Hill town mourns Ramudamu death
OUR CORRESPONDENT - The Telegraph
Darjeeling, July 20: Hundreds of people lined up and traders downed their shutters here for the funeral of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha vice-president K.S. Ramudamu today. The 78-year-old passed away in Calcutta on July 17.
Pathpasala Sangh, a traders’ organisation in the hill town, had decided to keep the shops closed only till 12 noon. “We have decided to down our shutters till the body leaves Darjeeling,” Dinesh Gurung, the adviser to the Sangh said.
However, even after the body was taken to the banks of the Teesta around 11.30am for the cremation, residents preferred to keep the town shut for the day with traders maintaining that there was no point opening the shops as these had remained closed for the entire morning. “It is also out of respect for the leader,” said Ajay Singh, a businessman.
The town wore a deserted look throughout the day although vehicles plied. However the traffic was less than normal today.
The mourners lined up at Motor Stand after the body was brought from Ramudamu’s residence on Guddi Road about 8am. The body was flown to Darjeeling on Saturday. The leader is survived by two daughters and a son.
All the Morcha leaders, including president Bimal Gurung, took part in the funeral procession.
Considered as a heavyweight leader of the Scheduled Caste, Ramudamu had earned the sobriquet “Gorkha Ambedkar” in Darjeeling because of his “tireless work” for the community. He was the president of the All India Nepali Schedule Caste Association and also the chief of the Darjeeling and Dooars Schedule Caste and Tribe Welfare Forum.
Ramudamu was one of the first apolitical leaders in the hills to take on the GNLF chief, Subash Ghisingh, during the latter’s heyday. He was opposed to the inclusion of the Darjeeling Hills into the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution largely because he thought that the status would create a split among the Gorkhas.
A former Indian Railway Service official, Ramudamu was born in Kurseong on June 23, 1930 and was arrested during the Emergency in 1976. He had co-authored the translation of the Indian Constitution into Nepali.
Ramudamu joined the Morcha as the vice-president the day the party was formed on October 7. “He always used to talk of the last fight for Gorkhaland and advised me accordingly. His passing away is a great loss,” said Gurung.
Govt mum on use of GL number plates
Statesman News Service
DARJEELING, July 20: Indicating an undercurrent of compromise, the administration kept mum when vehicles of GJMM central committee members within the proposed territory of Gorkhaland discarded WB for GL number plates from 7 July. But government representatives seem reluctant to follow suit when it is their turn to do the same.
Entering the second phase of the programme, the All Transport Joint Action Committee, Darjeeling (ATJAC) declared today that all government vehicles would be pressurised to bear GL plates from tomorrow. “Almost 48 vehicles over Darjeeling district are using such plates till date. From 21 July we will press the government vehicles to put on GL plates and notification letters have already been sent to concerned departments informing them of our decision”, said ATJAC president Mr Narbu Lama.
As long as it involved the GJMM supporters, the task of replacing WB with GL plates has been an easy task. Yet their real challenge lies in persuading the protectors of law who have so far only verbally considered the act 'illegal'. “It is an illegal activity and anything illegal is unacceptable to us. We will not take orders from just about anybody,” countered DM Mr Rajesh Pandey when asked if he would sport a GL number plate.
With the indefinite closure of government offices lifted up from tomorrow, ATJAC is determined to impose the GJMM's verdict on government vehicles too. “The shutdown of offices had made it impossible to implement our programme but now that it has been lifted we will press government vehicles to put on GL plates from tomorrow,” Mr. Lama said.
The ATJAC has fixed a target of 7 August to get all civilians within Gorkhaland territory to bear GL plates. “All people must submit their documents at our office by 25 July so that the 7 August deadline can be met,” Mr Lama said.
Tourist spot to take on Kalimpong dumpyard
RAJEEV RAVIDAS - The Telegraph
Kalimpong, July 20: If everything goes according to plan, the Bhalukhop dumpyard along Melli Road here could metamorphose into a tourist hotspot complete with a viewpoint, a coffee house and an art and craft centre.
Dumping Ground Development Committee (DGDC) comprising residents of Bhalukhop and neighbouring areas has submitted a proposal to this effect to the Union ministry of micro, mini and small-scale industry.
“We are seeking funds under the rural infrastructure development programme of the ministry. The Bhalukhop gram panchayat has approved the plan and the DGDC will execute the project, the estimated cost of which is Rs 22 lakh,” said Bishnu Chhteri, a member of the committee.
The viewpoint will be constructed on the main heap of the dumpyard, while the coffee house and arts and crafts centre will come up 200 metres away.
“The plan is to use bamboo for all construction purposes. The coffee house and art and crafts centre will be in a two-storied structure,” said Chhetri.
The committee has already started constructing boundary wall around the site, with the local residents contributing to the cost. “Since it could take some time before the project is approved, we decided to go ahead with the construction of the boundary wall with our own money,” said Yogendra Ghattani, another committee member.
Chhetri said they had already sounded the Guwahati-based Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre for lending its expertise on bamboo construction.
“An official of the centre was here a few days back, and gave us a very positive response,” said Chhetri.
The benefits of using bamboo as the main construction material, Chhetri said, were twofold: one, it is environment-friendly and cost effective; and two, since bamboo is available in plenty in Kalimpong, local people will stand to benefit economically if the material is sourced from them.
The committee is also using bamboo to barricade landslide-hit portions of the six acre area adjoining the dumpyard. “Earlier this year, we had constructed a network of drains in the area to flush out water without taking any government aid,” said Chhetri.
The people of the area have been at loggerheads with the Kalimpong Municipality and the sub-divisional administration over the use of the dumpyard since June 5.
The residents have steadfastly refused to allow the dumping in their area as they believe the muck has contributed to the problem of landslide, while the civic body has struggled to find an alternative spot to dump the daily garbage.
Foreigner found hanging
OUR CORRESPONDENT - The Telegraph
Darjeeling, July 20: The body of a 32-year-old Swedish national was found in his rented apartment at Dr Zakhir Hussain Road in Darjeeling today.
Three suicide notes were found in Isak Holmgren’s house. While one note was addressed to the Indian government, the other was for Holmgren’s parents. The third one was for the owner of the house, Nima Sangay Sherpa, who is currently away in Siliguri.
Nima’s family members said Holmgren, who had been staying in the apartment since February, was supposed to leave Darjeeling this week. “He said he was a social worker and had come for meditation,” said D. Sherpa, Nima’s wife.
In the suicide note, the foreigner said he was in trouble and he had ended his life on his own wish. More details about him could not be obtained and police are trying to find out the same.
“He was supposed to leave Darjeeling on Thursday. We knocked at his door and when there was no reply, we peeped through the ventilator and saw his body hanging,” said Sherpa.
The door had not been locked. When the police entered the room, they found Holmgren hanging from one of the doors inside his two-room apartment.
The foreigner had also kept aside some Indian currencies and dollars amounting to about Rs 7,000 with a direction that it should be given to the Sherpa family.
The three suicide notes were lying on the bed where the deceased had also kept his laptop, cellphone and about 15 files of medicines.
As soon as one entered the Holmgren’s room, a message was found written on one of the curtains that read: “Call the authorities I have committed suicide, don’t go in”.
The Sherpa family said he would usually spend time going about the town and reading books. He had been paying Rs 2,000 as rent, excluding electricity bills.
The deceased used to cook food himself. The Swede had cleared his entire bill and it is learnt that his stay permit had also expired recently.
Swedish ‘social worker’ kills self
DARJEELING, July 20: A Swedish national, Issac Holmgress (32) committed suicide by hanging himself in his rented apartment located on Zakir Hussain Road behind Youth Hostel in Darjeeling.
According to the landlady of the building, Holmgress whose visa would expire today was supposed to leave for Nepal in a few days time. He had called himself a social worker when he lodged in the building on 9 February and maintained a “formal” relationship with them.
“Holmgress had cleared his rent and electricity bills on Wednesday saying he would leave for Nepal before 20 July.
There was no trace of him after that day which made us suspicious. We decided to check on him around 4 p.m. today and looked in through the ventilation to find him hanging. We informed the police immediately,” said the landlady Mrs Fulmaya Sherpa. Holmgress left three letters addressed to his parents, the landlady and the government authorities. The letter to his parents and the authorities were sealed by the police. However, in his letter to the landlady he has asked for forgiveness for having caused them inconvenience from his act. He has also left an additional sum of Rs 10,000 for the family.
Police sources informed that enquiries would soon begin and the Swedish embassy in India would also be informed. n SNS
Strong case against Czech duo: Foresters
The Times of India
KOLKATA: The forest department claimed to be ready with incriminating evidence against the two Czech nationals - arrested on charges of collecting rare species of insects at Darjeeling - on the eve of the hearing of the case on Monday.
They claimed it was enough to make sure that the bail petition of Petr Svacha and Emil Kucera was rejected. The defence counsel for the Czechs, on the other hand, pointed out that the offence was not serious enough to merit a third jail custody and that a bail was finally in the offing.
Svacha and Kucera had introduced themselves as a scientist and a forester respectively following their arrest from a Darjeeling hotel in June. More than 50 butterflies and several rare species of insects were recovered from them. The catch has been sent to the Zoological Survey of India for analysis and a report is expected soon.
"We have got copies of material downloaded by them from the Internet which clearly reveals their intention. One of them had even claimed on a website that they have got rare species for sale.
The fact that they had claimed to be ignorant of the Indian forest laws will also go against them. Svacha and Kucera claimed that the Czech laws didn't bar collection of insects from forests which is untrue.
We had sought clarification on this and the Czech embassy has written to us that it is not allowed in Czech Republic either. So, we have a strong case against them," said Utpal Nag, assistant divisional forest officer, Darjeeling.
Defence counsel Sheshmani Gurung, on the other hand, said the two deserved a bail. "Their offence has not yet been proved. They have already served two jail remands so a bail seems imminent. It could be a conditional bail which might require them to stay back in India for further hearings. Svacha and Kucera are ready for that but the priority now is to secure a bail," said Gurung.
Foresters, however, put their heads together to gather every piece of evidence they could lay their hands on. A pen drive seized from the foreigners, they claimed, could help to nail the duo. It contains maps of the Singalila National Park where they had been collecting insects.
"It shows the areas where they had been collecting the butterflies. They were also carrying a whole suitcase filled with insect-catching instruments which shows they had come well-prepared. Even though they were not carrying a laptop, they were in touch with people in various countries. We are in the process of unearthing the network," added Nag.
GJM holds candlelight processions
Zee News
Kolkata, July 20: Women activists of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha took out candlelight processions in the three hill sub-divisions of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong on Sunday to put pressure on Congress MP from Darjeeling to exercise his vote on July 22 keeping in mind the demand for Gorkhaland.
"Let him (Congress MP Dawa Narbula) get a categorical assurance from the Centre on the creation of Gorkhaland before he exercises his vote," GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said.
Giri said the rallies were also organised by the womens' wing - Gorkha Janmukti Nari Morcha - in Siliguri and Dooars. Giri said the GJM would also hold rallies tomorrow.
The GJM has warned that Narbula will not be allowed to enter the hills if he votes for the UPA without extracting a commitment from his party's leadership on support for the Gorkhaland demand.
The GJM has been agitating in the hills for creation of a separate state of Gorkhaland for which it wants tripartite talks involving the Centre, GJM and the West Bengal government.
Narbula was not available for comment.
Bureau Report
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(Posted by Jag & Lata, July 22, 2008, 5:46 PM)