration has rejected permission for the event. But the organisers are still adamant.
“We have once again appealed the police and the administration to re-look into the matter and if we are not granted permission by tomorrow, we would go for a four-day long Terai belt strike from 3 December,” said the Samity's president Mr Rajen Mukhiya, who also happens to be the GNLF's prime leader in the Terai.
Meanwhile, to spoil all chances of a permission for the event, the rival GJMM activists today kick start a football tourney at the proposed convention venue ~ the Panighatta High School Ground and the same is to continue till 18 December. Contacted over the issue, the Kurseong SDO Mr Suden Bhutia said that the decision to deny permission for the proposed convention has been taken on the basis of a police report.
“Panighatta has witnessed several GNLF-GJMM clashes in the past one year and hence, the local police have objection to the proposed event as there is the apprehension of fresh commotions,” Mr Bhutia said ruling out a re-look into the matter. However, in the event of the strike threat, the administration is keeping its finger crossed. “The police and us are vigilant over the changing situation and additional forces would be deployed at Panighatta, if needed,” the SDO said.

Tamang fires court salvo again

TT, Siliguri, Dec. 1: Armed with a certified copy of an order refusing him permission to hold rallies in the hills, ABGL chief Madan Tamang today iterated that he would file a case against the Darjeeling district administration for issuing such an order against the December 7 meeting.

“We had applied to the officer-in-charge of Darjeeling police station on November 22, requesting permission to use microphones to hold a public meeting. However, the police denied the permission, citing law and order problem,” Tamang said here.

“It is sheer undemocratic for the administration to deny us the permission. We have obtained a certified copy of the refusal of permission from the police today and now plan to move the high court. We will question the so-called law and order problem,” he said.

Tamang, who returned from Calcutta today, alleged that the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha was was conspiring to move the venue of the fourth round of tripartite talks on December 21 from Darjeeling to Delhi.

“The Morcha leaders, in connivance with the state government, are attempting to shift the venue of the meeting as they are compromising with the demand for separate statehood and do not have the confidence to face the people in the hills,” he said.

Tamang appealed to former chief minister Jyoti Basu to ask his successor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to approve the statehood demand. “If Purulia could be included in Bengal after being separated from Bihar by the state reorganisation commission back in 1955 for having a majority of Bengali-speaking people, both the state and central governments should follow the same principle and liberate Darjeeling. I will urge Basu to speak to Bhattacharjee on this,” he said.

Bail plea rejected 
JALPAIGURI, 1 DEC: Alipurduar sub-divisional court rejected the bail plea of the Akhil Bhartiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad leader, Mr Raju Bara today. He was arrested in connection with an ABAVP-GJMM clash at Hasimara last month.
Top General Indicted in Land Scam of Sukuna
IE, New Delhi :The Court of Inquiry into the Darjeeling land scam case has brought out that a Siliguri real estate developer and one of the seniormost generals in the Army were in constant touch while a dubious Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was being drafted to clinch the land deal.

The CoI has established through phone records that real estate developer Dilip Agarwal, who inked the MoU to obtain No Objection Certificates from the Army for 71 acres near the 33 Corps HQ in Sukna Cantonment, was in constant touch with Lt Gen Avadhesh Prakash, Military Secretary (MS) at Army HQ, while the deal was being sealed.
While Lt Gen Prakash did not have a direct role in granting the NOCs, the CoI has brought out that that he used his influence as one of the seniormost officers in the Army to ensure that the deal went through.
The case, which is turning out to be a big scandal involving top Army officers, unravelled after it came to light that a massive land deal in Sukna was cleared by the Army against norms.
Lt Gen Prakash, who was called to Kolkata for questioning in the case, admitted he had known Agarwal for more than a decade. He was called for questioning after Lt Gen P K Rath, whose appointment as Deputy Chief of Army Staff has since been scrapped by the Ministry of Defence, told the CoI that an educational institution had been recommended by Lt Gen Prakash.
The inquiry has also established that Lt Gen Prakash was in constant touch with Lt Gen Rath and Agarwal while the deal was being struck. The following phone records were presented at the CoI:
• February 7: Lt Gen Prakash called Dilip Agarwal a day before the 33 Corps HQ gave an undertaking to the Commissioner General of Land Reforms, West Bengal on February 8 that the Army had “no objection if an educational institution and residential facility is set up in the proposed land measuring about 71 acres”. This MoU was in direct contradiction to an earlier projection made by the Army in December 2008 that the land should be acquired by the military for security reasons. • March 19: A day before the MoU was to be signed, Agarwal and Lt Gen Prakash spoke four times between 10.30 am and 12.40 pm. This was allegedly the time when the MoU was being drafted in Darjeeling.

• March 20: The day the MoU granting NoCs for transfer of land was signed between the Army and the educational institution, Agarwal spoke to Lt Gen Prakash on his official phone number at Army HQ at 10.49 am. At 3.49 pm, after the MoU had been signed, Agarwal spoke to Lt Gen Prakash again, this time on his mobile. Agarwal was one of the persons who signed the MoU with the Army.
The CoI also probed allegations that Lt Gen Prakash was being offered the role to head the upcoming school if the deal went through. Sources said that the findings of the CoI, which concluded over the weekend, have been sent to the Eastern Army Commander for confirmation.
The Defence Ministry, which has already asked for a report on the issue, is now expected to intervene given that two of the seniormost Generals have been indicted in the inquiry.
The Army has been asked to expedite the inquiry and fix responsibility at the earliest by Defence Minister A K Antony who has also sent a strongly worded note to Army HQ on the issue.

PRASHANT IN NEPALI FILM

Kathmandu, Nov 26 (IANS) He started his career as a cop and in 2007 shot to fame when he won the popular music contest ‘Indian Idol’. Now Prashant Tamang has hit the headlines once again by ‘joining’ the British Gurkhas and ‘tying the knot’.

The 26-year-old from Darjeeling has been camping in Nepal, from where his ancestors hailed, to kickstart a new career in acting with the Nepali film ‘Gurkha Paltan’ (The Gurkha Brigade).

Prashant, who became a youth icon in Nepal after winning the third edition of the music reality show against formidable odds, is shooting for the movie in picturesque Palpa district in central Nepal - it is known for its hand-woven cloth and the valiant Gurkha warriors who make their way to the British and Indian armies.

Nepali singer Narayan Rayamajhi is making his debut as a director with ‘Gurkha Paltan’, the tale of young Nepali men being forced to join foreign armies for want of opportunities in their own country and the hardship and privation they undergo.

While casting for his film, Rayamajhi was looking for actors who would have an army background and he found Prashant - with his police career, he was perfect for the role.

Prashant plays Nirman, the fatherless boy who is compelled to join the British Army to take care of his mother and sister.

Prashant, who lost his father at the age of eight and joined the West Bengal Police when he was 18 to fend for his mother and sister, was moved by the story that he says could be his own life story.

From Mumbai, India’s film and finance capital, he has moved to Phulbari in Palpa, a village that every year sends dozens of its sons to try their luck in the British Army.

One of the recent sequences that he shot includes the return of Nirman to his village on leave when he gets married to a girl from the village, played by Nepali actress Ranjita Gurung.

The wiry Prashant, with his trademark beaming smile, looks dashing in the traditional attire of a Nepali groom - a long checked tunic made of the famed Palpa cloth and a matching cap with traditional garlands of grass and red strings around his neck.

The Nepal film industry is watching the making of ‘Gurkha Paltan’ keenly.

Prior to this, Prashant was expected to make his debut with a biopic by debutant Nepali director Dinesh Raj Sharma, but the project is yet to go on floors.

Rayamajhi and Sunil Thapa, the veteran bad man of the Nepali film industry, say they are happy with Prasant’s acting skills.

If ‘Gurkha Paltan’ enjoys reasonable success, Prashant would have a new career in showbiz in the Nepali film industry.

Nepali films are also watched by the diaspora in Mumbai, Darjeeling, Sikkim, Hong Kong, London and the Middle East.

(Sudeshna Sarkar can be contacted at sudeshna.s@ians.in)

Gorkhas Repeat: Won't take no this time

Subrata Nagchoudhary, IE, Kolkata 1 Dec:An image makeover for Darjeeling to coincide with the secretary-level tripartite talks, slated for December 21, is almost complete. The words “West Bengal” have been wiped off all signboards on shops, business establishments, hotels and even in most government premises in all the three hill sub-divisions. Instead, “Gorkhaland” has been inserted in all such premises as a mandatory step.

The contours of a new Gorkhaland state have begun to take shape under Bimal Gurung and his associates who have designed and executed a meticulous campaign to show New Delhi and the state government that Darjeeling is no more a part of West Bengal, whatever be the outcome of the tri-partite discussions.

With the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha whipping up a frenzy for a separate Gorkhaland, there are clear rumblings of a major showdown from the hills if the Gorkha aspiration for a separate state fails to take a definite shape this time around. Every tea stall, business enterprise, hotel and other establishments on the way to Darjeeling adores this new lexicon — Gorkhaland. Those who could not afford a fresh coat of paint to display “Gorkhaland” after having deleted West Bengal, have computer print outs proclaiming Darjeeling’s new identity pasted on their walls. The physical changes are matched by equally aggressive pronouncements by Gurung and his colleagues.

“We have only one agenda for this round of talks — creation of a separate state of Gorkhaland,” says Gurung, the president of the GJM. “Before that we are not going to deviate in any direction,” Gurung adds. His lieutenant, Roshan Giri, joins in to elaborate the underlying mood: “Should the December 21 talk fails to arrive at a consensus for a separate Gorkhaland state, we would unilaterally declare the Gorkha state. We would be the sole caretaker of Gorkhas’ fate.”

The image makeover in Darjeeling began on November 7 after Gurung issued specific fatwa for immediate implementation. The Morcha leaders’ desperation is largely explained by the fact that no tangible results have come out of the GJM-sponsored agitation for Gorkhaland in the past two years and the movement runs the risk of losing its steam. Gurung’s promise of a separate state by March 2010 has almost fallen flat. He has been abundantly apologetic over the slip. His next move to push the Gorkha cause by roping in BJP heavyweight Jaswant Singh proved futile too, after the expulsion of Singh for his book on Jinnah.

The Congress, the Trinamool and the CPM are opposed to division of Bengal. The senior-most Congress leader from Bengal, Pranab Mukherjee, has been categorical about not supporting Gorkhaland. Gurung and his party don’t seem to have too many options but to lend a highly emotive pan-Nepali/Gorkha edge to the continuing agitation.

GOVT TO INTRODUCE DIGITAL RATION CARD

Government has approved in December 2008 implementation of a pilot scheme on smart cards based TPDS in Chandigarh and Haryana. To make delivery of services more efficient under Targeted Public Distribution System Under it, eligible BPL families would be issued smart cards in place of existing ration cards. These smart cards will have biometric features of family members, based on which verification of genuineness of the BPL families will take place and thereafter only the essential commodities would be issued to them from fair price shops. 

For commencing implementation of smart card based delivery of essential commodities, work is in progress by implementing agencies-Government of Haryana, Chandigarh UT Administration and National Informatics Centre. 

This information was given by Prof. K.V. Thomas, Minister of State for Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today. (pib)

Weather report dated 01.12.09 

Local forecast for next 24 hours (Gangtok & its neighborhood):

       Generally cloudy sky .  Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 14°C and 09°C respectively. Gangtok city forecast of Max., Min. & Wx. Condition.

Valid for the period	Max in oC	Min in oC	Rainfall in mm	Wx condition
Next 24 hours	14	09	000.0	Generally cloudy sky.
Next 48 hours	15	09	000.0	Generally cloudy sky.

III.   Met data dated 01.12.2009 

Today’s Sun sets at (in IST)	16:38	Tomorrow Sun rises at (in IST)	06:07
Moon rises at (in IST)	16:34	Moon sets at (in IST)	06:00
24 hours rainfall (in mm)	000.0
Max Temp. (in 0C)	15.8	Dep. from normal	-1.2
Min Temp. (in 0C)	09.7	Dep. from normal	+2.7

Have to consider GJM's viewpoint, says interlocutor

TNN 1 December 2009,KOLKATA: Lt-Gen (retd) Vijay Madan, the interlocutor appointed by the Centre to hold talks with all stakeholders over Gorkhaland, said on Monday that negotiating with Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) was the only way to honour sentiments of Hill residents. This would also help all parties involved in understanding the crux of the Gorkha problem, he said.

Madan met state chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti and home secretary Ardhendu Sen at the state secretariat during the day.

Madan is scheduled to meet Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Tuesday and brief him about talks with GJM leaders.

The interlocutor said he would go to Darjeeling on Wednesday for a fresh round of talks with GJM leaders. Madan is scheduled to take part in a tripartite meeting at Darjeeling on December 21.

Talking to reporters at Writers' Buildings, Madan said that he was more than satisfied with his interactions with GJM leaders.

"Talks with GJM leaders were held in a very friendly atmosphere. They are nice people who listen to suggestions carefully and respond to them too," he said.

Asked if the fourth round of tripartite talks scheduled to be held in Darjeeling on December 21 would lead to a solution to the problem, Madan said that the decision would have to be taken at the political level.

"I am not the right person to comment on a solution to any problem. I will narrate the experiences I had on talks at various levels to the Centre," he added.

The state top brass, who are scheduled to participate in tripartite talks on December 21, will have to address problems of acute water crisis, the sorry state of roads and other civic problems in the hills which the GJM leaders are expected to raise at the talks.

Morcha yes to hill stand-in - Interlocutor meets CM at Writers’

TT, Kalimpong/Calcutta, Nov. 30: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha said any interim administrative arrangement would have to include the Dooars on a day the interlocutor appointed by the Union home ministry to facilitate the fourth round of talks stepped into Writers’ Buildings for the first time. Lieutenant-General (retired) Vijay Madan, the interlocutor, met the state chief and home secretaries and chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to get a grasp of the ongoing problem in the Darjeeling hills. Up in the hills, the Morcha said it was willing to accept an interim administration in place of the DGHC, but only if the new arrangement meets three of its conditions. The party’s revelation comes after it was put under the scanner by ABGL president Madan Tamang who alleged that the Morcha was settling for an alternative to the DGHC and scuttling the demand for a separate state. Tamang’s allegation has raised the political discourse to a fever pitch in the hills in the run up to the fourth round of tripartite talks scheduled in Darjeeling on December 21. Clarifying the party stand, Morcha spokesperson Harka Bahadur Chhetri said the three primary conditions for the interim arrangement were: it must cover the entire Darjeeling district and parts of the Dooars and Terai; it must be time-bound; and it should be more powerful than autonomy granted under the Sixth Schedule. “Except for the judiciary and law and order, all financial and legislative powers that will enable us to form rules and regulations, should be completely detached from the state government,” he added. The party, Chhetri said, would use the interim arrangement to secure the geographical boundary of the Gorkha state it has been demanding. The Morcha “map” shows “Gorkhaland” extending from the Mechi river in the west to Sankosh in the east. “Once the DGHC act is repealed, the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad will also have to be abolished. The entire district will then have to come under the interim arrangement,” he added. Chhetri said any interim set-up that does not include these three conditions would remain a non-starter. “However, the interim arrangement will be the least of our focus during the talks. Instead, we will be driving hard on the Gorkhaland issue. People should not fall prey to the falsehood being spread by the stooges of the state government,” he added. In Calcutta, Madan said he had come to meet senior state officials and the chief minister. “I am a soldier and believe that there is a solution to every problem,” he added. Asked if the “problem” would be an easy one to tackle, the interlocutor said: “There are areas that are black and white and grey ones as well. We all have to tackle that. Your chief minister is a man of great intellect and a gentleman. The people representing the movement in the hills are also all nice persons.” Madan will meet governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi tomorrow and visit Darjeeling the next day. “I will submit a report to Delhi on December 4,” he said. Chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti said he could not comment on his interaction with the interlocutor, as it was a “sensitive” issue. Gorkhaland Talks near IE,Kolkata,1 Dec: With 20 days to go for the tripartite talks between the state government, Centre and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), Lt General (retd) Vijay Madan, the Centre’s interlocutor, met Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Monday and discussed the issue of Gorkhaland. Asked about the demand put forth by GJM, Madan said: “There is nothing called absolute victory. Even America did not have absolute victory. I am a soldier and I have come here to find a solution for this issue (Gorkhaland).” “There are many stakeholders and I will have to speak to all of them. And only then will I submit my report to the Central government,” said the interlocutor. The tripartite meeting is going to be held at Darjeeling on December 21. The decision to appoint an interlocutor was taken in the last tripartite meeting held in Delhi three months ago. Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakrabarti and Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen were also present in the meeting where the state government presented its stand on the issue of Gorkhaland. On Tuesday, Madan will meet Minister for Urban Development Ashok Bhattacharya and later in the day he will be meeting Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi. He will be going to Darjeeling on December 2. Bhattacharya said he would apprise Madan about the situation in the Hills. “I am going to tell him about the prevailing situation and how the economy in the Hills is being affected seriously because of the continuous protests,” said Bhattacharya. Gorkhaland

SNS, KOLKATA, 30 NOV: The Centre appointed interlocutor, Lt Gen. (retired) Mr Vijay Madan today said “there cannot be any outright victory,” on the issue of formation of Gorkhaland as demanded by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) following a meeting with the chief minister and chief secretary today. The interlocutor will also meet Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi tomorrow as well as the CPI-M minister from Siliguri, Mr Asok Bhattacharya before proceeding towards Darjeeling for a meeting with the GJMM leaders ahead of the tripartite talks and report to the Centre on 4 December. 
Gorkhaland Issue Tripartite meeting
PTI, Kolkata, Nov 30 The Centre today said a tripartite meeting to resolve the vexed Gorkhaland issue would be held in New Delhi on December 21.
"Representatives of Centre, state government and GJM would attend the meeting," the Centre's interlocutor on the matter Vijay Madan told newsmen here.
Earlier in the day, Madan had a meeting with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Chief Secretary Asok Mohan Chakraborty and Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen.
Madan, a retired Lieutenant General of Army, said the Gorkhaland issue needed a political solution. "There is no problem in the world that could not be solved through dialogue," he said.
Madan is scheduled to meet Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Municipal Affairs Minister Asok Bhattacharya and several state government officials tomorrow before returning to Darjeeling on Wednesday.

Goa red carpet for Sikkim girl - Avartan screened at film fest

Gangtok, Nov. 30: Seven-year-old Yuden Zongtenpa walked the red carpet at a theatre in Panaji in Goa last evening. The child artiste from Sikkim had for company Rajat Kapoor and Rituparna Sengupta.

The three of them have starred in Amol Palekar’s Avartan, a feature shot entirely in Sikkim and screened at the 40th Indian International Film Festival in Goa.

“It was received very well as far as we gathered from the audience reaction. Yuden was also at the post-screening press conference that was held today and is spending the day at the beaches,” said proud mother Rebina Rai.

She said journalists had shot several questions at the child artiste. But Yuden did not speak much, confining herself to only saying hello. “She was more interested in hitting the beaches,” Rebina said. She quoted Palekar as saying that no date had been fixed for the film’s release. Palekar said for Yuden’s role, he had interviewed children in Mumbai first, but when he stumbled upon her in Gangtok, her sweet face and immense talent immediately struck him.

Before flying off to Goa, Yuden had told The Telegraph on Friday that apart from looking forward to watching herself on screen, she was keen on walking and playing on the beaches. Asked about the shots she had enjoyed, Yuden said a kite-flying and a wheelbarrow scene shot in West Sikkim were her favourites. She was also excited to meet Rajat Kapoor, whom she called Mojo Jojo, a character in the popular children’s cartoon series, The Powerpuff Girls.

“She wore traditional Sikkimese dress as well as contemporary ones during her shooting at locations in Geyzing and Jorethang in March this year. She was the toast of the entire crew as well as the actors,” the mother said.

Avartan, also titled And Once Again, has been scripted in English by Palekar’s wife, Sandhya Gokhale. The movie has music scores by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy with lyrics by Gulzar.

Sikkim Tourism had spent Rs 1.5 crore on the movie that also showcases the natural beauty of the Himalayan state and is believed to go a long way in promoting tourism.

Time, neglect apply brakes on ropeways

Mohan Prasad, SNS, KURSEONG, 30 NOV: Once a major form of transportation and tourist attraction, ropeways in the Darjeeling hills are creaking to grinding halts in succession.
Many still recollect the good old days when the trolleys rolled overhead transporting goods and men over crevices and hill tops to serene spots when life was not so town centric. Understandably, the kudos go to the British, who had envisaged and rigged the lifelines through the clouds.
Time has applied the brakes on the ropeways and in most instances for good, turning the trolleys into rust buckets. The pylons minus the cables now stand sentinel in many spots ~ a heart-wrenching reminder of the past glory.Take for instance the Balasun Tea Estate Ropeway, which was shut down six years ago with little possibility of a revival.
The Balasun Ropeway is about 20 km downtown Kurseong. In its heydays, it covered about 12 km from Balasun to Marmah Tea Estate and was the lifeline for many.
According to Balasun Tea Estate officials, the British Ropeway Engineering Company Ltd. London had installed the service in the 1930's. The service was shut done six years ago for various reasons ~ damage caused to the ropeway infrastructure chiefly, on a regular basis. Similar reasons had also forced the closure of the Rangbul Ropeway situated approximately 13 km from Darjeeling.
The service used to ferry passengers and cargo over a distance of 30 km from Rangbul to Miling Tea Estate and to Tungsung Tea Estate thereon. The service was discontinued six years ago as well. According to Mr Bir Bahadur Subba, a former employee of the Rangbul Ropeway, the ropeways were a major form of transport before the network of roads developed.
“Now, roads lead to and from almost every corner of the hills. Along with that, the number of vehicles has grown manifold in the Darjeeling hills and the people can avail of road transport easily. The ropeways are not as essential today like the yesteryears,” he pointed out.
“That may be so, but it has taken away the sweetness and adventure of travelling over gorges and ravines through the clouds suspended mid-air from a cable. The tourists regret it for sure,” said Mr Binay Gurung, a senior citizen of the Balasun Tea Estate.

Offices, trains bear brunt of bandh

BJP supporters set up a blockade on NH34 near Malda town. (Surajit Roy) TT, Nov. 30: Supporters of the BJP ransacked two government offices in Malda, pelted a police vehicle with stones in Raiganj and held up several trains in north Bengal as the party observed its 12-hour bandh to protest rise in price of essential commodities. While there was little impact of the shutdown call in Siliguri and Jalpiaguri, most shopowners in Malda, North Dinajpur and Cooch Behar said they did not open their establishments for fear of violence. “Earlier, in Cooch Behar, there used to be stiff resistance from the Forward Bloc and the CPM during bandhs called by opposition parties, but that has changed. We did not see any rallies being taken out this time by the Left parties urging people to thwart the bandh,” Sirajul Sheikh, a resident of Cooch Behar said. In North Dinajpur, the people feared that the BJP would take the help of RSS cadres that have some presence in the district. “Who wants to take the risk? Our establishments are not insured against bandh violence,” said Joynarayan Somany of the West Dinajpur Chamber of Commerce. Around 150 bandh supporters stormed the offices of state forest and sericulture departments in Malda and ransacked furniture and broke windowpanes. They also tried to stop district magistrate Sridhar Ghosh from entering but let him go after a scuffle with police. “Twelve people have been arrested,” said Bhuban Mondal, the superintendent of police of Malda. Jatin Ghosh, the BJP district president, however, denied his party’s role in the ransacking. In Dalkhola, North Dinajpur, some bandh supporters pelted a vehicle carrying policemen with stones on NH34. The police lathicharged to disperse the supporters. The Guwahati-Puri Express and the Kolkata-Raiganj Express via Radhikapur were held up at Malda station for two hours. The Darjeeling Mail was stopped at Telta station near Dalkhola at 5am. It left for New Jalpaiguri at 3pm. The Sealdah bound Kanchenjunga Express departed NJP around 4.30pm, more than eight hours after the scheduled time. The Guwahati-bound Rajdhani Express was delayed for more than five hours and left NJP at 4.30pm. “Train services started becoming normal at 4.30pm,” said G.D Mondal, the station manager of NJP. Goondas find Bengal haven - BJP bandh rampage reflects Delhi ambitions A BJP supporter enforcing the bandh at the mouth of Rajarhat New Town. (Aranya Sen) TT,Nov. 30: The scale of street hooliganism during today’s BJP-sponsored bandh left Bengal stunned amid indications that the unexpected violence stemmed from the ambitions and rivalries of central and state party leaders. Bandh-enforcers armed with sticks and rods torched three buses, attacked cars, snatched drivers’ keys and blocked traffic to Calcutta’s IT hub and airport as the Left government, true to its form during recent bandhs, stayed a spectator. (See Metro) A senior official said the police presence on Calcutta’s streets was less than even the 2,000-odd personnel deployed for the November 24 SUCI bandh — probably the government counted on the BJP having never been a major force in Bengal. Sources, however, suggested the violence had little to do with the official reason for the bandh — price rise — over which the BJP is agitating nation-wide. It was the result, they said, of the efforts of outgoing BJP national president Rajnath Singh, and new state party chief Rahul Sinha, to impress the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Rajnath is eyeing the job of the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha or a similar post and wants to show he and his handpicked Bengal chief can project an “assertive” BJP in a state where it has never wielded much influence. Rajnath today appeared to condone the violence, telling The Telegraph: “It was a spontaneous reaction to extreme poverty. The display of fury is understandable.” Sinha, entangled in a faction fight since being installed on November 6 after the Sangh got Satyabrata (Julu) Mukherjee removed, wanted “to hog the headlines by enforcing the bandh”, state BJP sources said. Sinha is close to the Sangh, whose officials acknowledged that he had got many swayamsevaks on the streets today, especially in Nadia, Malda and other north Bengal districts. So, even though the BJP’s November 20 bandh on the same issue in Delhi, where it has been traditionally powerful, went off peacefully, in Bengal it spawned violence in Calcutta, other areas of south Bengal and parts of north Bengal. In Delhi, the BJP had called a partial bandh, asking shops and commercial establishments to shut but exempting transport, banks, schools, colleges and eateries. Sinha, however, urged the central leaders to allow him to call a total bandh in Bengal. A party functionary in Delhi said that Rajnath readily agreed, saying state units should be free to decide their strategy on public agitations, despite some leaders’ view that the party should not be seen as overly destructive. Last week, Rajnath asked Rajya Sabha MP Prakash Javdekar to monitor the bandh preparations in Bengal. Local leaders were assigned charge of the various zones and Bihar Lok Sabha member Shahnawaz Hussain was told to come to Bengal yesterday to ensure the script was followed. Rajnath stayed in touch with the district supervisors in Bengal over the phone to monitor the bandh’s progress, especially in north Bengal. The violence, however, brought out the factionalism in the state unit. Sinha’s rival and Bengal BJP vice-president Sabyasachi Bagchi slammed the “ferocity” of the violence and said the party’s central leaders should condemn it. He blamed the hooliganism on the “outsiders” the state president had allegedly deployed in Calcutta and Howrah. Sinha denied this, saying “our party workers” were on the streets to “make the bandh a success”. Bagchi’s allegation, however, received support from Mamata Banerjee who claimed the BJP had “brought in CPM cadres to unleash violence” during the bandh. “The CPM and the BJP have been working together in the state since the Lok Sabha elections,” she alleged. Some BJP leaders agreed that the hooligans were CPM cadres but claimed it was a Left ploy “to discredit our party”. One leader said: “There was violence even in Behrampore (Murshidabad) where the BJP has hardly any base.” BJP sources said Sinha was at war with Bagchi and other key officials like general secretary Malay Majumdar. Bagchi, Majumdar and some others today wrote to central BJP leaders complaining about Sinha’s “unethical tactics” in enforcing the bandh. “Rahul camped for two days at the party’s central Calcutta office to work out the strategy of deploying RSS cadres in consultation with general secretary (organisation) Amal Chatterjee, also a key RSS man,” a BJP source said. Sword attack on deserted road - Doctors fear for student’s hand, finger at cong-backed goons Farooq Alam at the nursing home on Monday. Picture by Mehedi Hedaytullah TT, Islampur, Nov. 30: A second year student of Islampur College and CPM supporter was accosted on his way to the institution and his left hand severed, allegedly by Congress backed goons on a day when a BJP sponsored bandh had left the streets deserted and none to answer to the boy’s call for help. Doctors at a private nursing home where Farooq Alam was admitted said his hand will probably have to be amputated. “We are trying our best, but we have to amputate his hand to save his life,” said Dr Majhar Alam. The incident took place at Dhuligaon More, 25km from here, around 11am. Farooq had set out for college on his motorcycle for selection test for the Part II exams. Traffic was scarce and there was hardly anyone around at Dhuligaon More, which is usually a busy crossing. The gang of eight surrounded the motorcycle, forced Farooq to get down and brought the sword down on his left arm near the shoulder. They also hit him on the left wrist. Mohammed Farazuddin, a local committee member of the CPM, alleged that Congress-backed “anti-socials” had attempted to murder his brother. Farazuddin said the gang today was led by local Congress strongman Mohammed Abdul. In February, he had shot at another of Farooq’s siblings, Mohammed Zainal. The family resides in Srijali, which is part of the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat. However, the Islampur area and North Dinajpur as a whole is known as a Congress hub. “Our only fault is that we belong to the CPM and we had fought against the anti-social activities in the area. That is why they have been targeting our family members. When Farooq was attacked, there were only one or two persons around because of the bandh. They informed us and when we reached the spot, a stone’s throw from our house, the attackers had fled,” Farazuddin said. In Malda, another Congress bastion around 250km away, violence had claimed five persons in the past one month. While three belonged to the CPM, two were from the Congress. Not only that, the son of a Citu leader was shot dead at his house on Saturday, a few hours after several peace initiatives which included two all-party meetings and one peace march. According to Farazuddin, Abdul and his men had been pressuring them to withdraw the case pending against his gang in connection with the attempt to murder Zainal. Farazuddin also alleged that the police inaction against the Congress-backed toughs had emboldened them still further. “The miscreants have a nexus with a section of local police officers,” he said. Secretary of the zonal committee of the CPM Swapan Guha Niyogi shared Farazuddin’s views. He alleged that Abdul had been roaming about freely even though the police always claimed that he had been absconding. “Even today, the police reached the spot long time after the incident had taken place. This helped the miscreants flee,” Niyogi said. President of Srijali zonal committee of the Congress Mohammed Kamauddin, however, claimed that his party was in no way involved in the attack on Farooq. The CPM, he alleged, was making such campaigns with an eye to malign his party. Subdivisional police officer David Lepcha admitted that Abdul and his men were involved in today’s attack on Farooq. A police picket has been set up in the area and intensive patrolling has been introduced. “They had fled the area soon after the incident. We have started a combing operation in Islampur and adjoining areas looking for the miscreants,” Lepcha said. Inspector-general of police (north Bengal) K.L. Tamta said he had ordered the local force to arrest the anti-socials at the earliest. He said several cases including a case of attempt to murder was pending against Abdul. Road mishap TT,Gangtok: Three persons died when the vehicle they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell 100m below at Bom Bhir, Hathidunga in West Sikkim on Monday. Parvati Sharma, a teacher in a government school, Usha Sharma and driver Loknath Sharma died on the spot, police said. Five injured persons were referred to the Namchi district hospital. The police suspect that the brakes of the vehicle had failed. Rhino search TT,Siliguri: Foresters on Monday could not tranquillise a male rhino that had left Gorumara National Park after losing a fight with another over a female and reached Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary near Siliguri. A search is on.