‘Midway’ formula to end hill impasse; Chamling asks MPs to mount highway vigil

 

‘Midway’ formula to end hill impasse
OUR CORRESPONDENT - The Telegraph

Siliguri, Feb. 12: Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told a rally here today that a “midway arrangement” would have to be worked out between the government and those agitating for statehood to bring peace in the troubled Darjeeling hills.

“We are willing to confer more powers and money on the hills, but don’t talk of statehood,” he said on Day I of a three-day trip to north Bengal.

The chief minister said he had spoken to the Union home minister on Darjeeling and P. Chidambaram had agreed that such an “arrangement” would have to be arrived at for a “mutually acceptable” solution. “I spoke to Chidambaram on the issue during his recent visit to Calcutta and he, too, agreed. He told me he’d return to Delhi and work on the alternative arrangement, but we will not accept the demand for a separate state.”

“They (the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha) should maintain peace as talks cannot be held under threats and amid use of force.”

Bhattacharjee made it clear that irrespective of what the new “arrangement” was, it would not include Siliguri, the Terai and the Dooars. “I’d like to make it clear to the leaders of Darjeeling: don’t utter the names Siliguri, Terai and Dooars…. Whatever (the new) arrangement, it would involve only the hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong. Never think of taking a step beyond.”

Morcha chief Bimal Gurung had recently hinted at a climbdown when he revealed that he had sent to Delhi a “secret proposal” that “would be acceptable to all”.

Without mentioning the “secret proposal”, the chief minister said Morcha leaders, too, had realised that they would have to work out a more acceptable arrangement.

Hinting that the “alternative arrangement” could be shaped around a body similar to the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, Bhattacharjee said: “We had persuaded Subash Ghisingh and formed the DGHC in the ’80s when a similar movement had emerged. We paid money to the council and delegated powers. Whether the DGHC has succeeded is something the people of Darjeeling should decide. If there have been lapses, Ghisingh is answerable to the people.”

Bhattacharjee said even the formation of Telangana looked uncertain. “It’s been put on hold by the Centre.”

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Morcha defers Saturday strike
- Outfit cites losar for climbdown OUR CORRESPONDENT - The Telegraph

Darjeeling, Feb. 12: The Gorkha Janmukti Vidyarthi Morcha has postponed tomorrow’s 24-hour general strike in the area it wants as Gorkhaland, citing the Buddhists’ preparations for Losar.

Puran Thami, the general secretary of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s Darjeeling subdivisional committee, said: “Bimal Gurung has appealed to the students to postpone their strike as Losar will be celebrated on Sunday. People are shopping for the festival and it will cause great inconvenience if the strike is called. The student wing has agreed to postpone the strike.”

Kismat Chhetri, the president of the Vidyarthi Morcha, said: “The strike has been postponed. But the relay hunger strike being organised by the students since February 2 demanding finalisation of venue and date of the fifth round of political level talks will continue.”

Losar or New Year is celebrated by large sections of Buddhists in Tibet, India, Nepal and Bhutan. On February 14, these communities will be welcoming the Tibetan year, 2137, which is also known as the male iron tiger year.

The current year is a female earth ox year.

The celebrations will kick off tonight with the faithful preparing a special noodle called guthuk. This noodle is made of nine different ingredients like dried cheese and flour where dough balls, usually called kawri, are hidden with chillies and salt.

Tomorrow is set aside for cleaning, shopping and preparation of food like khapsa (made from flour).

“On Losar (Sunday), the elders bless the family members and the family indulges in merry making,” said Tseyang Norbu, a Buddhist.

Revellers also make and drink changkol, which is made from chhang (another drink prepared using millet) and resembles beer.

Thami said the decision to defer the strike had been taken to send “a strong message that the interest of all the hill communities was being safeguarded”.

The strike had been called to press the government for permission to hold a rally in the plains.

National Highway 31A that connects Sikkim with the rest of India had been kept out of the purview of the strike. The district authorities had refused to give the permission for the rally, citing law and order problems.

In Jalpaiguri, state home secretary Ardhendu Sen iterated that the Bengal government was against the demands by certain organisations like the Morcha and the KPP for separate states and Sixth Schedule status for some regions.

“We have made it clear that the state government does not endorse the demands for separate states or Sixth Schedule status as has been demanded by some organisations and parties in north Bengal. But we are sincerely looking into some of the issues raised by these parties and accordingly, working out plans and schemes for the development of the areas,” said Sen.

He also said discussions were going on among officials to decide whether syllabus could be changed to teach the history of north Bengal at higher secondary level and introduce Rajbangshi as medium of education at primary schools —two other demands raised by the KPP.

Speaking on the Gorkhaland demand, the home secretary said: “We hope that a political solution can end the ongoing agitation in the hills. We have reports of tension and problems encountered by people in Darjeeling. We are waiting to hear the date for the next rounds of talks from the central government.”

Sen said chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee would hold elaborate discussions with officials on execution of schemes and development projects, allocation of funds and other related topics during his current north Bengal visit.

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Chamling asks MPs to mount highway vigil
OUR CORRESPONDENT - The telegraph

Gangtok, Feb. 12: Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling today called upon MPs from the Northeast to do all that was necessary to ensure that the state’s lifeline, NH31A, was kept open round the clock.

Chamling’s exhortation comes right after being accused by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung of harbouring a rebel leader from Kalimpong, Ajay Dahal, in Gangtok and getting him arrested last Tuesday as a “gimmick”. Gurung has also been alleging that the Sikkim chief minister had become “intolerant” of the Morcha push for Gorkhaland.

“Today our greatest challenge is keeping NH31A open. Ever since the Gorkhaland agitation began in 1986, we have suffered a lot as our development needs and food security are tied to our only lifeline. I would request the North East Forum to appreciate the hardship that we undergo and take up this matter at their own levels to ensure that this lifeline is kept open round the clock,” Chamling said at the inaugural session of the North East MP Forum summit here today.

“We cannot be held hostage any more. Furthermore, Bangladesh is not far away either. This, therefore, puts Sikkim in a really sensitive and vulnerable position in a geo-political sense,” said Chamling. He urged the MPs to take up the matter with Delhi and lobby hard the powers that be to ensure that NH31A remained open.

The chief minister said Sikkim should be protected. “Sikkim is today an oasis of peace. However, surrounded by unrest and disturbance all around, we consider this as both fragile and valuable. We cannot make progress on any front if we do not keep this environment of peace. We cannot afford otherwise but continue to foster peace,” he said.
The Supreme Court has been passing directives to the West Bengal government, the Union home ministry and the political parties that call strikes, affecting the national highway, since 2005. In recent times, the apex court had acted on a petition filed by a resident of Sikkim, O.P. Bhandari, drawing its attention to the hardship faced by the state during such strikes.

The Morcha, however, has been sharply critical of the case and the leadership has even implied that the government of Sikkim was bearing Bhandari’s expenses in the Supreme Court.

Chamling has been bringing up the NH31A issue in every public forum he has been to ever since his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a month ago in New Delhi on the matter.

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Dooars’ Delhi wish list
OUR CORRESPONDENT - The Telegraph

Jaigaon, Feb. 12: The Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad has claimed that it has placed a charter of demands before Pranab Mukherjee in Delhi that includes various development projects and a Sixth Schedule status for the Dooars.

“This is the first time we have taken our issues to Delhi. A seven-member team met Pranab Mukherjee last evening at his residence and discussed with him a modern 500-bed hospital, an Industrial Training Institute, improvement of roads in the Dooars among others. We, however, did not discuss the Sixth Schedule status issue with him (but it was there in the charter),” Parishad’s state committee president Birsa Tirkey said over the phone today.

Tirkey said the Union finance minister gave them a patient hearing from 10pm to 10.30pm. “He listened to the problems and assured us that he not only agreed with our needs, but would also ensure their implementation.”

About four million adivasis have been living in the Terai and Dooars for over 200 years in utter neglect, Tirkey said. “Even today the attitude towards us is the same. We had submitted a memorandum to the divisional commissioner of Jalpaiguri for forwarding it to the state government. That was not done so we have come to Delhi with our grievances.”
The Parishad team camping in Delhi since February 10 met Union tribal affairs minister Kantilal Bhuria and Union minister of state for finance Namo Narain Meena.

On meeting chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, on a tour in north Bengal till February 15, the Parishad leader said they would meet him only in Writers’ Buildings.
 

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From the foothills of Darjeeling, Buddha says a sound no to Gorkhaland
Indian Express

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today ruled out the creation of a Gorkhaland that would involve a bifurcation of the state.

Addressing a public meeting in Siliguri, the chief minister called upon the Gorkha leadership to shun violence and settle for more administrative powers for the Gorkha Hill Council and more finances. A separate state is not possible, he said.

The chief minister said even additional administrative powers and more funding would have to be accepted in relation to the existing three hill sub-divisions of Kurseong, Kalimpong and Darjeeling . The question of inclusion of the Dooars, the plains of Siliguri and the Terai region does not arise at all, he said.

It was one of the very few public meetings in which Bhattacharjee sounded very forceful about not conceding the Gorkhaland demand.

Bhattacharjee, who is on a three-day visit to north Bengal, will also review the law and order situation.

Meanwhile, the Gorkha Vidyarthi Morcha — the student wing of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha — has given a call for a 24-hour Darjeeling bandh tomorrow to protest the district administration’s reluctance to allow the Morcha to hold a public meeting in Siliguri.

Earlier, Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen had told mediapersons that it was very difficult to permit Vidyarthi Morcha to hold a public meeting in Siliguri
The Morcha said if the chief minister can hold a meeting in Siliguri, why the same could not be allowed for them.

An official of the district administration said the meeting is not being allowed for apprehension of breach of peace.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today ruled out the creation of a Gorkhaland that would involve a bifurcation of the state.

Addressing a public meeting in Siliguri, the chief minister called upon the Gorkha leadership to shun violence and settle for more administrative powers for the Gorkha Hill Council and more finances. A separate state is not possible, he said.

The chief minister said even additional administrative powers and more funding would have to be accepted in relation to the existing three hill sub-divisions of Kurseong, Kalimpong and Darjeeling . The question of inclusion of the Dooars, the plains of Siliguri and the Terai region does not arise at all, he said.

It was one of the very few public meetings in which Bhattacharjee sounded very forceful about not conceding the Gorkhaland demand.

Bhattacharjee, who is on a three-day visit to north Bengal, will also review the law and order situation.

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Buddhadeb rules out Gorkhaland State
The Hindu

Rejecting the demand for a Gorkhaland State by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said on Friday that the State government would consider greater autonomy and more funds to the region, if the agitators gave up violence and agreed to talk.

Addressing a Left Front rally at Siliguri, the administrative headquarters of Darjeeling district, Mr. Bhattacharjee said: “We have repeatedly asked the agitators to sit for discussions on anything but separate statehood. Even during the tripartite meeting among the Centre, State and the agitators, emphasis was laid on that. We have no problem granting them greater autonomy and sanctioning additional funds.”

He, however, said the pre-condition of maintaining peace in the hills as well as in the plains prior to discussions would have to be honoured.

Pointing out that the agitators are now seeking a halfway solution after realising that their prolonged agitation would not achieve anything substantial, Mr. Bhattacharjee cautioned the pro-Gorkhaland leaders against seeking inclusion of Siliguri town, the Dooars and Terai regions to Gorkhaland.

“Do not even mention the name of Siliguri or Dooars and Terai regions as the people there do not want to be a part of Gorkhaland. If you want an interim arrangement, it will be done with the Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong sub-divisions only – do not over-step even an inch,” he warned.

He said he had discussed the issue with Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram during the latter’s recent visit here.

Mr. Chidambaram gave an assurance to hold talks with the agitators in New Delhi soon.

Mr. Bhattacharjee expressed concern over the growing violence both in the hills and plains, saying that it was hindering both tourism and business.

Criticising the Centre’s handling of the Telangana issue, he said it had encouraged the Gorkhaland supporters to step up their agitation.

“The State government has always believed in greater autonomy for the hills and therefore formed the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in the 1980s…but the grievances of under-development under its administration for all these years can be addressed only by its chairman Subash Ghising,” he said.

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Darjeeling zoo plans to exchange red pandas with foreign zoos
The Hindu

An exchange of red pandas between the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park at Darjeeling and zoos in Australia and New Zealand is on the cards, to improve the bloodline of the arboreal animals in the Darjeeling zoo’s captive breeding programme.

“The plans are still in the proposal stage, but we want to exchange two male red pandas with an animal each from the Auckland zoo in New Zealand and the Adelaide zoo in Australia,” zoo director A.K. Jha told The Hindu over telephone from Darjeeling.

Started in 1990, the captive breeding programme for red pandas, described as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is one of the most successful conservation initiatives of the Darjeeling zoo, which was home to 14 of them, Mr. Jha said.

The zoo, along with its subsidiary facility at the Sikkim Himalayan Zoological Park in Gangtok, claims to be the only conservation breeding programme for the animal in its natural distribution zone.

Red pandas are found in dense thickets that include bamboo in the higher altitude forests of Nepal, India, Bhutan and southern China.

The first successful (planned) breeding of the animals occurred in 1994, when Ekta and Friend were born to Basant and Amita, which were part of the zoo’s original stock.

“About 55 births have taken place in the zoo since the project started and we have also been able to release four red pandas at the Singalila National Park in Darjeeling,” he added.

In 1990, the zoo had only four red pandas (one male and three female), all of wild origin. To augment the stock, animals from the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium arrived over the years.

While the IUCN lists habitat destruction and poaching as one of the main threats to the species in the wild, inbreeding depression has also raised concerns.