Centre ready for tripartite talks on Gorkha issue
25 Jun 2008, 0318 hrs IST, Mohua Chatterjee,TNN – Times of India
NEW DELHI: The Centre has agreed to Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leader Bimal Gurung's demand for tripartite talks involving the Centre and the West Bengal government but gave no assurances on forming a separate state. It also asked the Gorkha delegation that met home minister Shivraj Patil on Tuesday to first meet chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
As the constitutional provision mandates that the state government recommend tripartite talks involving the Centre, the GJM has agreed to send a delegation to meet Bhattacharjee on June 27.
"We ignored the West Bengal CM's talks offer twice, but this time we are going to talk to him to honour his invitation," Gurung said in Darjeeling.
According to top government sources, the GJM leadership has been given to understand that the Centre is unlikely to yield to its demand for a separate Gorkhaland state at this juncture.
However, the Centre has agreed not to press for the Sixth Schedule to be implemented in the Darjeeling Hills and this will not come up for discussion either with the West Bengal government or at the tripartite talks. The Centre's emissaries, talking to the GJM leadership at various levels, are busy working out a package that can grant more than what the Sixth Schedule could have offered to the region but would stop short of granting full statehood.
The GJM delegation also met leader of opposition L K Advani on Tuesday with their demand for statehood. While making no commitment to support the demand, Advani told the Gorkha leaders that his party favoured small states and would look into the Gorkhaland issue. GJM, a breakaway faction of GNLF, registered itself with the Election Commission eight months ago and is likely to contest polls in the Darjeeling Hills with statehood as its main poll plank.
The GJM delegation that met Patil and Advani included Roshan Giri, Pradeep Pradhan and Harka Bahadur Chettri.
Meanwhile, a four-member GJM team led by its central committee members Amar Lama and Anmole Prasad arrived in Kolkata on Tuesday for a meeting with the chief minister on June 27. "We want to listen to what the CM has to stay, but we believe this meeting will be a step to prepare for a tripartite meeting involving the Centre," Prasad said.
Delhi hint defers hill bandh
OUR BUREAU - The Telegraph
June 24: Gorkha leaders today deferred their indefinite hill blockade till July 5 after the Centre agreed to tripartite talks if “needed” after a meeting later this week between the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the Bengal government.
The assurance is understood to have come from Union home minister Shivraj Patil, who met a four-member Morcha delegation in the capital.
In Darjeeling, Morcha media and publicity secretary Binay Tamang said the organisation had received a letter from chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee welcoming its decision to send emissaries to Calcutta for talks on Friday.
Sources said the Morcha might also have softened its stand realising that Delhi, preoccupied with the nuclear standoff, would have little time to spare.
Morcha boss Bimal Gurung hinted as much. “We have to look to Delhi and Calcutta while going ahead with our movement. We must not make a mistake for our ultimate aim is to attain statehood. At the moment, we do not know whether the UPA government can survive the nuclear imbroglio,” he said in Darjeeling.
The Morcha team, which met Patil, demanded statehood for “Darjeeling district and contiguous areas in the Dooars” and also handed over a map of their proposed Gorkhaland.
“There has to be a political solution to a political problem. The Centre is positive towards having a tripartite meeting,” general secretary Roshan Giri, who led the delegation, said after the meeting.
A home ministry release said: “If any co-operation is needed, the Union may help the state and others also if such co-operation is asked for.”
Sources said tripartite talks might be held next month, depending on the outcome of the Morcha delegation’s meeting in Calcutta.
The Centre’s nod for tripartite talks followed worries over the impact on Sikkim if the Morcha, which was to resume its indefinite bandh from tomorrow, were to again block NH31A, the Himalayan state’s lifeline.
Union defence secretary Vijay Singh and home secretary Madhukar Gupta were in Siliguri today with Bengal chief secretary Amit Kiran Deb to review the situation.
In Darjeeling, Sangay Tshering, who heads the Darjeeling Gorkha Hotel Owners’ Association, said it was perfectly fine for tourists to come to the hill station. “We are already getting inquiries but the footfall will be thin as the season has almost drawn to a close.”
GJM’s Darjeeling bandh suspended till July 5
Special Correspondent – The Hindu
KOLKATA: The indefinite bandh, called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) that was to resume in the three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling district on Wednesday after a 60-hour relaxation, has been “suspended” till July 5.
“The decision was announced by the GJM president, Bimal Gurung, in view of the positive response from the Union Home Minister who met a delegation of our leaders that called on him in New Delhi to discuss our demand for a separate State”, GJM spokesman Benoy Tamang told Hindu The over telephone from Darjeeling on Tuesday.
The Home Ministry reportedly asked the GJM leadership to pursue talks with the State government as the stalemate could only be resolved through discussions.
“The Union Home Minister informed the GJM delegation that he will be contacting the West Bengal Chief Minister and will be calling for tripartite talks that we have been asking for,” Mr. Tamang said.
Denying that it was “under pressure” to put on hold its call for resuming the bandh, the GJM leadership claimed it was suspended as discussions were on with leaders in New Delhi and a meeting was scheduled with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee here on June 27.
Mr. Gurung said his colleagues, who would meet Mr. Bhattacharjee, would seek his assistance in facilitating tripartite talks.
The Centre had also advised the GJM delegation to talk with the State government prior to any tripartite discussion.
In another development, the Sikkim government was reportedly assured of all help by the Centre in keeping the National Highway 31-A open to traffic during the bandh called in the Darjeeling hills. A considerable stretch of the highway passes through Darjeeling district.
The Union Home and Defence Secretaries met Sikkim officials and also called on Chief Minister Pawan Chamling in Gangtok, an official of Mr. Chamling’s secretariat said.
They later met senior officials of the Sikkim and the West Bengal governments near Siliguri and determined measures to keep the highway open during the bandh.
Bandh relaxed in Hills for 12 days
Statesman News Service
NEW DELHI/DARJEELING, June 24: A four-member delegation of Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha (GJMM) leaders met the Union home minister, Mr Shivraj Patil, in the Capital today and called for a tripartite meeting to end the deadlock. An assurance from Mr Patil earned Darjeeling Hills a 12-day breather from the indefinite strike.
The GJMM, meanwhile, tasted its first criticism in Darjeeling today from the public. Posters, claimed to be stuck by the sadharan janata (common people) criticising the GJMM's decision to extend the bandh relaxation till 5 July came up in the market place in Darjeeling today.
In Darjeeling, GJMM president Mr Bimal Gurung said: “The delegation met Mr Shivraj Patil today and apprised him of the political situation in the Darjeeling Hills. A proposal for a tripartite meeting to discuss the one-point demand of Gorkhaland had a positive response. Keeping that in mind, the bandh has been relaxed till 5 July.” The delegation presented a memorandum to Mr Patil, seeking early resolution of their Gorkhaland demand. The delegation, led by the GJMM general secretary, Mr Roshan Giri, assured Mr Patil that a GJMM delegation would soon meet the state government and seek a tripartite meeting. Along with their two-page memorandum, the GJMM delegates also presented a map of Gorkhaland to the home minister. Meanwhile, Mr Gurung said the GJMM has decided that students from the Darjeeling Hills would spend their summer vacation participating in the Gorkhaland agitation. Students excluding those appearing for exams will take part in the relay hunger-strike from 26 June to 5 July.
The state government formed a five-member core committee comprising representatives from the Army, the CRPF and the state police to monitor the situation in the Hills.
Anti-bandhs posters in Hills
DARJEELING, June 24: The GJMM tasted its first criticism in Darjeeling today from the public. Posters, claimed to be stuck by the ‘sadharan janata’ (common people) criticising the GJMM's decision to extend the bandh relaxation till 5 July came up in the market place in Darjeeling today.
The public, which had prepared to face an indefinite bandh in the hills as convened by the GJMM and had stocked up accordingly spending extra money in the process, expressed its unhappiness with the bandh relaxation stating its budget was upset by the GJMM move.
The GJMM leadership did not comment on the development. n SNS
Central team takes stock of Darjeeling situation Tuesday, 24 June , 2008, 12:23
Last Updated: Tuesday, 24 June , 2008, 12:24 - Sify News
Gangtok: A Central Government team is visiting here on Tuesday to assess the situation arising out of an indefinite shutdown called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM).
The GJM had called for an indefinite shutdown from June 10 onwards to mount pressure on the Centre for the granting of separate statehood.
During their visit, the team will meet Sikkim Chief Secretary N D Chingapa and other senior State Government officers.
The indefinite shutdown was relaxed for three days, following requests by some union ministers to enable school students to finish their term before summer vacations begin from June 25.
The GJM, comprising about half a dozen parties, has been organising protests over the past few months in the Darjeeling Hills over a demand for a separate Gorkhaland state.
The West Bengal Government, however, has been resisting the demand.
The strike in the Darjeeling Hills has badly hit the tourism and the tea industries, the two mainstays of the local economy. A tea industry official has warned that exports of premium Darjeeling Tea could fall by 20-25 percent this year.
The Gorkha population in West Bengal is around one million out of 80 million people, although the overwhelming majority is concentrated in Darjeeling.
Barb at Chamling, Narbula
OUR CORRESPONDENT - The Telegraph
Darjeeling, June 24: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung today lashed out at Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling and Congress MP from Darjeeling Dawa Narbula for not raising their voices in support of Gorkhaland.
“We do not want to force Pawan Chamling to do something, but when students from his state were beaten up he could have at least spoken up on humanitarian grounds. The people of Sikkim and Darjeeling are separated only by the Rangeet and the Teesta, but the rivers also meet at a particular point. No one would have cut out his tongue had he said a word or two in favour of Gorkhaland,” Gurung said in Darjeeling today.
The Morcha chief was referring to the incidents in Siliguri in which hill students were harassed and allegedly beaten up by those opposed to the Gorkhaland demand.
While the Morcha’s indefinite bandh in the Darjeeling hills has hit Sikkim hard, Gurung said his party had not blocked NH31A, the lifeline of the Himalayan state, out of enmity. “The highway was blocked because it falls within our area. We had hoped that Chamling would at least speak to the Centre about the difficulties being faced by the people of his state,” he said.
A couple of years ago, Chamling had publicly backed the Gorkhaland demand and had even said his government was willing to pass a resolution in favour of the separate state in the Sikkim Assembly.
Gurung also laid into Narbula. “So many incidents happened and our people had to bear the brunt of it all. Yet Dawa Narbula failed to do anything. He did not raise the issue in Parliament and proved that he was an MP only for himself and not for the hill people,” said the Morcha chief.
Narbula, however, claimed that there had been “a miscommunication” between him and the Morcha. “They are not in touch with me, but I am constantly raising my voice (for the hill people),” said Narbula this evening.
“An hour ago, I received an acknowledgement from (home minister) Shivraj Patil regarding the letter I had written on June 12 about the problems facing our people. I have been invited for a meeting with him at 7.45pm today and will definitely speak in favour of Gorkhaland,” Narbula added.
Hills caught in children’s rally plight
- Fast & protest time for school kids
OUR CORRESPONDENT - The Telegraph
Darjeeling, June 24: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s decision to include schoolchildren in relay hunger strikes and agitation programmes starting Thursday has produced a mixed reaction with a section of academicians fearing that it might set a precedent for other political parties.
“We will request the schools to take turns to send seven children each for a relay hunger strike starting from day after tomorrow. Massive student rallies will also be held simultaneously with the fast. We are involving the students as Gorkhaland is also for them,” said Morcha president Bimal Gurung while announcing the next phase of the party’s agitation at Chowrastha here today.
The relay hunger strikes and rallies are to be organised till the relaxation for the indefinite bandh ends on July 5.
Schools, which are conducting their internal examinations, however, have been spared.
Despite Gurung’s waiver for these schools, some academicians are of the opinion that it is wrong to involve students in politics no matter how big the issue is.
“They should be left out of such activities. I only fear that this may set a precedent for other parties in the hills. It is true that the issue has become very sentimental, but we could have done without the school children being asked to take part in relay hunger strikes and continuous rallies,” said an academician on condition of anonymity.
This is not the first time that students have been asked to take out a rally in support of Gorkhaland. “Involving school students in rallies now and then is acceptable, but asking them to go for hunger strikes is a bit too much,” said another academician.
Many ICSE schools have closed for summer vacations, but most of the institutions affiliated to the Madhyamik board are still open.
Gurung will also hold a meeting with teachers, heads of institutions and people related to the education sector at Gymkhana Hall on July 27 to discuss their role in the Gorkhaland movement.
Basant Rai, the headmaster of Ramakrishna Siksha Parisad, was for the Morcha’s decision. “It is time to go all out now. I will encourage not only my students but also children of other schools to take part in the hunger strike,” said Rai.
Some teachers believe that the decision to allow students to participate in the hunger strike lay with the parents. “If the parents have problems we cannot force anyone,” said a teacher.
Bengal rules out use of force
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT - The Telegraph
Siliguri, June 24: The Bengal government today ruled out the use of force for free movement of vehicles on NH31A, the lifeline to Sikkim, if it is closed again following the re-imposition of the bandh by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.
“Army help will be taken as a last resort. Right now, we are banking on a solution to the problem through negotiations,” Bengal chief secretary Amit Kiran Deb said after a meeting with a high-level central team at the Sukna army cantonment near Siliguri.
About 60km of the highway from Sevoke to Rangpo had been brought under the bandh called by the Morcha.
The meeting was attended by Union home secretary Madhukar Gupta, defence secretary Vijay Singh, joint secretary (defence) S.K. Julka, additional secretary, ministry of petroleum, Sundaresan, Food Corporation of India’s chairman and managing director Aloke Singh, and the general officer commanding, 33 Corps, Lt Gen. Deepak Raj.
The director-general of Bengal police A.B. Vohra, Darjeeling district magistrate Rajesh Pandey, inspector-generals of police Gaurav Dutt (intelligence bureau) and K.L. Tamta (north Bengal), district police chief Rahul Srivastava and other senior officials represented the state.
“One main message that the meeting conveyed was that both the Centre and the state are very concerned with the agitation in Darjeeling and its effect on Sikkim,,” Deb said. “Owing to the bandh, the national highway is closed and the people of that state are suffering as essential items are not reaching them.
“The meeting discussed ways to solve this and it was agreed that since the overall situation was dynamic and continuously evolving, special police arrangements were not required. Talks with the Morcha leaders would provide a solution,” the chief secretary said.
He said a special Darjeeling panel, comprising five members from the administration, police, central paramilitary forces and the army, will be formed to monitor the situation as it evolves.
“The panel will take note of the developments and recommend action to the state and Centre as and when required,” Deb said.
Asked if army help would be taken to ensure essential supplies reach Sikkim when the road is closed again, that can be done only if the Army Special Powers Act is invoked. “If the need at all arises, that may be done. But not right now,” he said.
Mad rush in Hills to stock food ahead of bandh re-start
Express India
Darjeeling, June 24: As the Darjeeling Hills braced for resumption of the indefinite bandh on Wednesday at the end of the 60-hour relaxation by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, residents on Tuesday went on a spree of stocking essential commodities.
The indefinite bandh was relaxed for 60 hours on Sunday evening and resumes on Wednesday at six am.
Hundreds of vehicles were locked bumper to bumper on the road from Siliguri to Darjeeling - many of them trucks carrying food and essential commodities to the hills.
To prevent unscrupulous traders from taking advantage of the situation, volunteers of the GJM have fanned out across the town. The overall situation has remained peaceful though with no report of any untoward incident.
GJM press secretary Benoy Tamang told PTI that from tomorrow the bandh would be strictly enforced with even two-wheelers not allowed to ply.
GJM supporters would also continue to block the National Highway 31A, the arterial road linking Sikkim to Siliguri through which most of the supply of essential commodities to the Himalayan state moves.
Tamang warned if the government tried to keep the highway open forcibly, GJM supporters would lie on the road in thousands.
“In any case, our movement will be non-violent,” Tamang emphasised.
First Gorkhaland,
SILIGURI, June 24: The Kamtapur Progressive Party has decided to step up its movement in north Bengal for a separate Kamtapur state and Constitutional recognition of the Kamtapuri language.
Progressive president Mr Atul Roy said today that KPP activists would sit for a fast-unto-death programme in front of the Siliguri sub-division office at the Siliguri Court premises on 7 July. “The objective of the fast is to mobilise public opinion in favour of the two principal demands and also to deal with the CPI-M's motivated propaganda against us,” Mr Roy said.
He further said the Progressive activists would observe a "Bengali Language Boycott Day" on 6 July. “ We would take out a procession in Siliguri on that day asking the Kamtapuri students to boycott the schools and the colleges until Kamtapuri language is recognised as a medium of instruction,” he said.
“These apart, the KPP activists and sympathisers would sit for a fast-unto-death in front of each BDO office all through the north Bengal region on 28 July,” the Progressive leader said. n
New municipal Commissioners
DARJEELING, June 24: Two uncontested candidates from Ward numbers 16 and 31 of the Darjeeling Municipality assumed the post of commissioners in their respective wards today. Mr Kesar Rai of ward 31 and Mr Pramod Chettri of ward 16 took oath in the presence of chairman Mr Pemba Tshering and vice-chairman Mr Dinesh Gurung today.
By-elections were announced in three wards after resignations of former commissioners Mr Passang Bhutia of ward 31 and Mr Pranay Rai of ward 18 respectively.
Mr BB Dewan of ward 16 expired on 1 January this year leaving the post vacant.
Both Independent candidates joined the GJMM camp after swearing in. “We extend full support to the GJMM and will work under the party's instructions,” they pledged. The post of commissioner of Ward 18 still lies vacant. n SNS
‘Morcha’ teachers form body
OUR CORRESPONDENT - The Telegraph
Kurseong, June 24: A section of private school teachers owing allegiance to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha formed an association today in a bid to support the demand for a separate state.
Madan Gurung, secretary of the new body, said the Janmukti Private School Teachers’ Association was formed after the vice-president of the Morcha, Pradeep Pradhan, had given his nod.
Forty-seven teachers from 12 ICSE schools in the hills and the non-teaching staff in those institutions are members of the body. A nine-member committee was also formed today. Apart from Gurung, the panel has Deven Gurung as its president, and Suman Rumba and Beena Pradhan as the vice-presidents.
The secretary said the teachers deemed it necessary to form the association after they found that everyone in the hills was contributing their bits to the cause of Gorkhaland.
“The teachers go to school in the morning and return home in the evening. For want of time, unlike others, we cannot take part in the agitation for Gorkhaland. We feared that we may be isolated in our villages if we kept away from the activities for a separate state,” said Gurung.
With the formation of an association, the secretary said, the teachers could send their representatives to rallies, public meetings and other programmes organised as part of the movement.
When told about the launch of the teachers’ association, Chetan Tiwari, the secretary of the Association of Heads of Listed ICSE Schools’ Kurseong unit, said he could comment only after knowing about the new body’s objectives.
Truck tumble blocks traffic
OUR CORRESPONDENT - The Telegraph
Kalimpong, June 24: Traffic block on the NH31A was aggravated after an oil tanker overturned last night. The accident took place 200 metres from the site of the latest landslide and 4km from the Teesta bridge.
By 11am, vehicles piled up on the two-and-a-half kilometre stretch of the road which has double lanes. Officials of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which maintains the highway connecting Sikkim with Siliguri, said they could restore one-way traffic by 1pm.
However, it will take a while before two-way traffic is restored given the difficult terrain there. The officials said cutting the hillside was fraught with danger and time consuming.
The place where the last landslide took place is not very far from 27 Mile, above the NHPC’s Teesta Low Dam Project Stage III site, where another one had occurred. As in yesterday’s jam at Hatisuray near the Coronation Bridge, the pile-up today was mainly because of errant drivers who tried to jump the queue to reach the destination fast.
A BRO officer said drivers did not seem to realise that taking the vehicles through gaps would only lead to more chaos. “At times like this, it is important to show patience and maintain discipline.”
According to sources, the BRO officials approached the Darjeeling district magistrate Rajesh Pandey today and requested him to ensure the deployment of more police personnel to control the traffic on the highway.
“Please understand, it is not our job to ease the traffic problem. That is the responsibility of the police. But at most times, during the trouble like the ones we witnessed yesterday and today, only a handful of policemen were deployed to regulate vehicular movement,” an officer said.
The BRO restored two-way traffic at Hatisuray after clearing the highway of stones and slush. “We also blasted the bolder that had landed on the road and cleared the road to facilitate two-way movement of vehicles,” the officer added.
Bullet Bonds recall tough trip
- The dark days AVIJIT SINHA
Siliguri, June 24: Heather Bond came to India to gather information for a travel agency she plans to open back home in Santa Barbara, California. She will return to the US tomorrow with snapshots not found in the scrapbook of a tourist — including close-ups of the turmoil in the Darjeeling hills and of prison cells in Siliguri.
Heather and her mother Monica talked to The Telegraph last night about their eventful trip that had its highs as well as lows.
The two had arrived in Delhi on March 24. “We visited Ranthambore, Jaipur and Jaisalmer, enjoying a camel safari in the desert. Then we came back to Delhi and boarded a flight to Bagdogra to visit Darjeeling,” Heather said. “Our plan was to go to some popular destinations in India before I start my travel agency.”
However, the plan went awry when they were arrested on April 14 at Bagdogra Airport on their way back to Delhi after security officials of a private airline found 11 bullets and the magazine of a 9mm pistol inside Heather’s backpack that had been checked in.
The two said they had brought the bullets from the US by mistake. They were produced in court on April 15, and sent to jail custody. “It was a tough experience,” said Heather about their stay at Siliguri Special Jail. “Although our lawyers tried their best to comfort us, the very thought of staying behind bars left us depressed,” added Monica.
Finally, on April 30, they were granted bail, but denied access to their passports and visas. “So we stayed in Siliguri. I have never watched as much television as I did here,” Monica said.
“We used to roam around, take photographs, go to Hongkong Market and enjoy various cuisines. We also spent time calling up my father, boyfriend and relatives, sending them e-mails and doing exercise,” said Heather.
The two went to Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary and spent a week in Calcutta. “We enjoyed the elephant safari in Jaldapara,” said Heather.
By the time they returned to Siliguri, the situation had turned volatile following the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s indefinite bandh in the hills and retaliation by a section of plains people.
“In the morning, everything was closed and in the afternoon, vehicles carrying men in fatigues (SSB) entered the town. We also saw hundreds of tourists (turned out of the hills by the Morcha) pouring into our hotel, asking for rooms,” Heather said.
Monica said she hoped things would return to normal soon. “Darjeeling does not need any extra promotion in the international tourist circuit. We expect that normality would be restored soon.”
Both acknowledged the initiative taken by the US Consul General’s office in Calcutta and Milan Sarkar, a Siliguri lawyer, to get them out of jail. On June 20, a Siliguri court allowed them to withdraw their passports and visas for three months so that they could fly back to the US and be with Heather’s father, who is ill. “We plan to fly to Delhi tomorrow and board a flight to Los Angeles on Wednesday,” said Heather last night.
“They have been asked to re-submit their passports and visas by September 20,”said Abhaypada Chatterjee, one of their lawyers.
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(Posted by Sadan Thapa, June 26, 2008, 7:13 AM)