GJMM goes soft on ‘Gorkhaland’ for now

Morcha shuffled before battle
- Party gets ready for next round of agitation, new committees formed for turf expansion OUR CORRESPONDENT - The Telegraph

Darjeeling, June 30: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has overhauled its structure with special attention to the Dooars and Siliguri to strengthen the party ahead of the next phase of the Gorkhaland agitation.

However, the Morcha has decided to go slow in calling a strike at present as it wants rehabilitation works following last month’s landslides to get over first.

The party, which has been on the back foot in the Dooars region largely because of opposition from the predominant Adivasi community, has decided to rebuild its base by changing the entire organisational structure in that area.

“We had only three conveners for the Dooars but we will now have three committees of 10 members each for middle, eastern and western Dooars to oversee party activities,” said Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the Morcha, after the central committee meeting in Darjeeling today.

The Morcha is also looking at restructuring its Siliguri subdivision committee, as it faces stiff resistance in the trade hub.

A five-member central committee has been put in place for Siliguri. Rajen Lohar, an Adivasi, and Santosh Rasaily from Panighatta in the Terai, have been included in the party’s central committee.

L.B. Rai, a former chairman of Mirik Municipality, has been given charge of Soureni, the native place of GNLF chief Subash Ghisingh, while Bijoy Sundas and Francis Dewan have been made organising secretaries for Kalimpong subdivision.

Laxman Rai and Sushil Dixit have been selected organising secretaries for Kurseong while Madan Rai has been given a similar responsibility for Gorubathan. Gorubathan falls within Kalimpong subdivision but given the fact that it borders the Dooars, the Morcha has created a new post for the block.

In fact, there were no posts of organising secretaries for Kalimpong and Kurseong which suggests that the party is seriously looking at strengthening itself before launching any agitation.

The Morcha which has been functioning without a subdivisional committee in Darjeeling will now have a five-member panel to look after party activities.

Binay Tamang has been made assistant secretary while Harka Bahadur Chhetri and Rohit Sharma have been made the new media and publicity secretaries.

“The changes have been made to strengthen the party before the start of the next phase of agitation which will depend on the Parliament session that starts from July 2,” said Giri.

He said although no strike has been announced as of yet, such an option was always a part of the long term strategy. “Strikes are definitely a tool to highlight our agitation. Even though we have not called one, we will still ask our supporters to be prepared for it.”

“Lot of people are in distress because of the landslides and we want quality work to be done as fast as possible,” Giri added.

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GJMM goes soft on ‘Gorkhaland’ for now
;Bappaditya Paul

SILIGURI, 30 JUNE: Conceding the BJP's suggestion for a review of the fast track approach to Gorkhaland, the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) has decided to steer away from any aggressive agitation in the immediate future.

Instead, the Hill party would now focus on a drawn-out campaign in New Delhi for the demanded statehood, while keeping the momentum alive in Darjeeling through milder agitations.

The development took place at a meeting of the GJMM Central Committee held at its Singmari headquarters in Darjeeling today, chaired by the party supremo Mr Bimal Gurung.

“In today's meeting, the president mainly announced some reshuffling in the party organisation, but no decision was taken to begin any major agitation immediately,” the GJMM general secretary Mr Roshan Giri announced.

Today's development is in contradiction to the GJMM chief's announcement earlier this month, when he asked the Hill people to prepare for a ‘long-shutdown'.

“We are not going for an indefinite bandh immediately. Instead, beginning on the first week of July, the various frontal organisations of our party would resort to other form of agitations to impress upon the Centre to convene the third round of tripartite talks at the earliest date possible. In case the Centre does pay any heed, there could also be a one-day token strike in Darjeeling Hills by mid July,” said Mr Harkabahadur Chhetri, the new press and publicity secretary of the GJMM, after today's reshuffle. The previous incumbent of the post, Mr Binay Tamang, has been moved to the central committee as an assistant secretary. The party has also inducted eight new members into the central committee, designating them as organisational secretaries. Besides this, two existing committee members have also been recalled and made advisors instead. Meanwhile, according to the GJMM, the party's ally BJP's Darjeeling MP Mr Jaswant Singh is scheduled to raise the Gorkhaland issue in the Lok Sabha during the Budget Session commencing 2 July.

“Mr Singh would also facilitate a national level seminar on the Gorkhaland demand in New Delhi with influential political and press personalities, which would take place in July. Also, journalists Mr Arun Shourie and Mr Vir Sangvi would visit the Darjeeling Hills to assess the statehood demand," Mr Chhetri added.

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BA results published in 30 days
OUR CORRESPONDENT - The Telegraph

Siliguri, June 30: The North Bengal University (NBU) today published the results of BA, BSc and BCom Part III (honours) examinations under the 1+1+1 system, 12 days earlier than last year.

While the pass percentage of BA is 87.63, that of BSc is 85.47. In the BCom stream, 91.97 per cent of the 673 students who had appeared for the exam passed.

“With the untiring efforts of my colleagues in the varsity’s examination branch, the teachers of different colleges and the university and the active guidance from the vice-chancellor, we could publish the results within 30 days of the completion of the exams. Last year, it had taken 12 more days to publish the results,” said Susanta Das, the controller of examinations.

“We have expedited the publication of the results, keeping in mind the fact that students have to meet the admission deadline of other universities for post-graduate courses,” said Das.

There are 72 colleges under the varsity and 58 of them offer honours courses.

While 10,135 candidates had attended BA Part III (honours) exams this year, the number of students who had written BSc is 909.

The official said there had been a slight decline in the pass percentage (2.7 per cent for BA, 2.6 for BSc and 0.08 for BCom).

The candidates can seek the re-assessment of the answer scripts before July 14. “The mark-sheets will be sent to all colleges today itself so that the students can apply for the re-assessment as early as possible. We will try our best to publish the re-assessment results soon,” he said.

The varsity will start distributing forms for all its post-graduate courses from tomorrow.